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Interview with Sen. Richard Blumenthal on the Gun Law Debate; Disabled Work Program Fraud; Huge Security Flaw in Android Smartphones; Woman Shoots Possible Serial Killer in Self-Defense; Jen Welter Joins Arizona Cardinals' Coaching Staff, Makes NFL History. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired July 28, 2015 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00] SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: Be with you, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to have you here.
You're calling on President Obama to use executive action in order to close loopholes. What specifically do you want the president to do?
BLUMENTHAL: One of the most glaring loopholes relates to the Brady Law where licensed gun dealers can sell guns, even when a background check is pending after three days and closing that loophole is profoundly important. Gun dealers themselves can do better. I've called on them to take action voluntarily in closing this default to proceed loophole. But my hope also is that the president will launch a major mental health initiative because ultimately so many of these shooters are dangerous to themselves or other and should not be in possession of a handgun or any gun because they can do such harm as we've seen time and again in everyone these horrific tragic shootings, like Newtown, Charleston, Lafayette. And the president can take stronger executive action.
COSTELLO: Well, here's the thing, though. Dylann Roof, he was able to pass the current background check and obtain a gun. Your opponents say that happened not because of a loophole, but because of an FBI mistake. So which is it?
BLUMENTHAL: If that loophole were closed, and licensed gun dealers were required to wait for all of the background checks to be approved, that sale probably never would have proceeded. So the loophole does matter. On the other hand, the idea that guns should be sold to people who have histories of involuntary commitments or other kinds of very serious mental health issues, I think ought to be seriously examined. And there's a need on the positive side for much more mental health services. Resources devoted to programs that provide those kinds of help, professional help, in communities, identify people who may be dangerous to themselves or others. And maybe equally important, domestic violence situations where women are five times more likely to die in a domestic violence situation if there is a gun in the house. That's why I proposed legislation that would extend the protections under permanent protective orders to temporary protective order situations, another current loophole in that law. The Lori Jackson (ph) Survivors Protection Bill would close that loophole.
COSTELLO: Well, senator, you know we've been down this road before. There's a presidential election coming up. There's more than one sitting senator running for president. Really, do you think any legislation will be introduced and seriously debated in the halls of Congress?
BLUMENTHAL: Remember, Carol, that President Reagan was almost assassinated. Jim Brady was paralyzed and yet it still took 10 years for the Brady Bill to become law. So this effort is a marathon, not a sprint. And the efforts of organizations like Everytown America enables us to counter the weight of the NRA and the other organized groups that are on the other side of this issue. So, yes, I do think there will be an opportunity to close some of these loopholes, to extend background checks and make them universal. That is one of the most profoundly important steps that can be taken and 90 percent of the American people support it. So I do think there are opportunities, not just an opportunity, an obligation because Congress becomes complicit, maybe now is complicit in the failure to prevent these very, very affordable tragedies.
I was at Newtown the day of that shooting. I will never forget the faces and voices of grief. I've been a committed public official against gun violence, but these kinds of tragedies are preventable. We have an obligation to do it.
COSTELLO: Senator Richard Blumenthal, thank you so much for joining me this morning, I appreciate it.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it's being called one of the worst cases of fraud ever in a federal agency. The alleged victim severely disabled Americans. Details, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:38:18] COSTELLO: The premier federal program helping severely disabled Americans get jobs is being investigated by the Justice Department. Sources exclusively telling CNN that billions of dollars designated for disabled workers is being funneled elsewhere. CNN's senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin joins us now with shocking details.
Good morning, Drew.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
You know severely disabled people want to work, they just have trouble getting hired, and that's what this this program was supposed to be all about. These government contracts are set up so that if you own a company that gets one of these bids, your work force on that contract needs to be 75 percent severely disabled. Easy. But add in a government agency called AbilityOne that has outsourced most of the work to a non-profit group called SourceAmerica, and suddenly our sources say no one is checking and that 75 percent severely disabled work force, according to people on the inside now, is a joke. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, FORMER HIRING MANAGER, ABILITYONE CONTRACTS: The majority of the individuals that were being hired were not severely disabled.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): This manager, who wants to remain anonymous to protect current employment, says instead of hiring severely disabled, the federal contractor making tens of millions of dollars would hire just about anyone who walked through the door and no one bothered to check.
GRIFFIN (on camera): So you could say 100 percent of my employees are severely disabled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.
GRIFFIN: And none of them are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
GRIFFIN: And you'd still have this contract.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. Because there's nobody checking.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): SourceAmerica says they conduct on site visits but, according to their statement, SourceAmerica's staff does not determine compliance, only the U.S. AbilityOne Commission is authorized to do so.
How does it happen? AbilityOne's commission is made up of presidential appointees, but it outsources the management of the program to the nonprofit agency SourceAmerica. SourceAmerica recommends, and according to our sources, virtually
decides who gets the contracts worth $2.3 billion every year.
[09:40:20] Former congressional investigator Rich Beutel says it's a recipe for corruption.
RICHARD BEUTEL, FORMER CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATOR: The contracts are now being funneled to a very small group of 10 large companies that are getting way more than their fair share.
GRIFFIN: No one from SourceAmerica would go on camera, but in a statement the group flatly denies the allegations. "No one involved in making award recommendations," the statement reads, "is employed by an organization seeking those contracts. Beutel and numerous other sources are telling CNN the staffers who are essentially handing out federal contracts at SourceAmerica are heavily influenced by top officials at the very same agency. And those officials are often connected to the businesses that get the contracts.
BEUTEL: You have actual advisers and board members in these private organizations who are, themselves business owners and so they can award themselves, potentially, contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. A perfect setup for waste and abuse. (END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Carol, as you can imagine, the nonprofit group in charge of managing this program, SourceAmerica, denies it's violating and says it's really up to the federal agency, AbilityOne, that's in charge to monitor the program. Neither of them would talk on camera to CNN. A big reason for that is we've learned there are now major investigations going on. Four inspectors general officers within the government are actively investigating this program for fraud.
Carol.
COSTELLO: Good work. Drew Griffin reporting. Thanks so much.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, an officer threatens to kill during a routine traffic cop. The mistake the driver made that sparked a verbal assault, next.
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[09:46:17] COSTELLO: A random text sent to your Android smartphone could actually be a hacker taking over the device's functions, including turning on the camera and recording you. The flaw is a huge one but was only recently discovered by a cyber security firm.
Hi-tech correspondent Samuel Burke joins us with some -- with a firsthand experience.
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: Carol, all people need to know to pull this one off is your phone number, not your e-mail address, not your name, not your Social Security number. Just your phone number.
They send you a text message with a photo. Nothing else. You don't have to click on it, you don't have tor open it, and the person can take over your phone, take control of your apps, wipe your device off, and, as you mentioned, the scariest part, take over the camera on your phone.
Just take a look at a piece of video. I was just in Israel reporting on cyber security. And the team, AVG, the anti-virus company, pulled off something similar. They took over the Android phone I was using without me even knowing it. They sent me a text message. That's me interviewing the chief technology officer of this company. And the whole time they were recording it. I had no idea.
Then afterward, they showed me. And so I was thinking, OK, what if that was going on while I was in my bedroom and the phone was by the side of my bed.
Now Carol, we talk about Apple so often. But the vast majority of people have Android. About 78 percent of people have Android. That means 950 million people are susceptible to this hack. Now I used to think my dad, Mark Burke, was a little crazy, but I'm starting to think that you should do what he does. He puts tape over all the cameras that he has on electronic devices. Oh yes, he totally does and I thought he was a nut. Now I'm thinking I might want to take some advice from him.
COSTELLO: There's nothing else you can do except put tape over your --?
BURKE: Well, listen, Google, which of course owns Android, they've acknowledged the problem and they point out that they don't know of anybody that this has happened to, yet. Now they are different from Apple because Apple owns the device. They make the device and the operating system, so Apple can push out a patch much easier than Google can. Google said they've sent the patch to manufacturers, manufacturers like Samsung. But we don't know is if those manufacturers have pushed out the patch to all the users.
So this is just another reminder, when you get those annoying pop-ups, whether it's on Windows to restart, or it's on Android, download the update because you want to be secure from that. You don't want to be like Mike Burke, having to cover up the phone with a piece of tape.
COSTELLO: Although I think that's very efficient.
BURKE: It's working for him.
COSTELLO: Samuel Burke, thanks so much.
Checking some of the top stories for you at 48 minutes past. A Texas prosecutor has named a committee of outside attorneys to review the Sandra Bland case. Bland was found dead in her jail cell after a controversial traffic stop by a state trooper. The DA's office has not specified how this committee would work with them but say they plan to present the case to a grand jury in August for possible criminal charges.
And "Entertainment Tonight" reports that Bobbi Kristina Brown's funeral service will be this Saturday in the Atlanta area. Initial autopsy results reveal no obvious cause of death. But more test results are pending. Brown was found unconscious in a bathtub earlier this year. After her service, Bobbi Kristina's body will reportedly be flown to New Jersey. That's where she'll be buried next to her mother, Whitney Houston.
In West Virginia, a woman fights off a man attacking her, grabbing his gun and then shooting him to death. But the story doesn't end there. Boris Sanchez has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
"HEATHER": I knew he was there to kill me. I could tell that he had already done something, because he said he was going to prison for a long time.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After opening her door to a stranger who answered her escort ad on backpage.com, a West Virginia woman who police only call Heather says the man became aggressive, wrapping his hands around her throat.
[09:50:01] "HEATHER": He was saying you're going to be quiet. I'm going to call the orders.
SANCHEZ: Moments later, she runs from her Charleston home, pleading for help and chasing down a neighbor who calls 911.
CALLER: There's a lady in the alley here. She's saying that some guy tried to rape her and she had to defend herself. She's got cuts and stuff all over her.
"HEATHER": When he strangled me, he just wouldn't let me get any air, and when he laid the gun down to get the rake out of my hands, I shot him.
SANCHEZ: The attacker, Neil Falls, a 45-year-old man police believe could be a serial killer. A kill kit inside his Subaru has led investigators to a string of murders. Items inside included a machete, axes, knives, a shovel, a large container of bleach, and trash bags.
LT. STEVE COOPER, CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA POLICE: We also found four sets of handcuffs in Mr. Falls' pockets, and the brutality of the attack that took place in the house where the victim was able to defend herself and survive, all those things together lead us to believe that Mr. Falls has been involved in similar crimes. He's 45 years old. It's unlikely that this is his first violent crime.
SANCHEZ: The case now extending far beyond West Virginia. Investigators in Nevada, Oregon, and Illinois all looking at potential clues that may reveal insights into his past. Authorities tell CNN an item found in Falls' car is believed to be linked to evidence discovered on several dismembered bodies in Las Vegas back in 2005 where Falls lived at the time, their remains were found in trash bags.
All of the victims escorts. One of the cases, Lindsey Marie Harris, whose dismembered legs were recovered in Illinois three weeks after she disappeared. Investigators also looking at any potential cases in Eugene, Oregon, where Falls lived in 2010.
PAULINE, NEAL FALLS' FORMER LANDLORD: A little creepy, very kind of tight-lipped and not a chummy guy definitely. Not a chummy guy. Somebody who doesn't want to be exposed.
SANCHEZ: His former landlord describes his behavior as odd. She had him evicted a year after he moved in. While sources tell CNN that no evidence has yet pointed to a direct link, Heather believes she stopped Falls from hurting others.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel like you possibly saved other women's lives?
"HEATHER": I know I did.
SANCHEZ: Boris Sanchez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: A 30-year veteran police detective has been placed on leave for threatening to shoot a motorist in the head. That driver, identified as Michael, happened to have a camera mounted on his dashboard when the off-duty detective pulled him over on Sunday night in Medford for driving the wrong way through a traffic circle. At first, Michael says he tried to back away because the detective was not in uniform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL: OH, I didn't know you were --
COP: (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
MICHAEL: I didn't know you were a cop.
COP: I'll put a hole right through your head.
MICHAEL: Okay, okay, okay.
COP: You're lucky I'm a cop because I'd be beating the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of you right now.
MICHAEL: Geez.
COP: Give me your license.
MICHAEL: I want to let you know -- OK, I just want to let you know, I also have a dash camera.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Medford's police chief calls the detective's actions "troubling".
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the Arizona Cardinals make history. Andy Scholes has a preview. Hi Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey Carol. You know, for the first time ever, a woman will be coaching in the NFL. I'll tell you all about Jen Welter when NEWSROOM continues.
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[09:57:41] COSTELLO: The all-male bastion of NFL coaches is no longer the exclusive club it once was. The Arizona Cardinals have named the first woman to a coaching staff.
CNN's Andy Scholes is in Atlanta. Tell me more.
SCHOLES: Well, Carol, this is pretty cool. In the NBA we just saw this first -- Becky Hammond become the first woman to coach a summer league team and then win the championship. Now Jen Welter, she's making history in the NFL. The Arizona Cardinals announcing Welter has been added to their staff as a training camp and preseason coaching intern. She's going to be working with the linebackers.
And Welter really has been a trail blazer over the years. She was the first woman to play a non-kicking position on a men's pro team, playing running back for the Texas Revolution of the Indoor Football League. Welter later became the first female coach in a men's pro football league when she was hired to be an assistant coach with the team.
And Carol, I want you to take a look at some of her video from her playing days. Welter's the running back on this play and she gets blasted by an opposing defensive lineman, but guess what? She got right up after that hit and she said to the player that hit her, "Is that all you got?" So you know she's tough.
COSTELLO: Oh yeah, my kind of woman.
SCHOLES: Unbelievable she took that hit, but she's really super excited about this opportunity. She's been on Twitter all morning. In one tweet, Welter said she's honored to be a part of the team. Gave a special thanks to Arizona head coach Bruce Aryans. And then the Cardinals' best player Patrick Peterson, he welcomed Welter to the team saying, "Let's get to work."
And Carol, Welter, she isn't just a football player/coach. She has a master's degree in sports psychology and a Ph.D. in psychology. That's why if you look her up on Twitter, Carol, she's not Coach Welter, she's Dr. Welter.
COSTELLO: She is my kind of woman and, boy, I like that Cardinals player. He's my new hero. Good for him, welcoming her and that just makes me feel good about the world, Andy Scholes, and I needed that right now. Thanks, Andy. I appreciate it.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.
(MUSIC)
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
Will this cause some trouble for Donald Trump? His camp now responding to a rape allegation decades ago from his then-wife Ivanna.
[10:00:04] Ivana Trump later walked back the rape accusation, saying while she felt violated, it was not rape in the criminal sense.
