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Aired January 24, 2014 - 8:00 ET

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

Macintosh turns 30; Three Bombs Rock Cairo; Rafael Nadal Drops Federer On Way To Aussie Open Final; Accusations of Human Rights Abuses in Ukraine; Syrian Peace Talks Off To Rocky Start>

KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now a series of blasts go off in Egypt's capital as the country prepares to mark three years since former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted.

Rafael Nadal tops his old rival Roger Federer to move into the final of the Australian Open.

And 30 years on, we speak to someone who helped create the original Macintosh.

Egypt's capital is on edge this hour after three separate explosions rocked Cairo today. Now the most powerful one killed at least four people, more than 50 were wounded. And it happened on the eve of the third anniversary of the revolution that ousted former leader Hosni Mubarak.

Now the government says security forces will ensure celebrations tomorrow go ahead as planned.

Now all three blasts targeted police station in Cairo. The first struck police headquarters in the Abdine (ph) district. Now the structure is a key symbol of authority amid the ongoing political unrest there.

Now a government spokesman says a suicide attacker tried to drive a vehicle packed with explosives into the building, but the police opened fire and the bomb's detonated before the car reached the station.

Now the second and third explosions were much smaller. They went off near police stations in the Daki (ph) and al-Haram (ph) neighborhoods.

The first blast, it was so strong that it damaged nearby cars and buildings.

Now correspondent Reza Sayah shows us the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was the most powerful bomb attack to hit central Cairo in recent memory. And that was the target, the eight story police headquarters here near downtown Cairo, the impact of the bomb powerful enough not only to sheer off, to destroy much of the facade of this building, but significant damage inside as well. According to state media, several people killed, dozens of people injured.

Also damage and destruction across the street. This is the museum of Islamic art. Again, much of the facade of this structure has been destroyed. And look at this here, this was a taxi presumably either parked here or driving by.

And look what the bomb did to this taxi in walking to the scene of this bomb as far back as two, three blocks away we saw buildings, shops, residential structures destroyed, windows shattered out.

And then you see this, hundreds of people who have come onto the scene, many of them stunned, many of them angry, chanting slogans in favor of the army chief General Abdul Fatah al-Sisi.

It's not clear who carried out this attack, but for many of these people it doesn't matter, they're already blaming, they're already pointing the finger at the Muslim Brotherhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very bad. I can't tell you anything.

SAYAH: Are you worried about Egypt? Are you worried about your country?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

SAYAH: This is a group that's been labeled a banned terrorist organization by the military-backed government. The Muslim Brotherhood has repeatedly condemned previous militant attacks. But again, for these people they are to blame. This bomb attack coming one day before the big three year anniversary of the January 2011 revolution three years ago, a lot has happened over the past three years.

Of course the military toppling Egypt's first democratically elected president in Mohamed Morsy. Ever since then, the military-backed government has been fighting its opponents and now a low level insurgency.

But when you see powerful bombs like this, when you see high value targets like the police headquarters being attacked, the fear is that moving forward Egypt has much more than a low level insurgency to contend with, the fear is that there's tumultuous days ahead for this country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now lets' get more now from Cairo. Reza Sayah joins me now live.

And Reza, who is responsible for this attack?

SAYAH: At this point, it's not clear. We've talked to a lot of people who are immediately pointing the finger at the Muslim Brotherhood. Nobody has claimed responsibility. But there are reports that the militant group that perhaps is responsible for carrying out this attack is Ansar Bates al-Maqdis (ph).

This is a militant group that's based in the Sinai peninsula. They've kept their attacks in recent years to that area, but increasingly, especially ever since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsy, they've started to carry out attacks throughout the rest of Egypt. And they've claimed responsibility, so a lot of people anxious to see if this group Ansar Bates al-Maqdis (ph) will claim responsibility for this attack as well.

LU STOUT: And Reza, your thoughts on the timing of the explosions. I mean, it's happening right on the eve of a critical anniversary there in Egypt.

SAYAH: Obviously a huge day tomorrow, the anniversary of the 2011 revolution, Kristie. And these bomb attacks certainly plunged this country into deeper uncertainty. I don't think anyone knows what tomorrow is going to bring. What is certain is that Egypt is increasingly polarized.

And you have different warring factions that want to dominate the narrative tomorrow. They want to own the day tomorrow. You have the military-backed interim government, they want to be seen as the legitimate leadership moving forward. They want to make a transition to Democracy. They say that they're the outcome of the 2011 revolution.

Then you have the other side, supporters of the ousted President Mohamed Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood. And increasingly secular activists who say, no, this is not the legitimate leadership and they want to own the narrative tomorrow.

So the set, again, once again the stage is set again for a potentially dangerous and explosive day and we'll see what tomorrow brings, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, Egypt it will be an increasingly polarized and increasingly vulnerable to violence as well. Can the current government secure the country? What do the people of Egypt think?

SAYAH: Well, when you walk the streets today, when you are at the sites of the explosions, they're angry. They're emotional. Many of them are stunned. They don't know what to expect.

Certainly, when you look at the strategy, the security apparatus, the police, they're bolstering security throughout the city. But keep in mind this is increasingly an asymmetric war and just like any other army, it's difficult to take on militants who are targeting structures like they did today. But certainly over the past few hours, they've bolstered parts of Cairo, Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the January 2011 revolution, that's been closed off to the public already. We'll see how security handles the situation tomorrow.

LU STOUT: All right, Reza Sayah joining us live from Cairo. Thank you very much indeed for that.

Now turning now to the Syrian peace conference underway in Switzerland. Now reports say Syria's foreign minister is threatening to leave the UN organized talks unless what he calls a serious meeting is held on Saturday.

Now it is the first time since the fighting began nearly three years ago that the Syrian government and the opposition are both attending formal talks. But they're not meeting face-to-face. Instead, the UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is holding separate talks with each side.

Now the opposition says it will not have direct talks with the government until the Assad regime endorses a plan to establish a transitional governing body in Syria.

Now the U.S. has also insisted that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad give up power. But the Damascus government says that decision should be left to the Syrian people.

Now inside Syria, some Christian communities are afraid of what might happen to them if al-Assad does lose power.

Now Fred Pleitgen was to give a government tour of the town of Sednaya. And a warning, this report contains some graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A statue of Jesus Christ watches over the Syrian town Sednaya, but at the savior's feet a gruesome sight: dozens of badly mutilated and charred bodies.

The dead are rebel fighters who tried to storm a monastery at the top of the hill, says the regime.

"They attacked from a village on that mountain back there," this fighter says, "and destroyed our front gate."

The Charabi (ph) monastery is not a civilian target these days. It's filled with pro-Assad fighters, mostly Christians, and some regular Syrian army forces as well. There's artillery, tanks and mortars stationed inside.

The fighters here say that in the past couple of days there's been a massive increase in the violence in this area. They say that in the past few days alone, 40 mortars either hit inside the monastery or around the premises. And if you look outside, that burned out vehicle also was destroyed in the recent attack.

Sednaya is an ancient town with a strong Christian heritage. Rebels have often accused Syria's Christians of collaborating with the Assad regime.

This social media video allegedly shows Sunni towns getting shelled from the monastery at the top of the hill above Senaya, but we cannot independently verify its authenticity.

But many of Syria's Christians feel threatened by the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. In recent months, one of the main Christian towns was stormed by Islamist rebels, a group of nuns was kidnapped.

Many fear Christians could be pushed out of Syria altogether.

"I don't just think so, I'm certain they are targeting us because we're Christian. They are targeting us and we've had many attacks," says this Christian fighter.

Syria's splintered rebel groups have done little to assure Christians that they'd be welcome in a post-Assad country. So as the regime and opposition try to negotiate in Geneva, many Christians here fear an end of the Assad regime could lead to even tougher times for Syria's Christian community.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Sednaya, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, there's confusion over an interim deal that Iran made with six world powers on its nuclear program. The agreement came into affect this past Monday. Now the U.S. says Iran is required to stop enriching uranium above the 5 percent level and dismantle technology needs to enrich beyond that point. But Iranian officials say they didn't agree to take anything apart.

You're watching News Stream. And up next, a senior EU official heading to Ukraine as the country struggles to restore calm amid violent protests and a political crisis.

Roger Federer is out at the Australian Open, taken down by long-time rival Rafa Nadal. We take a look at today's semifinal.

And have you ever seen one of these? It is an original Macintosh computer and it's turning 30 today. We'll hear from one of the brains behind it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now South Korea says words are fine, but actions are what really matter when it comes to Kin Jong un and North Korea.

It is responding after North Korea's national defense commission wrote an open letter to Seoul saying it supports cooperation and an end to hostile military acts.

Now North Korea wants something in return, and that's for the south to stop its annual joint military exercises with the U.S.

Now they are set for next month. And the U.S. says the drills will take place as scheduled. Paula Hancocks has more now from Seoul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It could be seen as an olive branch, but it is one that's been extended and withdrawn a number of times in the past. So inevitably, the response on both sides of the Pacific is cautious.

The National Defense Commission of North Korea on Friday morning after to create an atmosphere of reconciliation and unity, saying it would work to, quote, "completely halt hostile military acts, realize the reunion of separated families and relatives, and reenergize multifaceted North/South cooperation and exchanges.

South Korea says Pyongyang's words must now be followed up by action and not provocations as has happened in the past.

The Unification Ministry rejected the North's demands to cancel U.S.- South Korean military drills starting next month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): North Korea has recently been strengthening training of special forces who specialize in South Korean airports. In this situation, it doesn't make sense that the North is denouncing our annual defensive military drills and demands to halt it.

HANCOCKS: U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is here in Seoul and has visited the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. He warns against falling for Pyongyang's cycle of behavior.

SEN. MACO RUBIO, (R) FLORIDA: It began with some level of provocation, followed by letters like this and then they're right back to the provocations again. But there's been a steady pace in the direction that they're headed now. And further complicating it is you're not necessarily dealing with a government, you're dealing with what's the equivalent of a criminal syndicate that runs a territory.

HANCOCKS: The U.S. has also said that the military drills with South Korea will go ahead. The question now is will that cause Pyongyang to change its tone. And will there be tensions on the peninsula as there were this time last year.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now 13 men have been arrested in a remote village in West Bengal, India in connection with an alleged gang rape. A 20-year-old woman says that she was raped earlier this week after the head of her village ordered the attack.

Now, a senior European Union official is heading to Ukraine today as a stalemate between the government and protesters there drags on. On Thursday, a second round of talks between the President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders came to nothing, but they have agreed to keep talking.

Meanwhile, on the streets of Kiev, there was a brief truce to make room for the talks. But local media say protesters are once again strengthening their barricades.

Now hundreds of protesters and police officers have been injured in this week's violence. And medics say at least four protesters have been killed.

Now, we're hearing reports of abuse by the security forces. Diana Magnay has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The charred carcasses of police vehicles exposed to the elements, weirdly beautiful in these bitter temperatures.

Not long ago, this whole area was burning. Now it is the site of a frozen standoff with the protesters behind those burned out vehicles and the police here. But we're hearing of some very real ugliness that took place behind police lines.

This video posted on YouTube must have been shot just meters up the road. A man stands naked, or not quite, he's been allowed to keep his shoes on.

A policeman takes a photo. He's kicked as he gets into the van.

Ukraine's interior ministry has issued an apology for the behavior of those involved in this video, which has circulated widely on Ukrainian media. It says it's investigating the incident. But the reports of abuse in police custody don't end there.

Wehilon Niskohus (ph) says he was tortured after he was seized by Berkut (ph) riot police.

"They beat me on my legs and ankles," he says. "They spray my whole body with pepper spray and made me lie naked and sing the national anthem. They stripped me and took me through a live corridor of around 40 or 50 riot police and each one of them beat me.

Niskohus's (ph) arm was broken and he was stabbed in the thigh. After all this, he's remarkably composed for a boy of just 17.

In an interview in Davos with CNN's Richard Quest, Ukraine's prime minister would not be drawn on Niskohus's case.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A 17-year-old Ukrainian claims taking pictures of the protest, police detained him, broke his leg, stabbed him in the leg, removed his clothes and bad beat him, now faces multi-years in prison because of the new anti-protest laws. Are you prepared to deal with that side of the equation?

VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): The law enforcement officers were given instructions and orders to act within the legislation and not to use any kind of weapon. They do not have firearms with them. And those (inaudible) reactions which they have to take when someone is trying, for example, to capture government buildings and institutions.

All of those measures are not just analogical (ph) to those used in all the Europeans taste.

MAGNAY: But these demonstrators are unlikely to be satisfied with an answer like that as this young man prepares for a series of detention hearings to see whether he'll be jailed for taking part in these protests.

Diana Magnay, CNN, Kiev.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now still to come here on News Stream, Rafael Nadal makes short work of Roger Federer and books his spot in the Australian Open final.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: And we have finally reached Friday here in Hong Kong, another lovely glittering skyline coming to you live from the territory, you are back watching News Stream.

Now to the top of the sports headlines to know that two of the greatest tennis champs, the biggest names of all-time, they were in the spotlight on Melbourne's center court on Friday night. I'm talking about Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Now they hooked up for a spot in the Australian Open final. What happened in the end? Well, let's go straight to my colleague, World Sport's Lara Baldesarra. She's here to tell us if it all lived up to the hype -- Lara.

LARA BALDESARRA, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, it certainly did. This is the tennis rivalry that we all love. And really it was match that did not disappoint at all.

Rafael Nadal proving just too much, though, for his greatest rival Roger Federer. Afterwards, Nadal calling this his best match of the tournament.

And you know what, it really was. Nadal dominated the semifinal with the first set, the closest between them. And Nadal ultimately taking it.

And from there, Nadal's serve, well it was just wonderful. His power unmatchable, his consistency was almost frustrating. Rafael Nadal defeating Roger Federer 7-6, 6-3, 6-3 which now puts a bit of a question mark on the title of Federer being the greatest ever.

Now he still has four more grand slam wins than Nadal. But check this out, Nadal has now won 23 times against Federer and only ever lost 10 matches to the Swiss great. Plus, Nadal has now won five in a row against him. Nadal has also the edge in majors, winning nine of 11 major matches he's played against Federer, including all three times that they've met at the Australian Open. And the last time Federer won against Nadal in a major was back in 2007 at Wimbledon.

So for more on this rivalry and the match, I'm joined now by CNN.com digital writer Ravi Ubha who is on the line from Melbourne.

Now Ravi, this was a pretty lopsided result. So what does it do to that whole conversation of just who is the greatest player of all time?

RAVI UBHA, CNN.COM: Well, it's interesting Lara, (inaudible) was at the Australian Open today. He was talking about the fact that it's very difficult to compare players from different eras. So what he chooses to say is that, you know, there are players who were very good who were the best during their time. And then you (inaudible) and make the comparison that, you know, Rob Lever was inferior to Rafa or Roger, because he missed out on playing a lot of majors given that he was inactive and he couldn't play enough tournaments.

So in terms of who is better Roger or Rafa, of course you are going to get people who are going to say Roger has won 17 majors, that's more than Rafa at the moment and that's what counts.

Now if Rafa goes off and gets passed those 17 (inaudible) you're going to get more saying that he's potentially the greatest of all time, only greatest of his generation.

BALDESARRA: Well, now that Federer has only made two grand slam finals in the last four years, will he ever win another major?

UBHA: That's the key question. Now, we spoke to his coach afterwards, Stefan Edberg. And actually would expect Stefan will say that he does expect that, you know, Roger can win another major to make it 18. But if you look at his age. He'll be 33 come August time, it's going to be very difficult for him, because not only age is a factor, but you're playing against Nadal who is potentially (inaudible) playing against Andy Murray who is going to come back, I think, from his back injury in a few months and potentially be as good as he was last year, and Novak Djokovic who had a tough sendoff (inaudible).

So all those factors are stacked against Roger.

BALDESARRA: All right, so now we have Nadal and the other Swiss player in the final Stanislas Wawrinka. Could we possibly see a first-time grand slam champion?

UBHA: That's going to be very difficult. I mean, it could happen. That would be a huge, huge (inaudible). But you look at the head-to-head records, 0-12. And -- and, Wawrinka never won a set again Rafa.

So 0-12, not won a set, playing a guy who is steamrolling in confidence. I think it's going to be extremely difficult. (inaudible)

BALDESARRA: All right, Ravi, thank you very much for joining us.

And let's move over to the women's side where we are set to see a first-time Australian Open winner no matter what. It is Li Na who gets a shot at redemption after her final loss last year. She's against Dominika Cibulkova who has been the giant killer of the tournament.

And Kristie, I kind of think that she could just topple another giant.

LU STOUT: Well, that match is definitely going to be a power play. Looking forward to that.

Lara Baldesarra there, thank you. Take care.

Now, it has been 30 years since Macintosh computers were introduced to the world. And coming up right here on News Stream, we'll be speaking to one of the pioneers behind it.

Also ahead, police in the U.S. make arrests in the decades old heist that inspired a Hollywood hit movie. I've got the details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Now three separate bomb blasts hit Cairo today killing at least four people and wounding more than 50. Now the attacks came on the eve of the third anniversary of Egypt's revolution. So far, no group has claimed responsibility.

Now North Korea's national defense commission says it wants to create an atmosphere of reconciliation and end military tensions with South Korea. It's proposing reunions for separated families, among other things. But Pyongyang wants something in return, it wants a halt to South Korea's military drills with the U.S. next month.

Now South Korean officials say that the drills will continue as planned.

Now intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has told the U.S. to fix its broken legal system in an online Q&A on Thursday. He said he would like to return to his country, but it must first change its laws to better protect whistleblowers.

Meanwhile, Russia says it will continue to extend asylum to the former NSA contractor and won't send him back home.

Now reports say Syria's foreign minister is threatening to leave a UN organized peace conference in Switzerland if what he calls serious talks are not held on Saturday. Now the Syrian government and the opposition are both attending formal talks, but they are not meeting face-to-face. Instead, they're holding separate meetings with the UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

Now for the latest, let's go straight to our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson live in Geneva. Nic, today was supposed to be the day for both sides to talk to each other, but that's not happening -- why.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not happening because their views are entrenched, that they disagree on fundamental issues -- that being who is responsible for the -- for al Qaeda in the country. According to the government it's the opposition that's responsible for that, according to the opposition it's the government that's responsible for that. They're forming a transitional government that this conference is all about achieving.

The opposition says that President Bashar al-Assad cannot be part of it. The government has indicated that that is not an option at the moment.

All these different facets are supposed to be discussed here in parallel, but because there is so little common ground they are meeting separately today with the UN special representative here Lakhdar Brahimi. He met with the government side this morning. He's due to meet within the next couple of hours with the opposition. He's likely to talk to the press later.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that he hopes -- number one, he's also said that this is a -- that this is a good thing that the two sides have got together after three years, but he does hope that they continue to be flexible.

This is what he told our Richard Quest a little earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAN KI-MOON, UN SECRETARY-GENERAL: For the first time after three years of bloodshed, two sides were sitting in the same room. Now, our goal is to have bilateral face-to-face negotiations between the two parties. Lakhdar Brahimi has been doing sort of proximity talks yesterday and today.

Now, we hope that this bilateral talks with continue -- begin as soon as possible. The core main purpose is to establish a transitional governing body with full executive powers between the truce. This is Syrian led, Syrian own the process under the mediation of the United Nations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now, the opposition have also said that unless they see movement from the Syrian government on this issue of a transition government, meaning unless the government accepts that Bashar al-Assad will not be part of that government, they say that they won't be going into these face-to-face talks. And for them, that's an indication that this isn't working.

So the stakes are incredibly high. And I have to say that the prospects by everyone we've talked to here. All the diplomats we are talking to behind the scenes, the prospects for success are really, really being played down, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And let's talk more about the two sides that are there, not in the same room as of yet, but at least in the same city. We know that Syria's foreign minister is there. The opposition as well. But the opposition that is there, Nic, is the opposition representative of all the armed groups on the ground in Syria?

ROBERTSON: And this is one of the key questions people are talking about on the sidelines here, diplomat I talked to last night said, look, I mean how -- even if these parties were to get together around a table or not even, but even if they were to agree to a ceasefire for a certain period of time in a certain location so humanitarian supplies could get in so people could be treated medically evacuated in some of these besieged towns.

Who is to say, this diplomat said, who is to say that the armed forces on the ground would respect what either side at the table are saying here? And certainly we know that from the opposition perspective there are a lot of armed elements on the ground who are not keen on them being here, who absolutely oppose this process and don't want any kind of talks whatsoever.

So, the sort of confidence building measures, as people talk about them here the limited ceasefires, if you will, enforcing that, making them happen is, you know, potentially beyond the capability of the people at the table.

I spoke to an opposition spokesman earlier today. He told me that they were expecting a military representative to join them later today, but of course there are many military representatives, if you will. This is a very fractured opposition. And the military, the armed elements of it, doubly, triply, multiply so, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, one of many reasons why expectations for the outcome of these talks is just so so low. And Nic Robertson joining us live from Geneva. Thank you very much indeed for that update.

Now a privacy watchdog in the United States say an NSA program exposed by Edward Snowden is actually unlawful. CNN's Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Khalid al-Midhar, a hijacker on board the plane that slammed into the Pentagon on September 11, he had been inside the U.S. well before 9/11, had been in contact with an al Qaeda safe house in Yemen. The NSA did not know at the time that Midhar was calling that location from San Diego.

The NSA's chief says if they had had their current program of collecting bulk phone records in place then:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'd have known about the plot.

TODD: But a privacy watchdog board appointed by the government now rejects that.

DAVID MEDINE, CHAIRMAN, PRIVACY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES OVERSIGHT BOARD: The information was available. The agencies just weren't sharing it.

TODD: And the board says that controversial NSA program, revealed by leaker Edward Snowden, should not exist.

MEDINE: It is unlawful in the majority of the board's view and should be shut down after a short transition period.

TODD: The board says the Patriot Act doesn't give legal authority to collect phone records in bulk, as the White House argued, and says the program is a huge invasion of Americans' privacy. It's a harsh rebuke on President Obama's stance on intelligence gathering.

In the wake of the report, the White House is again defending the phone records gathering program as legal and effective.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We simply disagree with the board's analysis on the legality of the program.

TODD: President Obama has announced plans to take the phone data collection program away from the NSA and give it stricter oversight, but not to end it. In an online chat today, Snowden said -- quote -- "There is no justification for continuing an unconstitutional policy with a zero percent success rate."

The Obama team says the phone surveillance program did help disrupt one terror plot, the 2009 effort led by Najibullah Zazi to blow up part of the New York subway. But this board says the NSA's phone records surveillance, which the board chair calls the 215 program, played a minimal role in that case.

MEDINE: And 215 only played a role only after Mr. Zazi had given up on his plot, returned to Colorado, and it helped find one of his co- conspirators

TODD: Peter King of the House Homeland Security Committee disagrees.

REP. PETER KING (R-NY), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: But it's not just the actual threat that you stop. What this does, it's part of a mosaic. It fills in blanks.

TODD: King says this board is, quote, "outside its lane." Says he doesn't know what qualified these five people to decide what's legal and constitutional when almost all judges' rulings have said the phone surveillance program is legal.

Board chair David Medine responded by saying they were nominated by the president, confirmed by the senate. And they're all lawyers, including a former federal judge.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now just ahead on the program, a notorious crime family once again the center of an investigation into a string of decades' old unsolved crimes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now 30 years ago today Apple introduced the Macintosh. It changed the way we use computers, because it was the first computer aimed at regular people, that includes many things that we take for granted today. It had a mouse. I had a graphical interface and applications in Windows so you could move around on your screen. You could even delete files by throwing them into a trash can.

Now so many things, which are a natural part of how we interact with computers today all came from the Macintosh.

Now the Mac's unique interface meant it didn't just communicate with text, it use an array of symbols as icons to help guide users.

Now many of these classic icons were designed by Susan Kare. I spoke to her on Thursday via Skype and began by asking her what it was like to be on the team that developed the original Macintosh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN KARE, ICON DESIGNER: I had a wonderful experience working on that Mac team. At any time of the day or night, someone might pop in to demo something new or Phil Atkinson, who wrote Mac Paint would arrive to demo a new Mac Paint feature to the rest of the group. It was seeing things like drawing a circle with a mouse and filling it with a pattern and changing font sizes from a menu, it -- it's so no big deal now, but it was pretty cool to see those features come to life.

LU STOUT: And what was it like working with Steve Jobs?

KARE: Well, I loved working with Steve Jobs, because he cared so much about detail. And a lot of what I did involved symbols and graphics and he could be a bit relentless in trying to get something just right, but in retrospect I'm really grateful for that exposure to obsession with detail, because I've -- you know, tried to think about that ever since.

I mean, I learned -- if you were going to show Steve something -- and he would always drop by and he loved seeing what was new in graphics, I learned never to show him something and say do you like this? Because he would invariably say no, because he wanted to get you to work on it more and maybe come up with something better, even if he did like it.

So, the work around was to just show him a few things and say which of these do you like.

LU STOUT: Let's talk more about the technical constraints and the creative constraints working with the original Macintosh operating system. I mean, it's low resolution. It's black and white. Were you as a designer ever frustrated with the constraints, or did you feel that you could actually be more creative because of what you were up against?

KARE: Well, you know, looking back on it now it seems as if it was limited, but at the time I thought it was wonderful.

I always thought of everything as a little puzzle. And there's still a huge amount of different things you can do even in a space that -- 32 by 32 is still 1,000 dots.

LU STOUT: And your classic icons, they are simple. They are meaningful. And they're also friendly and approachable. I mean, even the icon of the bomb that you designed, it still has this sort of friendly cartoonish aspect to it.

Do you think that approachability in design has kind of been lost today?

KARE: Well, I mean, I would never want to overgeneralize, because you know yes, sometimes no. But I do think that when icons are in the style where there's a tremendous amount of detail that makes something look very specific, say thinking about a smiling face looks like everybody. But if you have hair and a beard and a mustache, it can start to look like one specific person.

LU STOUT: When you were working with the original Mac team, did you ever feel at odds with the software designers or the engineers or the so- called techies? Or were you well integrated in the team?

KARE: They were great. It was one of the most good humored, creative, hard--working batch of people I had ever worked with. And I remember Steve used to say we're going to look back on these days and these are going to be some of the best days of our lives. And he was right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Susan Kare, one of the original Mac OS designers.

Now 30 years on, times are getting tough for the Mac. Now sales of Apple's computer declined for the first time in years in 2013. And the threat might come from within. Apple now sells far more iPads every year then they do Macs.

Now time now for your global weather forecast with a focus on the freezing cold temperatures in America.

Let's go straight to Mari Ramos. She has the latest on that -- Mari.

LU STOUT: Oh yeah, because this cold weather is not confined only to the U.S. Of course, Canada suffered quite a bit from the cold and also northern parts of Mexico getting in on the action now.

But look at this picture here, it's a rare snow day in Houston, Texas, also in New Orleans. A lot of the school districts are closed. You can see the snow coming in across parts of East Texas moving now into Louisiana.

So if you didn't get any snow in Houston, that's probably not going to happen anymore. But the roads have been very, very icy.

Cold rain falling as we head over into Northern Mexico. For the most part, that will be over as well, but very strong winds will continue to blow through this area. And from airtime interests, very dangerous conditions out at sea.

So as we take a look at this, the cold temperatures reach all the way down even into Florida. How much snow are they get are they get going to get along this area? As you can see, not much, but enough. Remember that this is the Gulf Coast. This is the south. We're not used to getting any kind of frozen anything around these parts.

Farther north, a little more accustomed to the snow, right? You'd think. They're getting another shot of -- another round, I should say, not just of cold air, but also of snow as we head already today and through the next 24 hours.

It's also very windy across this region. And authorities are saying it was that combination that led to this.

Look at these pictures, this is from a big highway there in Indiana, I-94. And it was -- more than 30 vehicles were involved in this pileup. It was snowing, it was windy, visibility was near zero. The roads were icy and they turned deadly. At least three people were killed in this and there were several more, of course, that were injured.

You see all those huge trucks that are in the video. They say that more than half of those 30 vehicles involved were these very large trucks. And of course, the smaller cars are the ones that appear to be the most damaged. You know, can't compete with those huge trucks on the highway.

So, they have to close it down.

And even this morning they were still out there investigating in that scene of that terrible, terrible accident.

So, come back over to the weather map. And please be extra, extra careful not just here in the U.S., wherever you have this kind of nasty weather. It can turn very, very quickly on you.

And we're going to talk about central Europe also expecting some heavy snowfall. Minus 8 in Minneapolis, minus 17 in Chicago, very cold across this entire region.

And notice it feels like minus 12 in Dallas and similar temperatures as we head over into Northern Mexico. And that will continue sinking farther to the south.

So, 10 to 20 below average, briefly warmer and then bam another shot of cold air comes in across this region.

In comparison to what's happening in the western U.S., well not only do they have a drought, but also a heat wave that continues. And these are just some of the record high temperatures.

And, Kristie, you're from California, you know, in Burbank they had 27 degrees for the daytime high, in Oakland 24. That's a record, conditions very, very hot across this area. They need some precipitation and they need some moisture.

Very quickly across Europe, not too bad as far as the temperatures across central Europe right now, but you begin to see a lot more blues and then these pinks. That indicates the below freezing temperatures. And it's here along these areas where that moisture will begin to feed in where we're seeing the heaviest snowfall. And it could be very significant as we head into this eastern part of Europe, the rain farther to the south, southeastern Europe and then across the central and eastern portions of the continent heavy snowfall expected.

And the reason this important is because we haven't had a lot of significant snowfall over these areas in quite awhile. And we're going to see some of the first significant snow moving across the spine here of Italy as well.

So be prepared about 26 centimeters in Bucharest, in Zagreb similar situation.

So this is going to be our first big snow storm, so to speak, of the season. So pretty significant indeed. That shot of cold air continues. And temperatures are well below the average across many regions here, even in Moscow. Minus 13 for the daytime high compared to an average of minus 6. So definitely, definitely winter.

Back to you.

LU STOUT: You know, it's incredible isn't it? Temperatures well below or well above average in many, many corners of the world.

Mari Ramos there. Thank you very much indeed.

Now, murder, racketeering, armed robbery, arson, extortion -- if the indictment for five reputed mobsters reminds you of the movie Goodfellas, well it should, because the movie was based on their story.

Jack Tapper has more on the notorious crime family at the center of the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the heist that inspired the dramatic climax of the classic 1990 film "Goodfellas."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daring pre-dawn raid at the Lufthansa cargo terminal at Kennedy Airport. The FBI says $2 million.

TAPPER: But 35 years after the record-breaking theft, the real-life wise guys behind the crime are now listening to a different kind of news report.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The FBI has arrested a Queens' man in connection with the infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist.

TAPPER: The December 1978 Lufthansa robbery at New York's JFK airport was, at the time, the biggest cash heist in American history. And this morning, five members of the Banado crime family including 78- year-old Vincent Asarro, Thomas "Tommy D" Fioro and John Bazurigano were arrested on charges that could have read straight out of a Scorsese script, racketeering, murder, extortion, arson, and, yes, robbery, including the incredible haul of more than $5 million in cash and $1 million in jewels from the airport cargo haul. Until now, no one got caught because, as "Goodfellas" taught us --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got out of line, you got whacked. Everybody knew the rules.

TAPPER: Of course, "Goodfellas" is the classic that used the audacious theft as its muse. In the film, just the suspicion that some involve were being indiscreet set off a rash of whackies and real life reports were as many as 16 were killed or went missing in the heist aftermath.

Today's round-up stems from the discovery of human remains last year buried in the basement of the home of the late ring leader, Jimmy "The Gent" Burke. You know, the guy played by De Niro. Allegedly linked to that murder, his son allegedly helped with the cover-up, all five men arraigned in court this afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to go anyplace that's cold.

TAPPER: As for the alter ego, the late Henry Hill, well, he became an FBI informant and died in the summer of 2012, living out the rest of his years with this mantra in mind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just trying to be a decent person today and, like I said, everybody is deceased or doing 100 years. So, you know, I don't think I have anyone to worry about.

TAPPER: Jake Tapper, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Some of the best stories are from real life.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, yep, we're going to talk about the arrest of Justin Bieber, but I'm also going to tell you why it matters. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Hello there. And welcome back. And I'm sorry, I'm going to have to talk about Justin Bieber here, the teen idol he's been charged with drunken driven, resisting arrest, driving without a valid license.

Now Bieber, he was picked up by police on Thursday morning after (inaudible) that he was speeding along a Miami street in a sports car.

Now he made a brief appearance in court through a video link and was slapped with a $2,500 bond payment.

So, why am I talking about him? Well, just take a look at this. Now Bieber has over 13 million Instagram followers, he has over 48 million Twitter followers and almost 63 million likes on his Facebook page. And to put all of that in perspective, that's almost the population of all of France.

Now you may not like him, but unfortunately you can't ignore him.

Now believe it or not, Bieber was once known for his good boy image.

Nischelle Turner takes a look at his growing list of indiscretions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bad boy Bieber is at it again. Although Justin Bieber's arrest on Thursday was his first, his squeaky clean image is eroding in a recent string of run-ins with the law. Is the pop star at a breaking point? He's still under investigation for felony vandalism. He's accused of egging his neighbor's home earlier this month causing $20,000 in damage. A heated confrontation the neighbor said he caught on camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got another one for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Come right over here you (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Call the cop.

You're a big (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Come back over here you (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

TURNER: Investigators raiding Bieber's mansion searching for clues just last week, confiscating his cell phone and video from his security system.

JUSTIN BIEBER, SINGER: (EXPLETIVE DELETED). What did you say?

TURNER: And the list goes on. Reports of reckless speeding around his neighborhood in his sports car, an accusation of spitting in another neighbor's face during an intense altercation, allegedly attacking a photographer for taking photos of him and then girlfriend, Selena Gomez. And in July, this video obtained by TMZ was seen around the world, Bieber urinating into a bucket in a New York City nightclub, then on his way out, heard shouting...

(SHOUTING)

TURNER: Bieber later apologized to the former president and none of those incidents resulted in charges. But still, baby faced Bieber really seems to be cultivating his bad-boy image.

KATRINA SZISH, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: He's trying to kind of break that bubble gum pop star bubble. And I think he's officially done it.

TURNER: Is Bieber breaking away from his teen star image or getting sucked in to a lifestyle of wild partying and reckless decisions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he's at a stage in his life where he feels invincible and he wants to test all the rules and push all the limits and he has the wherewithal to do it.

JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": This young kid has a lot of money, a lot of enablers, and he's going down fast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that Bieber busted report was brought to you by Nischelle Turner.

That is News Stream, but the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.

END