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Car Digitally Hacked; Security Breach Involving Air Force One; Family Members in Kenya Await Obama's Arrival; New Charges against Charleston Shooter Dylann Roof. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired July 22, 2015 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to talk to you.
CHRIS VALASEK, DIRECTOR OF SECURITY RESEARCH, IOACTIVE: Pleasure. Nice to talk to you.
BALDWIN: Said hacker in this case.
You know, let's walk through this because when you -- when I hear about, you know, radio or windshield wipers, dare I ask how tough this was for you?
VALASEK: This was an accumulation of almost three years of research, and the Jeep alone took a year for Dr. Charlie Miller and myself to investigate, examine and then remotely compromise the vehicle, so this isn't something you do over a weekend or at night when you're bored.
BALDWIN: OK. So you did your homework, but bottom line you did pull it off. And what you did, from my layman's understanding, is you essentially hacked into the internet into the car which allowed you to go deeper into the radio and windshield wipers, et cetera. And there's cars on the road equipped with this technology that would increase the vulnerability.
VALASEK: Yeah. Cars are becoming more connected and more technologically advanced and that's inevitable, and I like it. We want technology and convenience in our vehicles. We just wanted to show that when adding this technology, you have to think about security as well because, if you have someone, you know, with our skill sets and our determination, I think they can go about, you know, compromising these things and potentially physically controlling them.
BALDWIN: So the driver can't override the hack?
VALASEK: No. Yeah, there's certain things that the driver can override and there's certain things that the driver can't override.
BALDWIN: I want you to be critical clear. You did this for rest you kept Chrysler in the loop. What's the purpose? What do you want to come from this?
VALASEK: We want more secure automobiles from a software standpoint. Not everyone has the expertise to examine these systems as we do. Even if you're an automotive manufacturer, you know. We've really dedicated a lot of our lives to figuring out security vulnerabilities and we've gotten good at it. We feel, that you know, we're really doing them a service by looking at these things, telling them how we broke into it and then ensuring that they fix it, and we did that with Chrysler. They knew back in October about what we were doing, and they have been really responsive and communicated with us to ensure there was a patch released to the customers.
BALDWIN: They knew you pulled it off. Now for fixes and potential vulnerabilities moving forward.
Chris Valasek, thank you so much.
VALASEK: All right. Cheers. Thanks for having me.
BALDWIN: Coming up next, breaking news about possible new charges against Dylann Roof, the man accused of charges of the massacre inside that Charleston, South Carolina church. That's next.
And also, my exclusive sit-down with President Obama's step-sister and grandmother, their ancestral village in west Kenya. He heads to Kenya in a couple of days. The question is, will he visit them? See what his step-sister says about his time as president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
[14:37:22] BALDWIN: Breaking news now involving that massacre inside a Charleston, South Carolina, church. We are now getting word that the federal government is about to make a huge announcement about that accused shooter, Dylann Roof.
Our justice correspondent, Evan Perez, is on the phone.
Evan, I know the A.G., Attorney General Loretta Lynch, will be speaking at top of the hour which will be live but give me a heads up. What are you hearing from Justice?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, Brooke, this is the federal -- these are the federal charges against Dylann Roof for hate crimes and other charges. This has been -- we expected this, in part, because the Justice Department felt that this crime was so horrific, was so terrible that it needed to be addressed on the federal level, even though he's already facing nine state counts in South Carolina that will almost certainly bring the death penalty.
So the question now is whether or not these charges, whether the Justice Department will let South Carolina bring their case first or whether South Carolina will bring the federal charges first. My suspicion is that the state will try to pursue their case first, simply because that's where the crime occurred. And, again, we have a death penalty in South Carolina, and all indications are that that's what they are going to seek to get down there.
BALDWIN: So point out with these nine counts that could likely lead to death, the reasoning behind the federal government's involvement here in this particular case, just the sheer horrendous nature of the shootings.
PEREZ: Right, exactly. The federal hate crimes statutes has to do with protection of people based on race and also based on religion, and this crime occurred in a house of worship, and almost immediately people wanted the Justice Department to take action, to do something because of just the horrific nature of it, and, also, keep in mind, you know, that there is no hate crime law in South Carolina so the view was to try to do this on the federal level.
At the same time, there's also some criticism of the department because they are not treating it, and I think you're going to hear questions from the attorney general about this is treating it as a terrorism case. Again, because of the way -- federal terrorism laws are written. This probably doesn't enter into that so this is why they are going to pursue it this way, but I do think that the statement that you'll hear from the attorney general will address the fact that they view this as such a horrific crime that they felt federal action was necessary in addition to the state action.
[14:40:12] BALDWIN: We'll be listening for those questions. Again, attorney general Loretta Lynch will be speaking at the top of the hour. We, of course, will take it live.
Evan Perez, thank you so much.
Coming up next, a possible security breach involving President Obama's trip to Kenya in the coming days. Hear what the Secret Service is now looking into.
And speaking of Kenya, I am really thrilled to show you my exclusive sit-down interview with President Obama's sister and their 93-year-old grandmother who they call Momma Sarah, in her own homestead, in her home, days before the president arrives in Kenya. Hear what she says about his visit and what she says about that moment in Charleston when the president sang "Amazing Grace."
Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:45:07] BALDWIN: A potential security breach involving Air Force One now being investigated by the United States Secret Service. CNN has learned that Kenya's Civil Aviation Authority has published the arrival and departure times for President Obama's visit to Nairobi in a couple of days, and we are now just getting a response from the White House here. National security adviser, Susan Rice, saying this information in no way impacts his trip.
Let me be precise in her language. Quote, "My understanding is that the Secret Service is well aware of this. It has no way affected our approach to or plans for the trip. It is also my understanding that oftentimes some of this information turns out to be not entirely accurate, but I don't think it is in any way disturbing our plans."
President Obama's trip this week, not just, you know, any diplomatic visit here. It is significant because this is the first trip he's making to his ancestral homeland since he became commander-in-chief. One of the big questions now, will we return to his father's village?
Just a couple days ago, I returned here from Kenya. I traveled to this extraordinarily rural part of western Kenya for this incredible sit-down interview with President Obama's half-sister, Dr. Alma Obama, and we even went into the family homestead. I sat down and interviewed their 93-year-old grandmother, Momma Sarah.
Here is just one part of our interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN (voice-over): When Barack Obama embarks on his first visit to Kenya as president, all eyes will be on this remote village of Kogelo, a distant community where President Obama's father is buried, in a place where they consider President Barack Obama their son. And everywhere you look, there are traces of the American commander-in- chief.
(SHOUTING)
BALDWIN: The Senator Barack Obama Primary School, these signs leading to the Obama family homestead where the president's step-grandmother, Momma Sarah, still lives.
(on camera): You've lived all around the world. But this is home.
DR. ALMA OBAMA, HALF-SISTER OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: This is my ancestral home. We have a homestead.
(on camera): President Barack Obama's half-sister grew up in Kogelo.
(SINGING)
BALDWIN: Alma Obama runs a foundation in this village, and she invited me here in this exclusive interview to show where the Obama family comes from. And ahead of the president's arrival in Nairobi, many here wonder if he will make the journey back to his ancestral home.
(on camera): Do you immediately go back to little Alma when you're walking along here? Do you remember being a little girl?
OBAMA: I do, but it's changed so much, and actually it's become -- like now, because of what's going to be happening very soon, you see all this. This was not here the last time I was here. The last time I was here was two months ago. They have put an actual road to come up to the doorstep of my grandmother's house.
BALDWIN: They are making it all nice.
OBAMA: They are made it all nice.
BALDWIN: Because why?
OBAMA: They are making nice I guess in anticipation, you know, that people are going to come through since my brother is coming to Kenya so in anticipation, you know, of having guests, having people come here.
BALDWIN: Do you think your brother will come all the way here?
OBAMA: I don't know.
I don't know what's been going on around us and our family. It seems there's an urge to make our home a place to come and see, and a pilgrimage.
BALDWIN: Is it pride here? Why all the changes?
OBAMA: I think, first of all, community here, just by the fact that he was standing to be elected and that he won. It's amazing. It still is amazing so it definitely left a very big mark. There's a lot of pride here. It's oozing out of us. There's a lot of prize from us. And there's a lot of ownership, strong ownership.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: How do you mean ownership?
OBAMA: That's their son. They are very, very protective of him, very proud of him. I've got so many -- I've got so many people who are related to me that I don't even know they are related to me because they just want to be part of it.
BALDWIN: All of the kids who are named Barack Obama.
OBAMA: Oh, there are so many, so many.
BALDWIN (voice-over): For most of Alma's life, she's known him as Barry, the son from her father's brief relationship with a woman named Ann whom he met while studying in the United States. Barack and Alma met the first time in person back in their 20s when he invited his sister to Chicago.
(on camera): You bristle at the idea of being described as half- sister. It's just sister and brother?
OBAMA: Yes.
BALDWIN: How would you describe your relationship with your brother?
OBAMA: I love my brother. What can I say, you know? It's interesting that we met quite late in life. We hit it off. And, yeah, he's my brother. That's why we don't do the half thing.
(SHOUTING)
[14:50:00] BALDWIN (voice-over): Alma then returned the favor, inviting her brother to come to Kenya for the first time. Decades later, their 93-year-old grandmother remembers it as if it were yesterday.
(on camera): Just reading your book and you writing about the moment that you brought your brother, Barack Obama, here for first time, what does she remember about those first few moments?
OBAMA: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
MOMMA SARAH OBAMA, STEP-GRANDMOTHER OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
OBAMA: OK. It was a Sunday.
BALDWIN: It was a Sunday.
MOMMA SARAH OBAMA: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
OBAMA: Her memory was that she had gone to the market to shop, and from there, the sack full of greens, collar greens, and she bought them and was going to take them to market, and that's when he helped her carry them.
BALDWIN: Did she know when she locked eyes with Barack Obama with you, did she know who he was?
MOMMA SARAH OBAMA: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
OBAMA: She says that she knew him because -- he always got pictures. We had pictures of Barack all along.
BALDWIN (voice-over): The president traveled to Kogelo to begin to learn about his father, someone he saw his father for the last time when he was 10 years old.
(on camera): Describe in a few words Barack Hussein Obama Sr.
OBAMA: I think he was -- as everyone said, it was the truth -- he was a brilliant, brilliant mind. He was very intense. And also I think he was in many ways misunderstood.
BALDWIN (voice-over): The president wrote about the trip in his book "Dreams From My Father," writing this about his father's grave, quote, "I saw that in my life in America, the black life, the white life, the sense of abandonment I had felt as a boy, the frustration and hope I'd witnessed in Chicago, all of it was connected with this small plot of earth an ocean away."
(on camera): Your father passed away when he was 43. You, at least, got some years with him. Your brother didn't.
OBAMA: Not at all.
BALDWIN: So when your brother reached out to you with a letter in the early '80s and you visited with him in Chicago and then you returned the favor and had him come to Kenya, what were questions he wanted to know about his ancestral family and specifically about his dad?
OBAMA: It was really easy talking to my brother. We kind of hit it off. And all the questions he asked I anticipated them. He wanted to know everything. He wanted to know everything about us, everything about my father, everything about our family. I took him to so many relatives. My brother wanted to know everything. I can't answer that question any other way. I think it's normal because he was part of finding about his own identity.
BALDWIN: When you got the letter to first meet Barack Obama, you thought it was your father's handwriting?
OBAMA: It was like my father's handwriting, definitely. Definitely.
BALDWIN: What do you think is the one thing your father would say to his son?
OBAMA: He'd be extremely proud and say, "Well done." But then he'd add, "But obviously, you're an Obama." He was very proud.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN (voice-over): Alma has only become closer with her brother through the years.
(on camera): You are fiercely protective of your brother and your nieces and your sister-in-law, and I'm just wondering where that comes from.
OBAMA: A sense of self-preservation.
BALDWIN (voice-over): And even though they grew up half a world away, they share a passion for helping young people.
OBAMA: I'm proud of our name because my brother really has carried our name up there and made it real -- I mean, what can I say? It's really -- it's made its mark in the world, and that is special, and it's special for us and for our children and for our communities because it tells every child that if you work hard you can do whatever you want in this world, you know. You can make your future? So what I'm going to do here, he has done.
BALDWIN (on camera): He's been in the White House for seven years. What's your most proud moment of your brother?
DR. ALMA OBAMA, HALF-SISTER OF BARACK OBAMA: Getting in the White House.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Getting in the White House. Getting in.
OBAMA: Just getting in. He got in twice. I'm proud of that, yes.
BALDWIN: Did you see him break out into "Amazing Grace"? Have you seen that video?
OBAMA: I did.
(SINGING)
(APPLAUSE) OBAMA: I'm surprised he sang so well.
(LAUGHTER)
It was amazing.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: What does she make of the fact now that now the name Obama is so globally recognized?
MOMMA SARAH OBAMA: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
OBAMA: When big things happen, people are named after big events. She says that my dad used to tell her about my brother, you know that son of mine in America is going to do great things. You're going to see it. And she's now seeing it. He's going to uplift your name as well, and she thinks that's what's happening.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Still, beyond Nairobi, the question looms, will he come here.
(on camera): But what if he doesn't come here? How disappointed will people be?
ALMA: I think we're very realistic about the situation with my brother and the job that he has. I always say it's just another job, he's a government official really, if you look at in a more sober sense. He's doing his job. He's here for work.
[14:55:09] BALDWIN: Just a government official?
ALMA: Yes.
BALDWIN: The man is president of the United States of America.
ALMA: But it's still a job. That's a job. That comes first, whatever else happens is a bonus. And we're very respectful of that. We have been. I have no worries about that and the community knows that.
BALDWIN: They get it?
ALMA: They do get it. At the end of the day they know that. Barack is an American, he's not a Kenyan. He's a descendent but he's an American.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Really honored to be there. And it's just the beginning. I have part two and part three of my interview, especially talking about Alma's foundation, which is a healing for powerful voices and we'll introduce you to some pretty amazing kids. Don't miss that during the rest of the week. Meantime, more on our breaking news here. The attorney general getting ready to announce new charges on Dylann Roof, accused of shooting nine people inside a Charleston, South Carolina, church. And we'll take you live from Washington.
Also, more from Anderson Cooper's interview with Donald Trump. They just wrapped it, just recently. He will talk about the death of Sandra Bland in Texas, and he also talks about his personal attacks against rivals, and a potential tone change if he were to be elected president.
Stay right here.
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