Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Obama, NATO Seek Unity on ISIS Threat; The "Poisonous Ideology" of ISIS; U.S. Will Degrade, Destroy ISIS; Fast-Food Workers Hold Nationwide Protest; Will Photo Hack Kill iPhone Sales?

Aired September 04, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. I wrote the number down, don't worry.

CUOMO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, march to war.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT: We will follow them to the gates of hell.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will not be intimidated.

CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It is our responsibility to do everything we can to stop this now.

COSTELLO: The end game for is. Noninterventionist Rand Paul now engaging, saying ISIS has declared war on America and we must destroy the group.

Also -- fast feud. Nationwide protests today, thousands of minimum wage workers, asking for a livable salary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $15 an hour would allow me to move into my own place and be able to pay my own bills.

COSTELLO: A supersized controversy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A person can work full time at a minimum wage job and still live in poverty.

COSTELLO: Also this morning, we speak to the man behind the protesters.

Apple about to unveil a new iPhone, as the Cloud-hacking controversy storms around them. Will the Cloud take a bite out of sky-high sales?

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

This hour, President Obama and other Western leaders gather for the most important NATO summit since the fall of communism.

And 25 years later, Russia's Cold War aggression is again front and center. A siege on Ukraine is one focus this morning. But a more urgent concern appears to be ISIS. Its slaughter of two Americans, driving home the group's blood thirsty hatred of the West. Vice President Joe Biden responding with an impassioned threat to the Islamic militants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: They should know, we will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice because hell is where they will reside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Today, slightly more measured words from President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron. In a joint op-ed for the "Times of London," the men wrote, quote, "If terrorists think we will weaken in the face of their threats, they could not be more wrong. Countries like Britain and America will not be cowed by barbaric killers."

White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is outside the NATO Summit in Cardiff, Wales.

What's the goal today, Michelle?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Today seems like it's going to focus mainly on Ukraine. There is a meeting to that effect between the U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Germany, and they've invited Ukraine to participate. Also, we're now getting some news in. We know that Secretary of State John Kerry, who is also here is going to meet with the president of Ukraine. And the president of Ukraine has just tweeted out that a cease-fire has been agreed upon.

But we don't know exactly the terms because this was talked about, we know, yesterday. We know that the president of Ukraine spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the U.S. and others were casting doubt on the likelihood of the cease-fire actually working. Because it seemed like Putin was demanding that to make this work, Ukraine was essentially going to have to give up part of its territory that has already been taken over by Russia.

So how this has changed since that conversation, we're still waiting to hear. It looks like this is just happening and just in time for these significant meetings that will focus exactly on this situation -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Michelle Kosinski, reporting live this morning for us.

Just before this morning's NATO session got underway, Great Britain's prime minister talked with CNN's Nic Robertson. Nic joins us live now with more.

Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Carol. One of the things I asked him, I said, look, obviously ISIS is not part of the main agenda here. This has come to the table late if you will. He said, this will get discussion at the banquet at Cardiff Castle tonight. This is the sort of place that's going to get discussed in the margins of this large NATO meeting. That was the context he put it in. An important issue.

I asked him about his views on how to tackle ISIS and what they represent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: President Barack Obama yesterday in Estonia saying that ISIS should be destroyed. He also went on to say that it should be shrunk to a manageable size. What should it be, destroyed or shrunk?

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Destroyed, squeezed out of existence is the way that I would put it. But we should be clear what we're facing here is this Islamist extremist narrative, a poisonous narrative. It isn't just in Iraq and Syria. We've also seen it in Somalia and Mali, of course in Afghanistan, when hosted by the Taliban. So this is a generational struggle.

I would disagree with you that it's not on the agenda. It is. We're going to be discussing it at the leader's dinner this evening. One of the things NATO is going to be agreeing in these next two days is that we should be helping those countries most threatened build their capacity. We'll be offering, for instance, Jordan, capacity building and help with their armed forces to make sure they can play an even greater role in keeping their region and their people safe.

ROBERTSON: Will Britain be committing airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria?

CAMERON: We don't rule anything out. We'll act with partners in our national interest. We've already taken some important steps with Americans and others. We've been helping the Kurds. Just last night, British plane landed with body armor for the Kurdish forces. We're helping the Iraqi government. I think there's more we can do in both those areas.

We've been flying surveillance and other missions over Iraq, working with our American allies. We support the action the Americans are making so far. But we must recognize that what's required is helping those on the ground, rather than some Western intervention, as it were, completely over their heads, leaving them to pick up the pieces.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTSON: Yes, I think the clues there in picking up the pieces and going over their heads. What Prime Minister David Cameron is essentially saying that if there's going to be airstrikes, it's not going to happen quickly. That this is somewhere down the road. That this needs to be done with a coalition of countries.

And the notion, really, to help countries like Jordan, that border with Syria and Iraq, rather than -- rather than initially trying to embark on airstrikes. I think this is lessons learned in the past. But it gives us an idea that whatever measures are going to be put in place here, it's not going to happen that quickly. We're maybe looking a little distance into the future here -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Nic Robertson, reporting live from Wales this morning.

Steven Sotloff's family is accusing the leaders of ISIS of violating the tenets of Islam with the American's execution. A Sotloff family representative and friend of the slain journalist spoke to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Arabic asking, where's your mercy? But he also spoke in English to reporters revealing what kind of man Sotloff was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARAK BARFI, SOTLOFF FAMILY SPOKESMAN: He always sought to help those less privileged than him, offering career services and precious contacts to newcomers in the region. He indulged in "South Park" but was just as serious about filing a 3:00 a.m. story. He had a fondness for junk food he could not overcome and despite his busy schedule he always found time to Skype his father to talk about his latest golf game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sotloff's friend went on to say, "We will not allow our enemies to hold us hostage with the sole weapons they possess -- fear."

As the White House hammers out a strategy against ISIS, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is defending President Obama's approach in Iraq and Syria. During an interview at the Naval War College, Hagel told CNN's Jim Sciutto airstrikes in Syria are among the military options being prepared for the president, and that ISIS poses a serious threat to Americans. While critics slam Mr. Obama for being too cautious, Hagel says the U.S. mission is clear. Degrade and destroy ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the brutality of ISIS playing out on television screens across the world, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said there is only one U.S. endgame.

HAGEL: We're providing the president with those options to degrade and destroy ISIL's capability.

SCIUTTO (on camera): That's the endgame, degrade and destroy, not contain?

HAGEL: No, it's not contain. It's exactly what the president said, degrade and destroy.

SCIUTTO: There have been mixed signals from the administration as to how imminent and severe that threat is. Two weeks ago, you said ISIS is, quote, "an imminent threat to every interest we have." And you went on to say, it's unlike any threat we have ever seen.

After your comments, the administration seemed to pull back somewhat. You had the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff describe it as a regional threat, something the president did later that same week.

Is it an imminent threat to the U.S. homeland or to the region?

HAGEL: Well, first of all, I didn't say homeland. I said to the U.S. interests.

SCIUTTO: But you said an imminent threat to every interest we have.

HAGEL: That's right. I didn't say the homeland. I said to all of our interests. Look at -- look at what just happened 24 hours ago in the latest video of another citizen as to what ISIL did. It is a threat. ISIL is a threat to this country, to our interests.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): But is there a plan for military action beyond the current mission in Iraq?

(On camera): Is part of the strategy military strikes inside Syria?

HAGEL: Well, that's an option. And we are looking at all those options.

SCIUTTO: Have you prepared those options for the president?

HAGEL: The president has asked for different options, and we have prepared those for him.

SCIUTTO: And Syria airstrikes are among them?

HAGEL: All their -- all these things are options that the president wants to see. And we have been working with the White House, not just starting working with the White House. We have been working with the White House for weeks.

The president talks to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Ambassador Rice. So this isn't something that just popped up the last week or two. We have been working this for the last few weeks.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): A former soldier now leading the nation's armed forces, Secretary Hagel said that the video showing the executions of Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff affected him deeply.

(On camera): How did you personally react when you saw those videos?

HAGEL: It makes you sick to your stomach. But it again reminds us the kind of brutality and the barbarism that is afoot in some of these areas of the world. And it is our responsibility, the president, the vice president, mine, all of us, to do everything we can to stop this now, because it won't just recede into the gray recesses of history, until we stop it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Jim Sciutto, thanks for that report.

During that interview, Hagel also said ISIS controls half of Iraq and Syria. That's larger than previous estimates from the administration.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, thousands of fast food workers plan to take to the streets across the country today. In fact, they already have. They're demanding $15 an hour in wages. We'll take you to one of the protests, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. Checking some other top stories for you at 15 minutes past the hour.

The Justice Department is launching a new investigation into the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department. The attorney general, Eric Holder, will make the announcement as early as today. Officials will review previous incidents and complaints, as well as police training, to determine if the department has violated federal law or the Constitution. The review is separate from the department's civil rights probe into last month's shooting death of Michael Brown.

Thirteen people, including children, were hurt when an experiment went terribly wrong at a Reno, Nevada, museum. The incident happened when chemicals were incorrectly mixed during a tornado experiment. The injured kids suffered burns to their arms, hands, and faces. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

New research shows a college degree pays off. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York says that on average, college graduates earn $275,000 more than non-graduates over their lifetimes. But the New York Fed also found that many recent grads were underemployed, working in jobs that do not require college degrees.

Despite the extra money, though, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich thinks a four-year college degrees is a waste of money. In an op-ed written for Salon.com, he writes, quote, "Too many young people graduate laden with debts that take years, if not decades to pay off, and too many of them can't find good jobs when they graduate, in any event. They end up overqualified for the work they do and underwhelmed by it."

Reich goes on to make the point that a two-year technical degree may be a better, more cost-effective way to go.

Perhaps at the moment, Reich is right. There are not exactly thousands of high-paying white collar jobs available right now. And that's perhaps why fast food workers are walking off the job in 150 cities across the country, all the way from California all the way over to New York.

That's where we find CNN's Cristina Alesci.

Good morning. What's happening out there?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Just a couple of minutes ago, actually, there were about 200 protesters right behind me. A couple moved out in the middle of the street, got arrested, as a result -- all, of course, in the name of raising the profile of their demands to get paid $15 an hour, Carol.

You know, it's really hard to measure the impact of these protests, which have been -- which started back in 2012. There have been a number since then, but on the local level, we have seen some minimum wage workers making some progress.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESCI (voice-over): Fast food workers have become a loud voice in the debate over a federal minimum wage increase. Over the last 18 months, you've probably seen images on the web, in newspapers, and on TV, of strikes in cities across the country. Workers are asking for $15 an hour.

They even took their fight to McDonald's corporate doorstep, at the company's annual meeting. But are these protests making a difference? So far, fast food companies aren't doling out major pay hikes.

In 2013, the average pay for a food prep and service worker in restaurants was $8.74 per hour, or about $18,000 a year. The president has made their plight a priority.

But in Washington, Congress is gridlocked. And the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009.

But check out what's happening on the local level. Workers are winning a few battles, mostly in blue states. Twelve of them, and Washington, D.C., have raised their minimum wage over the last year. California raised its hourly rate to $9 in July and will bump it up to $10 in 2016.

Cities and counties have acted too. In June, Seattle's City Council set the highest minimum page in the nation, $15 an hour by 2021. And the mayor of Los Angeles said he wants his city to go to $13.25.

But these measures only affect a fraction of the U.S. population. Fast food companies employ more minimum wage workers than any other industry.

So, the national protests continue.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ALESCI: So, Carol, just to be clear, McDonald's hasn't indicated whether or not it is going to give a pay hike to its workers. But one thing is for sure, it is already talking about this issue with its own investors. In fact, if you look at some of the filings that have been filed with regulators, the company says that these protests could adversely impact its business -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Cristina Alesci reporting live from New York City this morning.

Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: day before a new iPhone announcement, Apple is playing damage control after stolen nude photos from several Hollywood A-listers are leaked. Will the company's perceived security issues put a damper on sales?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Apple says its iCloud service was not hacked. I repeat, it was not hacked. That's according to Apple.

Apple says whoever stole the nude photos of several A-list celebrities did so in a targeted attack that went after user names and passwords of specific people, including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton.

But the news could not come at a worse time for Apple. Since the news broke, the company's stock has taken a hit. On Tuesday, the company is expected to announce a totally redesigned iPhone, as well as two new apps that will ask you to fork over even more personal information. The new health app, that's part of a new operating system, that keeps track of your health data, like your cholesterol and your blood sugar, even your allergy information.

The new iPhone is also expected to ship with mobile payment capability, encouraging you to load your credit card information on to your phone.

But, of course, the big question remains, can you trust this technology?

So, let's bring in CNN Money correspondent Laurie Segall, and CNN tech analyst, Brett Larson.

So, first of all, let's tackle the Cloud issue. Was the Cloud hacked into?

BRETT LARSON, CNN TECH ANALYST: It seems as though it was a very direct, they targeted these specific people. They went with their user names and tried to get at their passwords and they were successful.

COSTELLO: But, you know, perception is reality, Laurie.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Sure. There must have been some issue that enabled them to guess these passwords. And we should take a step back and say, OK, maybe they didn't directly hack into the Cloud, but how were they able to guess these passwords and get in there.

But I will say, it's a bit of a black eye ahead of this big event, because Apple is notorious for safety. Apple -- you know, hackers tend to operate on the Windows and Android operating systems. This is something Tim Cook has said before. He's almost essentially bragged about it.

So, it will be interesting to see what he's going to say at this event. Is he going to address what happened? Especially now that they keep asking us for more and more data. If NFC capabilities come out, are we encouraged to share even more of our data?

LARSON: Well, and this is -- that's the exact point. But Apple has to play this very carefully. On the one hand, you don't want to say, nobody ever attacks our platform, it's super safe. Well, the reason people don't attack the Macintosh platform is because there are fewer number of Mac users than there are Windows users, so you want to make a big flash, you'll go after Windows. So, they have to play that carefully.

But absolutely, this is a black eye before their announcements coming on Tuesday, because the other part of this is not only are we now going to get our health care information and our home automation information, the iCloud is going to be tied even more into the new iPhone devices and the new Mac operating system that is expected to ship.

COSTELLO: OK, let me run this by you, because you were talking about security and Apple says it's because people are using poor passwords. How many people do you know that actually went home and changed their password, in light of the Home Depot hack? And also in light of, like, like these new nude photos leaking? Like how many people do you know actually change their password?

SEGALL: We keep talking about, OK, is your password safe? What's a safe password? But how many people are actually going to do that? And in the Home Depot case, could that have prevented your credit card information from being stolen? So, we're almost entering this brave, new era.

Well, maybe we need to have conversations about the types of passwords we have, or different technologies beyond easy to guess password. I always said it, I said it the other day, you should use a passphrase which is a very long sentence you can remember. But a lot of folks here about this all the time, but don't actually go and change their passwords and change multiple passwords.

COSTELLO: OK. So, if people don't change their passwords and make moves to protect themselves, should Apple be taking all of the blame?

LARSON: Absolutely not. No, because you can only do so much, we can only come out and say so many times to change your password. And Laurie brings up a great point there. This is the brave new world. And we're hearing about this more and more.

And I think, unfortunately, a lot of the blame does fall on us. A lot of the blame falls on these companies, I'm not saying Home Depot is at fault, but we have to step up our technology, because now that these are happening more and more, it's going to happen more and more. Now hackers will want to go after bigger and bigger targets, so they can say, hey, I'm the one who brought down the Visa network for Home Depot.

And it's going to fall on consumers, because it's going to end up costing us money if we don't take care of ourselves.

COSTELLO: Sadly, that is true. It always ends up costing us money, somehow, some way.

Brett and Laurie, thank you so much.

Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: White House officials say the threat of ISIS is real and now many lawmakers are calling on the president to take swift action. But does the hype match the threat? Up next, why political hysteria may be feeding into exactly what the terrorists want.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)