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Sanders, Democratic National Committee Reach Voter Data Breach Deal Before Debate; California Killer's Friend Charged, Allegedly Supplied Guns; Obamas Meets With San Bernardino Victims; FBI, U.S. Marshals Searching For "Affluenza" Teen; Fighting Words from Jeb to Donald; FBI Investigating Major Computer Breach; Virginia School Shuts Down Over Homework Assignment; New Security Measures for Theme Parks. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired December 19, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM --

(HEADLINES)

WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Democratic presidential campaigns are not waiting until tonight's debate to take shots at each other and the Democratic National Committee. The party is in an uproar after the Sanders campaign filed a lawsuit against the DNC for barring Sanders' team from using a national voter database.

The DNC shut off access after a Sanders' team member admitted to browsing through Clinton's secret files on the database. All sides reached an 11th hour agreement last night, but the DNC's chairwoman defended the party's action on CNN this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE DEBBIE WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ, CHAIRWOMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: We did reach an agreement with the campaign. They finally gave us the information we'd been asking for, so we could begin to assess the depth of the breach, where their staff looked at inappropriately and were unauthorized material that was the proprietary information of the Clinton campaign.

And we've been asking them for that information for two days. They had refused, not only to provide us with the answers to those questions, but also refused to participate or not agreed to participate in an independent audit so we could get to the bottom of how deep the breach was. They have now done that.

Unfortunately, when the Sanders campaign, after this window opened, through a glitch from our vendor, their staff took advantage of it, in a sense, you know, went into the unlocked door of the house, and rummaged around, took things that didn't belong to them.

And then, actually, accused the homeowner of violating the terms of an agreement, when they had unauthorized access to the house and took things that didn't belong to them, it was pretty outrageous, but like I said, I'm glad that we were able to reach an agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Athena Jones is at the debate site in New Hampshire. So, can you give us an idea, a little bit more of a window into the kind of material that the Sanders' team likely got their hands on?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. This is certainly a bit of drama, heading into tonight's debate, the third debate, and that is a central question. What exactly did these Sanders' campaign staffers go in and look at during that 40-minute window in which that dividing line between the two campaigns was raised.

And I can put up on the screen a list of some of what they were likely able to access. This comes from two Democratic sources, who are familiar with this program, who spoke with my colleague, Jeff Zeleny.

Turnout projections for Iowa and New Hampshire, the two first states to vote next year, and also information in other early voting states like Nevada and South Carolina, and ten other key states that will be voting in March.

Also, indications about voter enthusiasm and voter support, support for Hillary Clinton, and this is the kind of information that could be key for Sanders' campaign in trying to figure out who to target in the final weeks of voting.

I don't want to get too technical here, but this is information that's very important for the Clinton strategy when it comes to modeling and analytics, trying to figure out who was going to turn out in Iowa to caucus for the former secretary.

Who's going to turn out here in New Hampshire to vote for her? And one of the things the campaigns do is they rank the people that they call, they reach through door-knocking and phone banking, and they level of support on a numbered system.

So we understand that the Sanders' staffers looked at the supporters, there were strong supporters for Hillary Clinton, and also looked at who would be maybe leaning away from her, maybe not as strong supporters.

So if this is the kind of information that they were able to glean, it's the kind of information that would have been of benefit to the Sanders' campaign.

Now, I should mention that the one Sanders staffer who has been fired, the national data director, told CNN that they didn't gain anything, any material gained from looking at these voter files.

That they were only looking into those files to find out how much the Sanders' campaign information was exposed. So there's clearly some division on just what the campaign was able to access and how helpful it would be to them -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Athena Jones, thank you so much. Meantime, former White House Adviser David Axelrod is also weighing in. He tweeted today, "Without evidence, that his hierarchy knew about data poaching, a harsh penalty versus Bernie Sanders, looks like the DNC is putting finger on scale."

[12:05:12]Moments later, he backed off a bit, tweeting this, "Final on filegate. Poaching by Bernie Sanders was indefensible. Initial clumsy DNC handling gave them PR out. Messy all around."

The Democratic presidential candidates will face off tonight in New Hampshire and CNN's Wolf Blitzer will give you special coverage of that debate and that begins right here on CNN tonight at 10:30 Eastern, right here.

All right, let's turn now to the investigation into the terror attack in San Bernardino, California, where a federal affidavit is revealing disturbing new details about two terror attacks one of the killers planned with a friend, but never carried out.

That friend, Enrique Marquez, bought two of the guns, the husband and wife terror team used to kill 14 people early this month. John Berman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START" (voice-over): New documents detail the relationship between Enrique Marquez and Syed Farook. They met a decade ago. Marquez had just moved here, next door to the would-be terrorist. It's a meeting that would change his life forever.

Farook introduced him to Islam soon after they met. Marquez visited this mosque in nearby Corona, California, in late 2005, according to authorities. In 2007, he became a Muslim and Farook exposed him to Jihadist ideology.

This government affidavit paints the portrait of Farook as the radical teacher, Marquez the willing student.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jihad against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding on every other able Muslim.

BERMAN: Farook played an anti-American lecture from the American-born al Qaeda operative, Anwar Al-Awlaki. Also, according to investigators, Marquez read "Inspire" magazine, the publication by al Qaeda, while at Farook's home.

The 2011 was a pivotal year. It was then that Farook and Marquez began planning their acts of terrorism in the United States. One plot to kill would happen here at Riverside City College, where both had been enrolled as students.

The plan was to throw pipe bombs into the cafeteria to maximize casualties. A second and more elaborate plot would be here, a stretch of highway that had no exits for cars to escape. Farook would detonate pipe bombs to stop rush hour traffic, and then move among the stopped vehicles, shooting his rifle into them and killing people. Marquez hiding in the hills would fire his rifle from a distance into stopped cars and when help arrived, according to the authorities, his priority was to shoot law enforcement personnel.

The arsenal for their planned plots was secured largely by Marquez. He bought two AF-15 rifles from two separate stores, rifles that would later be used by Farook and his wife to kill 14 in San Bernardino.

Marquez also bought explosive powder to build the pipe bombs for his and Farook's plotted attacks. It, too, was used in the San Bernardino tack, although the IEDs found at the scene failed to detonate.

According to the affidavit, the two eventually abandoned their attack plans because of arrests of terrorism suspects in a nearby town in late 2012. Marquez claims he began to distance himself from Farook, but in late 2014, he married Farook's sister-in-law.

According to the government, it was a sham marriage so she could obtain legal status to remain in the United States. December 2nd of this year, Farook and his wife launched the terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center.

Hours later, Marquez calls 911 and tells the operator, my neighbor, he did the San Bernardino shooting. He later says that he used my gun in the shooting. Marquez, seen here in the back of a federal vehicle, has been charged with conspiring to commit acts of terrorism and the unlawful purchase of firearms.

While authorities say they have no evidence that shows that Marquez knew of the San Bernardino attack ahead of time, they do say his ongoing failure to warn authorities about Farook's intent to commit mass murder had fatal consequences. John Berman, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Meantime, President Barack Obama and the first lady flew to San Bernardino last night to meet with family members, who lost loved ones in that attack. The visit was 3 hours long and the Obamas spoke individually with those affected by the tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If you met some of these folks, despite the pain and the heartache that they're feeling, they could not have been more inspiring. And more proud of their loved ones and more insistent that something good comes out of this tragedy.

[12:10:06]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt more emotion in there waiting for them than I had felt in a while but it was nice. It was a reassurance. I feel like those two, at least, have our back. And they said to me, you know, I got you and they're not going to let Shannon's virtues disappears anytime soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And that was the girlfriend of Shannon Johnson. He was killed while protecting a coworker during the shooting.

All right, let's talk more with CNN counterterrorism analyst, Phil Mudd. So, Phil, you heard from the girlfriend who said, you know, that was very reassuring to have the first lady and the president there.

And at the same time, while the president's visit brings a lot of comfort, you know, there are remaining questions about how this country can identify those potential terrorists before they carry out an act of terror.

So, when you hear from Marquez, Enrique Marquez, who is now charged with helping to supply weaponry to these two, to carry out this attack, his explanation of how he was radicalized, what is familiar about his story in your view?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: The familiar piece of this is the beginning stages to have the radicalization process. That is, he wasn't necessarily brought into a terror group. We think that a group like ISIS just reaches out and finds somebody.

He's brought in to someone who shares experiences with him, who's a neighbor of his, who introduces him first to Islam, not a radical group, who says, you might be an outcast from society, but there is a place where you're welcome.

The radicalization process isn't designed to bring somebody into a group. It's designed to find the vulnerability. In this case, of a neighbor, and say, there's a place for you to feel welcome. That's what I see in a lot of cases and we saw in California -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So then how do you get ahead of this, potentially, for anybody whether it's law enforcement, family members, et cetera? Because we're talking about people who blended in, who were doing just normal things, acting, you know, normally, assimilating into communities like everybody else.

So, if there were very few red flags, how does law enforcement or the community, how do they empower themselves with this kind of information to help avert the next potential attack?

MUDD: I think there are three things you've got to do. We saw in one of the cases over the past couple of days where somebody was jumping from 50 plus Twitter accounts. And if I understand this right, Twitter itself was shutting down those accounts and the person was just hopping.

I hope Twitter identified that activity to the federal government because the first way you stop this is to look at people who are using radical terms, and then identify them potentially for investigation.

The second we saw in California, if there is no electronic trail, a human being who's recruited has got to pick up the phone. It's why Marquez, I think, is going to spend time in federal prison. He should have picked up the phone.

Finally, Fredricka, you cannot stop this volume of activity in the United States unless you eliminate the safe haven for ISIS in Syria. And that's why the diplomatic process with the Russians and others is so important. Until you stop that, we'll get this going on in the U.S. forever.

WHITFIELD: All right, Phil Mudd, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Good to see you. All right, the FBI says foreign hackers may have been spying on the U.S. government for three years. What they may have been after, straight ahead.

Plus, a manhunt underway right now for the teen sentenced to probation after killing four people in a drunken driving crash. Why he's hiding and who may be assisting him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:18:11]

WHITFIELD: Right now, the FBI and U.S. Marshals are broadening their searches for the Texas "affluenza" teen, Ethan Couch. The 18-year-old is wanted by police because they say he ran away, along with his mother, while he's supposed to be on probation.

Let me remind you of what he did. On June 15th, 2013, a mother and daughter, Holly and Shelby Boyles left home to help Brianna Mitchell, whose SUV broke down by the side of the road. Brian Jennings, a youth pastor, was driving past and also stopped to help.

Enter Ethan Couch, then 16 years old. He was driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.24. That's three times the legal limit. He plowed into them, killing all of them. But instead of getting the 20- year sentence prosecutors wanted, a judge gave him a decade of probation.

Couch's defense, he suffered from "affluenza." He was a rich kid whose parents never set any limits for him. A video of the teen also turned up on social media recently, apparently showing couch at a party playing beer pong.

Well, authorities are also investigating this after Couch was told to stay away from alcohol. So let's talk more about this, because now Couch and his mother are missing, along, we understand, their passports.

Our legal guys, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor joining us from Cleveland, good to see you. And Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us from Las Vegas. Good to see you as well.

All right, so, Avery, you first, he is a fugitive, right? He's on the lam. He's supposed to be on probation. He, along with his mom, is somewhere out there. Is the penalty any different if he were to turn himself in or whether to get caught? [12:20:05]AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, either way, he's facing big trouble. The fact is he's a fugitive. The fact is he knows the sentences. The mother knows what the sentence is. He's 18 years old.

And the fact is that while there was enormous controversy surrounding the so-called "affluenza defense," that was introduced by an expert psychologist, the judge bought it.

And now the condition of his, both incarceration and probation, have been violated, so he's going to be facing very, very substantial penalties once. Not if, once they catch him.

WHITFIELD: So Richard, I hear he avoided jail time by having this probation and now he's looking at potential jail time, right, and what about his mother? She, too, could be potentially facing charges?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: What's wrong with that, Fred, in the holiday spirit, taking a Christmas vacation with your son? There's nothing wrong with that. This "affluenza" has turned into "moronenza."

And I'll tell you why. Staying away from alcohol and drinking alcohol are two different things here. The video does not necessarily violate his probation. He had a very defensible case there, had they gone ahead and just addressed that issue.

WHITFIELD: What do you mean? Because he was standing there, he wasn't necessarily chugging, is that what you mean?

HERMAN: Exactly. The fact that he and his mother have fled and, of course, cats don't chase dogs, their passports are missing, they're gone, they have a lot of money. The fact he's fleeing, that's evidence of guilt, which will be used against him.

Now he's now in trouble. Now when he comes back, he's going to get into a juvenile detention facility until he's 19. The judge is going to slam him this time -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Avery, we still don't really know if they have fled the country, if the mother is, indeed, with him, but if that is the case, that mom and son have left together, whether it's, you know, to another country or just out of state or out of the community, talk to me about what the mom is now facing? She might think she's doing the right thing by protecting her son, but now she's potentially in trouble.

FRIEDMAN: Well, if she has somehow constructed the idea that she's helping Ethan in this fugitive status, she needs serious help. The fact is I'm sure she knows exactly what she was doing. I think she was probably fearful her kid was in trouble because of the video.

And she does the absolute worst thing, Fredricka, she takes off with the kid. And she may be very well out of the jurisdiction, out of this country. Who knows? HERMAN: Fred, she may be aiding and abetting a fugitive who is now, will have an escape charge on him. This is worse than the video that we saw.

FRIEDMAN: Absolutely. Absolutely right.

HERMAN: Taking off like this, this is not defensible -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And now, if they're out of country, they would have had to or hopefully they would have been thinking about the kind of research that's involved with what countries would extradite, which countries would not. Am I going too far on this idea?

FRIEDMAN: Very creative, actually, very creative. They're not going to get extradited. It's not going to happen. They'll be gone with the wind. You'll find them somewhere in Switzerland or something like that.

HERMAN: That's not true, Fred.

FRIEDMAN: How do you know?

HERMAN: There's no place to hide for the mother and son here. They're going to get returned back to. We will do another segment with them coming back and landing at airport in handcuffs and now --

(CROSSTALK)

HERMAN: Being a fugitive, aiding and abetting a fugitive are much more serious than that one video we saw where he may have violated probation.

WHITFIELD: Avery, what were you saying?

FRIEDMAN: I was saying, you know, look, I hope they are caught. Justice really is served by getting this woman and her son back here. But, again, you know we had like the Roman Polanski. This guy knows what's going to happen if he comes back and he's been fighting extradition forever.

Yes, I agree. I think it's important that we get them back. But with the kind of money this family has, they're going to be hiding out. It's going to be tough to find them.

WHITFIELD: It's not good. Thank you so much, Avery and Richard. I know it's a very serious topic, but I'm glad to see you all brought your holiday cheer with your green, your red. I got a red skirt, so I'm in on the holiday cheer with you.

HERMAN: There you go! We're all together!

FRIEDMAN: Merry Christmas.

WHITFIELD: Y'all have a great holiday season. Thanks so much for being with us -- the last weekend before Christmas. Thank you so much. Good to see you. All right, the heated feud between GOP rivals Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. It's not showing any signs of simmering down. Bush had some choice words for Trump on the campaign trail this morning. More on that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:28:33]

WHITFIELD: Hello, again. And thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Jeb Bush and Donald Trump have been going at it ever since things got heated at the GOP debate this week. And today, well, the feud rolls on, with both candidates on the campaign trail, Jeb Bush starting out the day by calling Trump a jerk in New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I got to get this off my chest. Donald Trump is a jerk. You cannot insult your way to the presidency. You can't disparage women, Hispanics, disabled people. Who is he kidding? This country is far better than that.

And the idea that he's actually running for president and insulting people is deeply discouraging, to be honest with you. And I think we should reject that out of hand. I hope you're going to reject it by voting for me. But a guy like that should not be the front running candidate of our great party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So this comes after Trump went after Bush on Twitter, calling him incompetent and an embarrassment. He then went on to insult Jeb Bush's family, saying, quote, "The last thing our country needs is another Bush, dumb as a rock!"

Jeremy Diamond is at the Trump event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He's joining us on the phone because they are doing a routine security sweep there.

[12:30:02] So Jeremy, where do we begin? I mean, this is just sunken to a whole another level or depth I should say. No class, no sophistication. I mean this kind of responsibility with words? Well, where is it?

JEREMY DIAMOIND, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yeah, well I think that we've certainly seen, Fred in the last week especially during the CNN GOP debate earlier this week.

Jeb Bush has decided that he's done with taking Donald Trump's attacks and not responding. He's done with just trying to run his campaign and ignore Trump. He decided that if he's going to be successful then he has to hit back at Donald Trump. And so that's exactly what Jeb Bush is doing. We're seeing some fighting words from him here, the kind of words that you would expect to hear from Donald Trump, maybe himself, about another candidate.

So certainly, Jeb Bush is trying to get under Donald Trump's skin and the question is, is that working? It just might be. You know, Jeb Bush was the only candidate to really go after Donald Trump and engage him in a fight during the debate. And we're seeing him continue that strategy this week. And Trump responding yesterday with that Twitter tirade that you read out.

I think with that we can certainly expect to see Donald Trump today at his rally talking about Jeb Bush, maybe hitting him back, which, of course is interesting because Donald Trump had set for a little while now that he was done attacking Jeb Bush, because he had some other more serious competitors to deal with. But now Jeb Bush is kind of switching that dynamic up.

WHITFIELD: And I guess the other question is, why does Trump even feel like he needs to engage? I mean especially following the debate. A Fox poll puts him on top. But he remains on top with Jeb Bush, way down low, still in single digits 3 percent Donald Trump 39 percent.

So I mean is this just -- this is just sport, isn't it? Is this just fun for Donald Trump then to engage? Because there really isn't an explanation in terms of looking for a real return in terms of numbers for this kind of dialogue back and forth.

DIAMOND: Right. Well, I think, first of all, Donald Trump probably just can't resist when somebody hits him. Not to hit them back. And second of all, that's a big part of Donald Trump's brand, right? You know, we would be talking on air every day about how Donald Trump is, you know, backing down or not responding to Jeb Bush's attacks on him, and that goes directly against with Donald trump has stood for this entire campaign, which is somebody who when attacked, when pushed, when, you know, criticized, he's going to hit back twice as hard.

So, I think Donald Trump has to kind of maintain that brand that he has there, which is a big reason for his support, I think in the Republican Party.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much. Again, you're in a security sweep that's why you joined us by phone but you are at that event and we'll check back with you later on. Thank you so much.

All right, two other republican candidates have also been sparring all week long, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Well, they've been feuding over the immigration positions and Rubio's senate attendance record.

This hour, Rubio is speaking in Spartanburg, South Carolina. And Cruz just wrapped up a rally outside of Savannah, Georgia. A reporter asked him if he could see a role for Rubio in a Cruz Administration, if it were to come to that. And the answer, well, it just might surprise you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R-TX) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Marco is a very, very talented leader. He's a friend of mine. He's charming, he's an incredible communicator. Of course, and any Republican president would be a fool for the men and women standing on that debate stage not to comprise a substantial portion of their cabinet. And I look forward to hopefully winning the nomination, being elected, and continuing to work with these extraordinary leaders from across the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Incredible speak that he said.

All right, Cruz also said that there are a lot of candidates throwing insults at each other, and he says he's trying to stay focused on the scripture and sending a positive message.

All right, coming up, U.S. officials are fearing a foreign government is responsible for a major computer hack of encrypted communications of the U.S. government.

[12:34:10] We'll talk about that and what was compromised, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right the FBI is investigating a major computer breach that officials fear may have opened up the U.S. to foreign infiltration. The breach was only recently discovered, but it started with a hack three years ago at Juniper Networks, an equipment vendor for the government and private companies. CNN's Evan Perez has more on how serious this breach is.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: One U.S. government official says it's akin to stealing a master key to every government building. A Juniper Network says that someone was able to break into its systems and alter source code for an important piece of software.

Now this means that sophisticated hackers could use a backdoor to spy on communications that is supposed to be protected by encryption. Juniper makes routers and computer equipment that is widely used by private companies and by U.S. government agencies, like the pentagon and the treasury, and the FBI.

Now, U.S. officials tell me that they believe this is the work of foreign government hackers.

Now, the breach occurred three years ago when Juniper only discovered the vulnerability in the last couple of weeks.

Juniper issued a statement saying once they identify the vulnerabilities, they worked to develop security patches to protect the equipment that was affected. The FBI has now launched for the investigation, and because of the sophistication, officials say that only a handful of governments have the capability to do this. And Russia and China are at the top of that list.

WHITFIELD: All right, Evan Perez, thanks you so much.

Are joining me to talk more about this is Cyrus Walker. He is a forensics and cyber security expert. Good to see you.

So as -- excellent, so as we heard in Evan's report, one U.S. official described this breach akin just stealing a master key to get into any government building. Is that how you see this?

CYRUS WALKER, FORENSICS AND CYBERSECURITY EXPERT: Well, yes. There was a mention of encryption in the report just given. And typically what happens is, Juniper, a large maker of firewalls and routers, they also employ VPN technology as well.

And a VPN technology is used to secure data being transmitted between two points. And if they can get the master keys to the encryption algorithms used, then they can get into any VPN connection that is ever created with a Juniper device.

So yes, it is akin to getting the Master keys to any building.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. So these all hinges on encryption and, you know, we learned this week that some of the terrorist in the Paris attacked likely used encrypted apps on their cellphones to communicate with one another.

So help us understand what it means when something is encrypted.

[12:40:04] WALKER: Well basically, the information is decoded or encoded to prevent a normal human or application from reading at its traditionally created.

So it makes it impossible to read, without having the decryption keys in order to unlock that data to be able to get to it.

Encryption has been around for many years. It's being widely used these days on pretty much every device that transmits data, so encryption is going to be a problem for the federal government for some time to come.

WHITFIELD: In the future, can you see that there are some backdoor entry points that would be created or technology that allows there to be a backdoor for these encrypted sites?

WALKER: Well, that's really up to the manufacturer and the relationship that they work out with the government. The government has two tasks that they need to explore.

One is either cracking the encryption code, which is nearly impossible to do these days, or they need to get access to the keys. Getting access to the keys is a lot quicker than trying to crack the code. But if manufacturers are willing to work out those kinds of relationships, then that's a possibility.

But, they have to consider the balance between civil liberties and privacy and the issues that we're dealing with in today's society, regarding terrorism and their use of encryption to keep their communications secret.

WHITFIELD: Right. So that kind of answers that the question that I and many people would have which is, you know, could it be enforced? Could government impose itself on these manufacturers or would it have to be strictly an elective at manufacturers of these, you know, sites would have to say, OK, we're willing to cooperate and allow for these backdoor entries?

WALKER: Right about its elective. Who knows what the future may hold regarding what the federal government may decide to do regarding encryption technologies.

But right now it's an elective process that manufacturers choose to take, which I don't believe any have done to this point. That's why you see these issues of break-ins and stealing a piece and things like that.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, you wonder, you know, in the future, if there would be that kind of willingness, if it means standing in front of terrorism before it happens. Cyrus Walker, you know, you just don't see it. No.

WALKER: Well, you know, it's the enigma situation all over again, back in the 1940's when the U.S. government had to go after the enigma device the Nazis were using, they're pretty much in the same boat today. And until they figure it out, it's going to be a problem for them for a very long time to come.

WHITFIELD: Interesting, all right, Cyrus Walker, thank you so much. Good to see you. Appreciate it.

WALKER: You too. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right coming up, you might be stepping through one of these metal detectors before stepping into the happiest place on earth, right there. New security measures now at major theme parks across the U.S.

Former FBI crisis response agent, Carol Herron, there he is, he's joining me next to talk about this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:47:26] WHITFIELD: Augusta County, Virginia, is surrounded by a lot of controversy today.

The reason, administrators shut down all public schools after a teacher handed out a homework assignment on calligraphy. Some parents saw it as an attempt to convert their children.

Here's Jason Carroll with details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON CAROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a written homework assignment for ninth graders attending their world geography class at Riverhead's High School in Stanton, Virginia.

A calligraphy assignment to copy this is what caused an entire school district to cancel classes.

CHUCK LAYMEN, PARENT: Most people just don't really understand what exactly was put into that work sheet that the kids were sent home with.

CAROLL: According to the school, the assignment said, here is the shahada, the Islamic statement of faith, written in Arabic. In the space below, try copying it by hand. This should give you an idea of the artistic complexity of calligraphy.

But instead of a lesson on calligraphy, the school district learned a lesson about the complexity surrounding Islam.

Americans, uneasy now with anything having to do with their religion, in the wake of the recent terror attacks overseas and at home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY HERNDON, UPSET MOTHER: I will not have my children sit under a woman who indoctrinates them with the Islam religion when I am a Christian

And I'm going to stand behind Christ.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why couldn't we just try to write hello, good- bye, you know, normal words, not that?

CAROLL: The local sheriff's department says the Augusta school district received hate mail from people accusing the teacher of trying to convert children to Islam.

So, the district canceled classes Friday for the entire county, all of its 10,000 students.

They say there was no specific threat, but school officials did say the "tone and content," are some of the communications was concerning.

The superintendent released a statement which reads, "As we have emphasized, no lesson was designed to promote a religious viewpoint or change any students' religious belief. Although students will continue to learn about world religions, as required by the state board of education and the commonwealth standards of learning, a different non- religious sample of Arabic calligraphy will be used in the future."

A number of students talked to Facebook to defend the lesson and the teacher.

One post reads, "I personally was not offended by this. I liked the assignment," calling his instructor "an amazing teacher."

The teacher had lifted the calligraphy lesson from a standard workbook on world religion and according to the sheriff, had assigned it before without any threats or backlash.

Muslim leaders now say the cultural climate has shifted to an unsettling place. [12:50:04] COREY SAYLOR, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS: It

shows us the level of anti-Islam hysteria in the United States.

We want our children to understand the world in which they will live and unfortunately, we find that some parents are just terrified of even a simple calligraphy assignment.

CAROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So the terror attacks in San Bernardino and Paris have Americans on edge. This is now the second school to cancel classes in less than a week.

The Los Angeles school district shut down schools earlier at this week after receiving a cyber-related terror threat, and now, the heightened concern has major theme parks settling into a new reality.

Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld theme parks have added some security measures that are new. Disney, so far has taken the most precaution installing metal detectors at all of its U.S. Parks, banning toy guns is also not allowing anyone over the age of 14 to wear costumes.

And its adding dogs trained to smell body-worn explosives.

Joining me right now to discuss is Carl Herron. He is a former FBI crisis response agent and is the security manager for the Georgia dome, home to the NFL'S Atlanta falcons.

All right. Good to see you, Carl.

CARL HERRON, FORMER FBI CRISIS RESPONSE AGENT: Good to see you, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, this seems to be the new norm, heightening security measures, even if it means, you know, at a family-related Disney park, right?

HERRON: Yeah. It's something that gradually was going to come about. You look at Disney, it's a U.S. Icon known throughout the world. And when you have something where you have a lot of people considered a soft target, I think the measures are right, what they're putting in place right now.

WHITFIELD: And we all recall, even before the Super Bowl, and there were concerns about the soft targets, the places leading to the crowds that take you to the stadium.

So how about those soft targets that even surround let say, like a Disney or Universal parks, while you have the magnetometers, there are still crowds right before that.

HERRON: Correct, you know, one thing I looked at in the Paris attacks, there were venues that or places that were attacked that fit just that mold. There was the restaurant, the places outside of the venue of the soccer venue. So the same would apply with here, but what Disney is doing is probably rolling this out slowly, to see how the crowd the flow goes, with implementing something new.

And they should also probably get out with a P.R. program, just like with the NFL on the clear bag policy. So I would see that following.

WHITFIELD: Meaning, what would have to be the narrative or what happens to that.

HERRON: There's a narrative of being, these things are banned from coming inside of the park, toy guns, metal objects, knives. And going to have people bringing them by mistake, but they would need to get that P.R. message out there, ahead of time.

WHITFIELD: Even as it pertains to other events, "Star Wars," it was huge last night, and now we're talking about of people being screened through metal detectors, in some venues, people were not allowed to wear costumes and when people go to see "Star Wars," they generally want to be in costume.

Is that where we are with movie theaters? I mean, do you think this is the natural progression of safety?

HERRON: I think things will gradually go that way, because of, there are things that you can put in place that won't be as militaristic or -- for the general public. So you have to kind of way that balance with the public and security and safety.

WHITFIELD: So, overall, adjustments have to be made, I mean, that is the bottom line. Security cannot be and remain the same. It has to change, just as the sign of the times changed.

HERRON: Correct, correct, that I -- give you a good example is after the Boston marathon bombing, the NFL implemented its clear bag policy, because of the backpacks that were left there from the Boston marathon.

So, and they came out with a good pr package on that. What was allowed in, what was not of the sizes. So it has to get out to the public, what you can and cannot. So it can help them enjoy, you know, when they come to the event, you know, know what they can and cannot bring.

WHITFIELD: And how concerned are you about the difficulties of they're trying to strike the balance, trying to get ahead with security changes, at the same time, allow people, just as we heard in our last segment with Cyrus, you know, weighing the civil liberties?

HERRON: Yeah, and I think it can be done. It's more or less educating the public. If we want to attend venues, then these are the security measures we have to go through.

Now, those security measures also have to be balanced with you attending an event, how long it's going to take you to get in. And that's why they say, they might be testing ... WHITFIELD: Yeah,

HERRON: ... the crowd flow, you know, how long it's going to take to get people through, if we're wanting them, if they're going through the metal detector, if the detector goes off, what do you do with that person? So, there's a lot of policy procedures and things that are going into place.

WHITFIELD: Got it. All right, thanks so much, Carl Herron.

HERRON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Great to see you. Thank you so much.

HERRON: OK, thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right just in to CNN now, a Russian President Vladimir Putin says, he is ready to use, "more military means in Syria if needed." Putin's remarks came during a gala reception at the Kremlin.

[12:55:11] He touted what he sees as progress in Russia's military campaign in Syria and indicated Russia has even more military force that it can unleash.

We'll have much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, Will Smith. Well, he's money at the box office. His films have grossed nearly $3 billion over his career. He has a new film out next week called "Concussion".

It's the controversial story of a doctor who changed for football forever, but not everyone is happy about the film.

Rachel Nichols sat down with Will Smith to discuss the movie and the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL SMITH, STAR OF "CONCUSSION": I grew up in Philly and loved football. I did not want to be the guy who said to the world that, oh, guys, there might be a hidden danger that we're not seeing.

But after I met Dr. Omalu and he told me his story and I sort of understood the science of it, as a parent I started to feel impelled to tell the story, because I didn't know. While my son was playing, I didn't know.

And I knew that if I didn't know, other parents didn't know. So it became important to me to be a part of the delivery of the information.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Now the $1 million question is, now that you know what you know, you said educating parents; would you let Trey play football now? If he came to you now and said, hey dad, I want to play high school football, what would you say?

SMITH: I think I would say, son, listen, I love you and, you know, if it were up to me, you could play, but your mother said no.

NICHOLS: That is an excellent strategy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:00:06] WHITFIELD: Good answer, Will Smith there.

All right, we have so much more straight ahead the NEWSROOM, right after this.