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Sanders Campaign and DNC Reach Agreement on Voter Data Breach Incident; Donald Trump Increases Lead over GOP Rival Presidential Candidates; "Affluenza" Teen on Probation Possibly Fled Country; Man in Car Accident Paralyzed by Gunshot from Police Officer; New Encryption Technology Examined. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 19, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] FRANK PALLOTTA, CNN REPORTER: They're projecting around $220 million, but some have it as high as $250 million, or maybe higher than that. This is incredible. There's no other way to say it.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is incredible. I'm going to check it out. I'll wait for the crowds to die down, but something tells me, that's not going to happen. It's just always going to be a crowded field to get a ticket to see "Star Wars." Thank you so much and happy holidays.

PALLOTTA: You, too.

WHITFIELD: All right, Frank Pallotta.

All right, the next hour of the CNN Newsroom begins right now.

Hello, again, 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 chairwoman defended the party's action on CNN this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: We did reach an agreement with the campaign. They finally gave us the information that 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, 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 we were able to reach an agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Athena Jones is at the debate site in New Hampshire there. So what material do we know the Sanders campaign to get their hands on?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, Fred, I've got to tell you first off that the Sanders campaign says they don't have any of Clinton's data, no modeling list, no voter contact list in their possession.

Now, the national data director who was fired told CNN he was only looking at this information in the Clinton campaign of voter data because he wanted to figure out how much the Sanders campaign's voter data was exposed by this firewall being down. He says the Sanders campaign didn't reap any material gained from his actions.

But I've got to tell you, two other Democratic sources who are close to this, who know a lot about this program and this investigation say that these staffers may have gained access to important information to Clinton's strategy, things like voter turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire, projections for voter turnout for those, also information for other key early voting states like Nevada and South Carolina, about 10 other states that are going to be voting in March, a big month for primaries, including Florida and Colorado, two important states.

They also were told, did several searches to take a look at the information the Clinton campaign has put together on voter enthusiasm and voter support, just how strong their enthusiasm is for Clinton, whether they're very likely to come out and caucus for her or vote for her or less likely and perhaps persuadable. That's the kind of information that could have been used to the Sanders campaign. But, again, this investigation is continuing. There's an independent audit that is taking place. And the Sanders campaign says they don't have any of this information in their possession. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, something tells me, it's not over yet. All right, thanks so much Athena Jones, appreciate it.

So as the Democrats get ready for their big night tonight, the first poll taken since the CNN Republican debate is out. It's the first measurement of which candidate might have gained the most from the event. In the poll from FOX News, Trump is still the big frontrunner, getting 39 percent of the support. Ted Cruz, second with 18 percent, Marco Rubio, 11 percent, Ben Carson, nine points, and everyone else is at three percentage points or less.

Several Republicans are hitting the campaign trail today. Ben Carson spoke at a town hall in Iowa last hour playing up his Christian values. Ted Cruz is now headed to Alabama next hour as part of his tour of the south. Earlier he was in Savannah, Georgia, and he said he is focusing on being positive. And Marco Rubio has another event in South Carolina coming up at 3:00 eastern time. Earlier, he said that all the people who are running are, quote-unquote, "good people" and better than what we have now.

[14:05:02] Jeb Bush spoke in New Hampshire this morning with a bit of a harsher tone, calling Donald Trump a, quote-unquote, "jerk." Donald Trump is expected to speak in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in about an hour from now. CNN Politics reporter Jeremy Diamond is at that event. So Jeremy, do you believe that Donald Trump will keep those comments alive, responding to Jeb Bush's word?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: You know, I certainly wouldn't be surprised if Donald Trump was going to punch back today and hit at Jeb Bush yet again. We saw yesterday Trump go on a sort of a Twitter tirade against Jeb Bush, suggesting that Bushes are dumb as rocks among other things.

But there is also a little bit of a Christmas theme here today. I don't know if you can see behind me. There are some Christmas trees, and Trump's podium has a "Merry Christmas" sign over it. So maybe he'll get in the holiday spirit and maybe we'll see something a little bit different from Trump.

WHITFIELD: OK. No scrooge in the room, huh?

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: We shall see. OK. Hey, let me ask you about this FOX poll putting Trump on top after a GOP debate, Jeb Bush with just three percent. You see, you know, Donald Trump, 39 percent. What is Donald Trump's camp saying? Is this an "I told you so" moment? He has been saying as long as he is himself, his numbers continue to climb.

DIAMOND: Yes. You know, it's really remarkable when you think that about four in 10 Republican voters or likely Republican voters are now supporting or say they support Donald Trump. This is about, I think, the third poll now that's shown Trump numbers that high in the 40 percent, 38 percent to 41 percent range. So it's really something remarkable. And you're seeing Trump really miles ahead of his closest competitor who is Ted Cruz.

And, of course, while there is Jeb Bush kind of coming out and attacking Donald Trump, you know, you haven't seen Donald Trump go after Ted Cruz, his closest competitor. And you haven't seen it go the other way around. Trump at first did suggest that Ted Cruz was a maniac, and quickly pulled back on that after he took some heat from right wing commentators.

So it's a certainly interesting race where you have the number one and the number two competitors not at all going after each other, really embracing each other. And the field is really trying to catch up to Donald Trump now, because we've seen despite the slew of controversial comments and proposals he's made, he has certainly been Teflon.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that. And look, the music stopped right when you said that. That is powerful. All right, thanks, Jeremy.

All right, right now the FBI and U.S. marshals are searching for the Texas "affluenza" teen Ethan Couch. Couch is believed to be on the run with his mother and they may be carrying their passports, which are missing. The teen got 10 years probation, no jail time for killing four people in a drunken driving crash in 2013. The case made national headlines when this rich kid was described in court as having "affluenza." Nick Valencia is here with the latest. Any new developments on this search?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Authorities still believe that these two, the mother and the son, Ethan Couch, may be on the run outside of the country, and the U.S. marshals offering up to $5,000 reward for the whereabouts or some information that could potentially lead to the arrest of this 18-year-old. But two years into his 10- year probation, he seems to have violated that. And now is on the run.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: It's this video that eventually led to the manhunt posted on social media this month. The clip seems to show a group of college-aged kids partying while playing beer pong. Among them appears to be Texas teen Ethan Couch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need some ambulances. They flipped and, oh, God.

VALENCIA: Two years ago, Couch, then just 16 years old, was sentenced to ten years probation after killing four people while drunk driving.

ERIC BOYLES, LOST WIFE AND DAUGHTER IN CRASH: And two of those were my wife and daughter.

VALENCIA: His blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit. As part of a deal, Couch agreed to stay away from alcohol or end up going to jail. In a bizarre defense, Couch's attorney convinced the judge that couch was a victim of "affluenza," the product of wealth and privilege with parents who never taught him the difference between right and wrong. Listen to what Couch's mother said during a deposition from one of the victim's civil suits against her son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When's the last time you recall disciplining Ethan for anything?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't remember.

VALENCIA: Now, the teen and his mother have gone missing. Couch apparently fled shortly after this video was made public, apparently to avoid violating the probation deal. According to Reuters, the teen's father told law enforcement the passports of both Couch and his mother are also gone. [14:10:00] SHERIFF DEE ANDERSON, TARANT COUNTY, TEXAS: I hate to say

I told you so, but I told you so.

VALENCIA: County Sheriff Dee Anderson tried to lock up Couch two years ago.

ANDERSON: I think this was planned. And I believe that they planned to get away. And I believe they're going to run far and try to hide.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: So Couch took off right after that cell phone video was made public. He had a meeting with his parole officer that he missed, which is how authorities learned that he had disappeared. For now, authorities putting out that $5,000, U.S. Marshals north Texas task force is looking for him. But, again, the theory being that his mother and he went on the run outside of the country. We don't know where that could be, but he's on the run right now.

WHITFIELD: Incredible. Thanks so much, Nick Valencia, appreciate it.

A man accused of drunk driving may be permanently paralyzed, not because of a car wreck, but what an officer is accused of doing. Details on that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A California man accused in a drunken driving crash last month is still in the hospital. He is paralyzed, and it could be permanent. But it wasn't the wreck that caused his injury. It was the shot fired into his neck by a police officer as the man tried to climb out of the car. CNN's Victor Blackwell has this report. And we want to warn you, it does include graphic video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: It happened in Paradise, California, near Chico. Police say 26-year-old Andrew Thomas was caught speeding out of the parking lot of a local bar on thanksgiving without his SUV's headlights on. Officer Patrick Feaster chases him. The SUV hits a median and flips, throwing the passenger to the ground, killing her. As Feaster walks towards the wrecked vehicle with his gun drawn, Thomas climbs out. Investigators say Feaster fired one shot hitting Thomas in the neck. They say what looks like a second shot is an illusion caused by a reflection from the pistol's flashlight.

MIKE RAMSEY, BUTTE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The officer's immediate reaction was thinking that the man was going to attempt to flee.

BLACKWELL: District attorney Mike Ramsey said he could not file charges under the law, calling what happened unintentional and possibly negligent, but not criminally so. He says their investigation shows the shot was fired accidentally, and Officer Feaster was surprised by the discharge. Protests have now been organized by Thomas's supporters.

[14:15:03] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are here to serve and protect us, not shoot us.

BLACKWELL: Investigators say Feaster waited 11 minutes to report that he fired the shot. He didn't even tell the paramedics when they arrived.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have an unresponsive female and a male in the car refusing to get out.

BLACKWELL: The district attorney called the delay troubling but said Feaster was in shock and wasn't sure if he actually fired a shot. Feaster is on leave while an internal investigation continues within the department.

CHIEF GABRIELA TAZZARI-DINEEN, PARADISE POLICE: Discipline can range anywhere from a matter of reprimand to termination.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, that was CNN's Victor Blackwell reporting. So more on this case let's talk now with CNN's legal analyst Philip Holloway. Boy, Philip, that is some disturbing video to have to look at. So based on what we know in that reporting, what do you see there? And what do you think of the district attorney's insistence that charges cannot be filed against this officer?

PHILIP HOLLOWAY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Fred, that aspect, the not charging is probably the thing that troubles me the most because you would think if you become an elected district attorney, you're a seasoned attorney and you know there is a concept in the law known as criminal negligence. I don't think anybody would argue this person intentionally shot the guy. It probably was accidental for lack of a better word. But negligence, yes, for sure, criminal negligence, yes, I think so.

And here's why. That 11-minute delay, Fred, between the time he shot the gun and then reported it to other officers or the supervisor, that shows he had a reckless and careless disregard for this guy's well- being. He didn't tell the paramedics while they were trying to extract him from the car.

WHITFIELD: You said possible, accidental. I'm no expert, but just looking at that video, it kind of looked pretty intentional raising the arm with the weapon and then putting it back in the holster.

HOLLOWAY: Yes, I have no problem with the officer approaching this scene with the gun drawn. There's nothing at all wrong with that. But triggers do not pull themselves. It has to require his finger on the trigger. And we're trained to not put our fingers on the trigger until we're ready to fire the weapon. So I'm not necessarily buying the fact that he didn't know he shot the gun. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not. But the fact that he didn't tell anybody and he didn't tell these other first responders for 11 minutes, it looks like he's shining his flashlight looking for the shell casing while these other officers are trying to render aid, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. So what other recourse might this driver, Andrew Thomas, have in trying to, you know, pursue some responsibility here?

HOLLOWAY: Well, he obviously has the option of filing a lawsuit. And in that regard, that's his only remedy. Of course, he's still facing very serious criminal charges himself because after all, the passenger was ejected and killed. So he's facing criminal charges that could land him in prison for quite a long time. He still could potentially make a civil rights claim, a civil lawsuit. Proof by preponderance of the evidence is all that's required in that scenario. So that would be about the only thing he's got, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Troubling case, and troubling video, too. Philip Holloway. Thanks so much.

HOLLOWAY: You bet.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, counterterrorism officials have revealed they believe some of the Paris terrorists used encrypted apps to communicate in the days before the coordinated attacks. We'll talk to our tech correspondent next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:21:36] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A new development in the Paris terror attack that killed 130 people, officials have revealed they believe some of the Paris terrorists used encrypted apps to communicate in the days before the coordinated massacre. Officials say the killers use WhatsApp and another app called Telegram. Investigators concede that because of the encryption they may never know what was in the messages.

Joining me right now to talk more about this is CNN Money Tech Correspondent Laurie Segall. All right, good to see you, Laurie. All right, are the terrorists doing something special so their messages are encrypted, or is this a place, a location, an app that already encrypts everything for them?

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and the bottom line is encryption is easier than ever. So WhatsApp actually has encryption baked in. So you could just be using WhatsApp but your communications are protected.

Telegram, which they also spoke about, also very similar. You can have these private chats, Fred, and the chats are encrypted, making it very difficult for anyone to see what's happening. And I'll say this. Encryption has been around for a long time. But it's now becoming mainstream so people like you and me can use it very easily on apps like Telegram and apps like WhatsApp.

WHITFIELD: So a lot of people maybe familiar already with that, WhatsApp, but then what about this Telegram?

SEGALL: Telegram is an interesting one. It was launched in 2013 by a guy who is dubbed the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia. And he actually fled Russia because he refused to hand over data to the government. And he built Telegram, which is an app based on privacy. A couple of facts about Telegram, it offers public channels. And this is where you see a lot of ISIS propaganda. This is where ISIS actually took credit for the Paris attacks. Also, two -- not one, two layers of encryption, group chats where people can have up to 200 people. And also self- destructing messages and photos. So it's almost like Snapchat, but even more encrypted, even more protected, Fred. So I spoke to a terrorism analyst who said we're seeing ISIS use this particular app more and more.

WHITFIELD: Are you seeing, potentially, a working relationship between the U.S. government and these tech companies to, you know, really help kind of, I guess, decode or reveal information that could threaten this nation?

SEGALL: It's a tough one. You know, you hear news like this, and you hear President Obama say we need to work better with the tech companies. And a lot of people say, oh, encryption is bad. But you've got to remember, encryption, first of all, is a dual technology. It helps protect our bank accounts, helps keeps us safe online, helps dissidents talk safely. But it also -- and because it's going mainstream, it's creating this new problem where it's easier than ever for the bad guys to connect.

I actually had the opportunity to speak with a hacker, the security researcher who is very well known who built the encryption technology for WhatsApp. And he explained to me, his name is Moxie Marlinspike. That's a name he calls himself. It's not his real name. But he explained to me why he's building the technology. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOXIE MARLINSPIKE, HACKER: Well, what we're trying to do is make mass surveillance impossible. And, you know, terrorists or pedophiles or, you know, whoever the bad people are, they already have access to encryption. Right now we're the only people that aren't using encryption technology. You know, people who are already engaged in high-risk criminal behavior are already using it.

[14:25:01] And so what we're trying to do is to develop technology that is really simple to use and accessible to just everyday normal people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEGALL: So what you hear, Fred, is you hear lawmakers say, OK, we understand that. But we need some access, the ability to have what you've mentioned before, kind of this back door. And I asked Moxie about this. And he said it's impossible to build a back door for the good guys and not have the bad guys access it. I think he said himself, if they can't protect their own data, they're getting hacked all the time, how do we expect them to protect ours? So we do need more communication between Silicon Valley and the government. But we also need a better understanding of the technology and how it works, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, Laurie Segall, thanks so much. Good to see you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Checking our top stories. A shootout between a police officer and a man on a scooter is caught on camera.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands on --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the problem, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to -- you know what --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no. I don't want a problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands on the hood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired! Shots fired!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. A man punched the officer, as you saw on tape, and then opened fire after being pulled over for not having a tag. Indian River County sheriff's deputy Christopher Lester was shot in the leg. He was treated and released from the hospital last night. Suspect Andrew Coffey is in the hospital with injuries to his torso and leg.

And Camille Cosby, the wife of Bill Cosby, might have to give a deposition about her husband's actions. This comes days after Bill Cosby filed a defamation lawsuit against seven women who accused him of sexual assault. An attorney for the seven women has now subpoenaed his wife, Cosby's wife. The Cosby lawyers are calling it unnecessary and unreasonable.

[14:30:03] All right, and we'll be back at the top of the hour with more news. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks for being with me today. I'll see you again tomorrow beginning at 2:00 eastern time. Right now "Vital Signs" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts.