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NEWS STREAM

Man Behind Pro-ISIS Twitter Handle Outed; Present, Former CIA Directors Defend Interrogation Techniques; Interview with Twitch Streamer Cosmo Wright; More Revelations From Sony Pictures Hack Attack

Aired December 12, 2014 - 8:00   ET

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

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

Now present and former directors of the CIA defend the agency as the backlash continues from a U.S. report on torture.

More revelations from a massive hack on Sony Pictures, but just how did the film company's secrets come out?

And we'll meet a man who makes a living by trying to finish video games as fast as possible.

We begin this hour in the U.S. where the director of the CIA is defending the agency after a government report on torture was released.

Now John Brennan held a rare news conference to respond. He admitted some agents used inexcusable methods to try and extract information from

detainees, but never used the word torture. And he maintains that the program was effective.

Now Brennan has had a long career in U.S. intelligence. And Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has this look at the man leading the CIA.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In times of crisis, John Brennan is often the man President Obama turns to as his

counterterrorism adviser and now as the head of the CIA.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He is one of the hardest working public servants I've ever seen. I'm not sure he's slept in four

years.

STARR: John Brennan has been part of the government's national security apparatus his entire career. The New Jersey native joined the CIA

as an analyst in 1980, just three years out of college. Since then, he's held positions throughout the agency. He gave briefings to President

Clinton in the mid-'90s, served as chief of station in the Middle East, and was deputy director of the agency under President George W. Bush.

Now, the CIA director is under the spotlight for his defiant reaction to a newly released report which slams the agency for torturing terror

detainees during those Bush years.

He says it's unknowable if enhanced interrogation techniques directly caused detainees to offer useful intelligence, but there was useful

intelligence.

BRENNAN: It is our considered view that the detainees who were subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques provided information that

was useful and was used in the ultimate operation to go against bin Laden.

STARR: For years, Brennan has been dogged by questions over his knowledge of harsh interrogations when he was at the CIA.

BRENNAN: I was aware of a detention interrogation program. I had some visibility into some of the activities that were there. I did not have

authority over the implementation of that program or the management oversight of it.

STARR: It was outrage over the interrogation program that destroyed Brennan's chances to lead the agency in Obama's first term. Four years

later, Brennan's nomination was met with opposition from members of the president's own party, who threatened to hold up his nomination, demanding

answers about the legality of targeted drone attacks, killing Americans overseas.

SEN. RON WYDEN, (D) OREGON: Every American has the right to know when their government believes it's allowed to kill them.

STARR: And for his role in administration leaks about covert operations like the cyber-attack on Iran's nuclear program.

BRENNAN: Although I consider myself neither a Republican nor a Democrat, I very much look forward to working closely with those on both

sides of the aisle.

STARR: Less than two years into the job, one senator now calling for Brennan to resign.

SEN. MARK UDALL, (D) COLORADO: To date, there's been no accountability for the CIA's actions or for Director Brennan's failure of leadership.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Barbara Starr reporting.

Now retired General Michael Hayden ran the CIA for part of George W. Bush's presidency. In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Hayden denied

claims from Senator Diane Feinstein that he misled congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: She's saying that you misled Congress. Your response?

HAYDEN: Yes.

My response is, you have got to be kidding. All right? I'm the one who argued within the administration, frankly, with the strong support of the

president in 2006 during that first summer that I was direct, that we had to go full monty to the committees. This could not be just the president's

program. It had to be America's program, Jake. And to do that, we needed political support from the other political branch.

So I went down there in September of '06 and then later, the first time that all of the members of the Intelligence Committee had been briefed

on all the details of the program. And the only thing I told them that I had to withhold from them was the location of the sites.

TAPPER: Let's differentiate, if we can, for the sake of this conversation, between the abuses, the things that were not...

HAYDEN: The unauthorized activities.

TAPPER: The unauthorized -- such as the rectal rehydration.

HAYDEN: No. Stop.

TAPPER: OK.

HAYDEN: All right?

That was a medical procedure. That was done because of detainee health. But the people responsible there for the health of these detainees

saw that they were becoming dehydrated. They had limited options in which to go do this. It was intravenous with needles, which would be dangerous

with a noncooperative detainee. It was through the nasal passages.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: But pureeing humus and pine nuts and...

HAYDEN: Jake, I'm not a doctor and neither are you.

But what I am told is, this is one of the ways that the body is rehydrated. These were medical procedures. And to give you a sense...

TAPPER: Are you really defending rectal rehydration?

HAYDEN: What I'm defending is history.

To give you a sense as to how this report was put together, this activity, which was done five times, and each time for the health of the

detainee, not part of the interrogation program, not designed to soften him up for any questioning -- the committee, the Democrats on the committee

have used one-half-assed unwarranted comment in one e- mail to justify the story that you have now bought hook, line and sinker that we used this to

abuse other human beings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Incredible exchange there.

Now if you were interested in knowing more about the U.S. Senate's report on the CIA, including specific examples of torture and other raw

details surrounding its interrogation practices, just go to CNN.com and there you could read the full 525 page document.

Now, to the Middle East. And police say a Palestinian man has sprayed what's believed to be acid on a number of people near Jerusalem.

Now meanwhile in the West Bank, we're seeing scattered demonstrations this Friday.

Now the death of Palestinian minister Ziad Abu Ein is contributing to tensions in the region.

Now he died on Wednesday after a demonstration turned into a confrontation with Israeli troops. The Israeli army and border police have

ramped up security in Jerusalem and the West Bank all in anticipation of protests.

And for the very latest, let's bring up CNN Senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman. He joins me now live from the Kalandia

checkpoint north of Jerusalem. And Ben, in the wake of the Palestinian minister's death, Israel have been bracing for more protests that's been

happening. Waht's the latest?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've been seeing, Kristie, is essentially scattered protests here in Kalandia. There

were protests, but I think protesters, so to speak, have moved back now. So it's relatively calm.

But there are scattered protests around the West Bank. Now regarding that incident that took place south of Jerusalem, according to a statement

put out by the Israeli army, according to that version, an Israeli family picked up a Palestinian hitchhiker who then threw acid on the family and

tried to attack the father with a screwdriver. A bystander saw this and as the man tried to escape apparently he shot him. He's in moderate

condition. That's about all the detail we have on that incident as well.

LU STOUT: OK, unfortunately we're having some technical issues with that live feed with Ben Wedeman. That was Ben Wedeman at the Kalandia

checkpoint talking to us earlier. Apologies for that.

Now keep it here. This is News Stream.

And we can go back to Ben Wedeman. I think we've fixed that connection. Ben, my apology for interrupting you just now. Please

continue to describe just the mood, the tension and the reaction there in the wake of the death of the Palestinian minister earlier this week.

What's happening?

WEDEMAN: It's tense all right. What you're hearing behind me are fireworks that are being fired by the Palestinian youth here at Kalandia in

the direction of the Israeli checkpoint. Tense.

But the fact of the matter is that even without the death of Ziad Abu Ein on Wednesday the situation here and certainly in Jerusalem and much of

the West Bank has been tense for quite some time.

It's difficult to say at this point whether his death is going to spark a serious increase in violence at the moment. But certainly no

question about it, Kristie, it's tense.

LU STOUT: All right, Ben Wedeman reporting live for us. Thank you very much indeed for that, Ben.

You're watching News Stream. And still ahead, thousands are down to a dozen here in Hong Kong as one small group of protesters remains caped out

on the street.

And the embarrassing hack of private emails and information is not over for Sony studios as we wait for what comes next. I'll take you

through some of the damage that's already been done.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now middlemen possibly connected with ISIS may be trying to sell the remains of beheaded American journalist James Foley for $1

million. It's a claim under investigation now by the U.S. government.

Now CNN's Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was the first American beheaded by ISIS...

JAMES FOLEY, JOURNALIST: I wish I had more time.

TODD: Now four months after the killing of American journalist James Foley, State Department and National Security Council officials tell CNN

they're looking into a report that ISIS is trying to negotiate the sale of Foley's body.

MIKE GIGLIO, BUZZFEED: ISIS is trying to sell the body of James Foley for $1 million

TODD: Buzzfeed's Mike Giglio first reported the story. He spoke with three sources, who he won't name, middlemen who he says were in contact

with ISIS or its associates.

Why does he think his sources are credible?

GIGLIO: I would say that each of these sources are people that I have known before that have reputations for being in connection with ISIS.

TODD: Giglio says according to his sources, ISIS and its associates have a specific plan for transporting Foley's body.

GIGLIO: They said ISIS was offering to provide DNA sample. Once it was confirmed that the body was Foley's, ISIS would receive $1 million in

exchange for it and someone, most likely a middleman associated with ISIS, would deliver the body across the Turkish border.

TODD: CNN cannot independently verify the Buzzfeed account, but James Foley's brother tells CNN "there's absolutely no truth to it." We asked

Giglio about that.

GIGLIO: The report doesn't say anywhere that the Foley family is aware of this. And I was pretty careful to make sure that this just

focuses on ISIS's intentions.

TODD: U.S. intelligence and military officials tell CNN, if the report is true it's another example of what they call ISIS's depravity.

Analysts say the Middle East is full of shady operators trying to arrange deals like this.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: You often find middle-men involved, promising perhaps to western powers and governments or families

that they may be able to get access, get a deal done. but also going back to ISIS and saying well, they also have been in touch with governments,

family members and sort of playing both sides and trying to make money out of it.

TODD: But Paul Cruickshank says anyone thinking they can make money from such a deal now isn't dealing in reality, especially since there was

never any successful negotiation for James Foley while he was still alive.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now here in Hong Kong, Occupiers at the one remaining protest site expect police to move in and clear them ou soon. Around a

dozen people are camping out in the street in the busy Causeway Bay shopping district.

Now police spent all of Thursday shutting down the main district area of Admiralty. And here you can see the sites that have closed in red and

the one remaining Occupy area in green.

Now demonstrators, they filled the streets for some 10 weeks demanding Beijing to stay out of Hong Kong's elections. Even now, they are refusing

to accept that this is the end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENIFIED FEMALE: My feeling right now is a it upset because I got to leave here, maybe here go to clear very soon. But I think I will stay

here until the last moment and when the police come and I just leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And even with the streets clear again, many protesters say that this is not the end of the movement.

Now the hack attack on Sony pictures is revealing more details by the day. Over 100 terabytes of data have been stolen, ranging from personal

data of celebrities and employees, to commercial secrets like budgets and casting.

Now sources with firsthand knowledge of the investigation say that the hackers are intent on embarrassing Sony by slowly trickling out these

details.

Now CNN's Brian Stelter has the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's the hack heard and seen around the world. Over 100 terabytes of data stolen from Sony Pictures leaking

movies like "Fury" starring Brad Pitt and "Annie" with Jamie Foxx along with private employee records and internal memos placed on the web for all

to see. Now, reporters are digging through the documents finding scandalous and in some cases embarrassing details.

CNN Money has discovered that the hackers exposed the social security numbers of Conan O'Brien, Sylvester Stallone and over 47,000 other Sony

employees and contractors.

CNN also found that the next bond film, "Spectre," which is slated to debut late next year is massively over budget. One executive secretly

called it, "one of the most expensive films ever made." Another surprise? Tom Cruise was asked to play the role of Steve Jobs

but the deal fell apart and Michael Fassbender got the job. Also, if you're curious to know what stars call themselves when they're trying to

stay incognito? Well now we now. Tom Hanks goes by "Johnny Madrid," Sara Michelle Gellar sneaks around as "Neely O'Hara," Jessica Alba is "Cash

Money," that's all according to the website fusion.

So, how did this happen? Sony Pictures is huge. Its parent company has a market cap of over $20 billion. There are questions about whether the

company was properly securing its data.

Sony is still not saying much, but in a memo to Sony staff, CEO Michael Lynton says, "the privacy and security of our employees are of real

concern to us."

And the cause of all this? It could be "The Interview" an upcoming movie with a plotline the North Koreans are incensed about. But , the film

is still coming out on Christmas day. If it is the cause for all this mess, it could be one of the costliest Sony Pictures ever made.

Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now Pyongyang has denied it was behind the attack, even though it praised the hack as a righteous deed.

But there is evidence that it could have originated from North Korea. Now in July, a group of mysterious hackers started stealing data from the

Sony Pictures system. And then in November, hackers planted malware on Sony's staff computers that erased their hard drives. Now that software

was written in Korean. And soon, this message on the right, it popped on employees computer screens. In it, the hackers called themselves Guardians

of Peace and warned that they will leak secrets unless Sony meets their demands.

That message looks similar to one that appeared on computers at South Korean banks last year after a North Korean hack attack.

Now a Korean Air executive is apologizing for a scandal that made international headlines and angered many in South Korea. And it happened

last week on a flight headed to Seoul from New York.

Now the plane was about to take off when Heather Cho demanded it return to the gate after she was served nuts in a bag instead of on a

plate.

Now Cho wanted the offending flight attendant removed from the plane. Now Cho initially stepped down from one position, but is now giving up all

of her remaining titles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEATHER CHO, FRM. VICE PRESIDENT KOREAN AIR (through translator): I sincerely apologize for causing trouble for everyone. I'm sorry. I am

stepping back from management front. I have no other plans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now Cho's father, who is the company chairman, is also asking for forgiveness. He said he raised his daughter badly.

Now you're watching News Stream. Still to come on the program, we meet one of the stars of the game streaming site Twitch who makes a living

by finishing games in minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now India is taking steps to fight youth suicide. Now just this week, the government decriminalized attempted suicide in an effort to reduce the

stigma and to encourage people to seek help.

Now the scale of the problem in India, it is huge. A recent World Health Organization report found that India has the highest suicide rate in

the world for those aged 15-29 years old.

Now our Mallika Kapur takes a look at this demographic and explains why suicide is so prevalent among the youth population.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We'll call him Vinny. He's 20 years old. He doesn't want to reveal his name or face, but he does

want to share his story.

He says he never fared well in school, had few friends, had problems with his girlfriend and parents who didn't understand him at all. He was

depressed and desperate.

VINNY, SUICIDE SURVIVOR: So, I just kept harming myself like I thought when I was crying I should just...

KAPUR: Harm yourself?

VINNY: Yeah. I should just (inaudible) on my thigh or my arms, on my...

KAPUR: You'd cut yourself?

VINNY: I'd cut myself.

KAPUR: He shows us the scars and says there are many more on his body.

VINNY: Because I felt as if the pain, the frustration was just coming out.

KAPUR: Vinny even attempted suicide. He received timely medical intervention. Many don't.

According to a recent World Health Organization report, India has the highest suicide rate in the 15-29 age group at 35.5 per 100,000 people. In

other words, nearly 260,000 people kill themselves in 2012, the last year for which numbers are available.

Bobby Zachariah, who runs a suicide prevention group, blames a breakdown in India's traditional family structure.

BOBBY ZACHARIAH, CEO, CONNECTING NGO: Nowadays, what happens is that it is one child in a family. And then the kind of parenting style which

are applied to them while they were kids doesn't apply anymore to their children.

KAPUR: A rapidly developing India means there's enormous pressure to get good grades and high paying jobs.

Anthony Furtado says his son was extremely worried about 12th Grade exams. A fews days before he was to get his results...

ANTHONY FURTADO, FATHER OF SUICIDE VICTIM: I went to open the (inaudible), put the light on and found him hanging, hanging.

KAPUR: When the results came, the father learned that Mikhail (ph) had sailed through with good grades.

FURTADO: (inaudible).

KAPUR: Furtado now councils others and is a regular at suicide prevention workshops.

FURTADO: It doesn't happen (inaudible), reached the end of it. I do break down (inaudible).

KAPUR: As for Vinny, he continues to get counseling. He also counsels others. It helps them to know I've been there, he says, and that

I'm so much better now.

Mallika Kapur, CNN, Mumbai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: A very moving report there.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, someone who has proven to be adept at using social media to spread vengeance and hate has

been tracked down and named. Ahead, find out the true identity behind the Shami Witness Twitter account.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now there have been scattered demonstrations in the West Bank. Palestinians are angry after the death of a senior Palestinian official.

Ziad Abu Ein died Wednesday after a demonstration turned into a confrontation with Israeli troops. Now there has been an autopsy, but

Palestinians and Israelis disagree on the cause of death.

Now Chinese media report the city of Urumqi in northwest China has passed a law banning the wearing of burqas in public. Now the region is

home to the Uyghur people. Now the Chinese government blames Uyghur separatists for recent violence saying that they are religious extremists

who want an independent state.

A Korean Air executive has apologized for delaying a flight last week because she was unhappy that nuts were served to her in a bag instead of on

a plate. Now Heather Cho says that she is resigning from all positions at the company, her father, who is the company's chairman, is also asking for

forgiveness. He says he raised his daughter badly.

Now governments around the world are trying to stop would-be jihadists from heading off to Iraq and Syria to fight for ISIS. Now the militant

group has shown a remarkable ability in leveraging online platforms to recruit foreign fighters.

And one man in particular, known as Shami Wtiness has been especially effective.

Now Channel 4's Simon Israel tracked him down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIMON ISRAEL, CHANNEL 4 NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Lots have been written about the propaganda war, about the battle for the hearts and minds of the

young jihadi. At least 15,000 foreign fighters have been mobilized to join Islamic State's war on the infidel.

Social media has become its most powerful weapon, and one of the most influential masters of this cyber tool is this tweeter known as Shami

Witness.

His role is to import into the heart of communities in the UK and all over the world the ebb and flow of those IS battles across Syria, Iraq and

Libya. His commentaries are designed to encourage the wannabes.

Its tweets like this one, "Islamic State brought peace, autonomy, zero corruption and low crime rate."

He's viewed as a recruitment ad.

But who is this popular social media manipulator whose words and images filter into the minds of the young pretenders?

PETER NEUMANN, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON: They are really disseminators of a lot of these materials. And we're talking about social media and

ISIS, I think we're often overestimating to what extent that campaign is coordinated and top-down. There is people like Shami Witness who have

played an important role in facilitating the dissemination of ISIS material especially amongst English speaking wannabe fighters.

ISRAEL: He has 18,000 followers and gets 2 million views a month. Fikarj Irjman (ph) on the left was one of a number of British jihadis who

followed Shami Witness before and after going to Syria. He was killed in action aged 23. And after, praised by Shami Witness as talking the talk

and walking the walk.

But tracking down the true identity of Shami Witness has not been easy. For one thing, there's no photo of him on Twitter and nothing to

suggest traits, personality, or even location.

But, there are moments and there are always moments, when the hidden trip up.

His former Twitter handle is al-Saltator (ph). Over on Google+, we found the same name being used to register there. Then to Facebook and

then the first image of the man who has been reaching out to followers of the Islamic State.

We have blurred Mehdi's face. He says exposure will endanger his life. And we have no way of knowing how true that may be.

As more images emerged, so did more details of the mystery disseminator. He lives and works in Bangalore. He describes himself as an

executive for an Indian conglomerate. His Shami Witness alter-ego went live last year. And since then, he's posted tens of thousands of tweets on

ISIS battles and atrocities.

Today, we challenged him about his role on Twitter in promoting the actions of jihadi extremists and the impact that may be having on

recruitment. He said he wished he was there.

SHAMI WITNESS, TWITTER SPECIALIST: If I had a change to leave everythinga and join them I might have.

ISRAEL: What stopped you?

SHAMI WITNESS: My family needs me here. My parents, they are basically dependent on me.

ISRAEL: So, you -- you would have joined ISIS would you, if you could have done?

SHAMI WITNESS: Probably.

ISRAEL: Does that mean you agree with the methods of ISIS?

SHAMI WITNESS: Not all methods, no, but maybe, yeah, but mostly.

ISRAEL: Which methods do you agree with: executions, beheadings.

SHAMI WITNESS: Beheadings are discussed in the Quran and Hadith itself. I don't think any honest Muslim will ever tell that he's against

beheadings per se.

ISREAL: Are you an honestly Muslim then?

SHAMI WITNESS: I try to, but I'm sure if I am.

ISRAEL: He admits he's been in regular contact with a handful of British jihadis, but denies he's played any part in their radicalization.

SHAMI WITNESS: Just because somebody follows me that doesn't mean I am the reason for their moving to ISIS. There are real reasons why people

get quote, unquote radicalized.

ISRAEL: Tonight, the company executive from Bangalore told Channel 4 News that his Shami Witness Twitter account will be shut down. And one

more avenue of information from the frontline closed off.

(END VIDEOATPE)

LU STOUT: And here's an update, police in Bangalore now say that they have launched an investigation after that report from Simon Israel. And

the Shami Witness Twitter account indeed has been shut down.

You're watching News Stream, still to come on the program we catch up with CNN's hero of the year to get his reaction and find out what spurred

his winning idea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now Amazon's billion dollar purchase of Twitch had many people wondering just what is so compelling about watching someone else play video

games? Well, in the latest of our game faces series we introduce you to someone who has amassed an audience and making a living by finishing video

games at a world record pace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSMO WRIGHT, VIDEO GAME STREAMER: My name is Cosmo Wright. I stream on Twitch TV. I try to beat video games, classic video games as fast as I

can.

I've always been kind of interested in pushing games to see how far you can take them. Around 2006 there was this forum post talking about the

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. People found ways to do things out of order, to get items you're not supposed to early, and it really fascinated

me.

You get a bottle with bugs in it. And there's this glitch you use where you backflip with the bottle with bugs in your hand. When you touch

the ground on the same frame that you touch the blue warp it lets you maintain control of Link. So you end up going from the first dungeon

immediately to the very end of the game.

It's sort of like a big puzzle almost like trying to get to the end as fast as possible. It's like, well, what exactly is necessary? Like what

exactly do you have to do to get to the end of the game. And it's sort of interesting figuring that out, then also sort of trying to push myself and

trying to do it as fast as I can to sort of like a challenge.

And then when more people get involved, it becomes like a kind of a spectacle like people are watching.

My highest ever, I got 18,700 people watching.

And then there's other people doing it to. So people are like kind of competing against each other's times.

Some times we kind of joke about being cyber athletes, but I don't really take it too seriously.

I do this for a living thanks to Twitch TV. Pretty much at the beginning of 2013, I decided to stop doing like freelance web design and

graphic design and simply stream on Twitch, because I was having more fun with it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: So how much money does he make from playing games? Well, Cosmo Wright is a partner on Twitch, that means you can pay $5 a month to

subscribe to his challenge and remove all ads. And that money is split between Twitch and Cosmo Wright.

Now, this year CNN hero is Pen Farthing. Now the former Royal Marine sergeant founded the non-profit group Nowzad Dogs, it was named after a

stray dog that Farthing rescued during his tour in Afghanistan. And since then, the group has helped reunite hundreds of soldiers from eight

countries with the pets they've come to love.

Now earlier Farthing spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And congratulations, you've just been named CNN Hero of the Year. Were you surprised?

Pen FARTHING, FOUNDER, NOWZAD DOGS, 2014 CNN HERO OF THE YEAR: Surprised is an understatement -- absolutely amazed. This is just such an

honor. And I just feel so proud of everybody involved, because (inaudible).

COOPER: Tell me about the idea. I mean, when did you first come up with the idea for this organization?

FARTHING: I was at a supermarket when I finished my tour and I just - - I was like, I was getting mortared and shot at like two days ago and now we're shopping. And just what did I leave behind? And you just can't

forget about it. And I just felt I wanted to do something more.

COOPER: Was the idea initially just to reunite soldiers with animals they had met?

FARTHING: Yeah, you're coming off patrol, and it didn't matter how bad the patrol had gone, but this little dog with this little stumpy tail

was like waging away and he was happy to see me. And it was just normality in some place that's just totally crazy.

COOPER: Bringing an animal back that they met while there, I mean it helps with their transition coming home, too.

FARTHING: Wives who have come to us after and said, well, you know, my husband came back from Afghanistan, there was a little bit of him he

didn't kind of bring back. And I've sat and I've looked at him and he's not kind of responding. Then he would just get up and he would take the

dog out for a walk and then when he comes back he's the old guy I used to know.

COOPER: Do you know what you're going to do with the money? I mean, it was $25,000, now you're getting an additional $100,000.

FARTHING: There were 1,000 Afghan kids die each year just from rabies. They're bitten by stray dog within 24 hours of being bitten you

need to be vaccinated, otherwise that's it.

We're trying to humanely control the stray dog population. So this $100,000 is going to go a long ways helping Afghan kids actually avoid

being bitten by a rabid dog in the first place.

COOPER: Well, congratulations.

FARTHING: Thank you so much. This is absolutely amazing. Thank you CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And Farthing, congratulations.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. And World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.

END