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FBI Investigating Massive Hack at Sony Pictures; White Police Chief Holds Black Lives Matter Sign in Richmond, CA; Time Capsule Buried in 1700s Discovered in Boston

Aired December 12, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

You know the FBI are investigating this massive hack at Sony pictures. The company secrets, emails, Social Security numbers exposed to the world this week and one of them, one of these emails between executives involving Angelina Jolie, one of them calling her a spoiled brat. Well, it turns out Jolie ran into executive who is on the receiving end of that email about here. Here is the picture of Jolie and Amy Pascal Wednesday at this Hollywood reporter event. They said that's the salacious part of the story.

The crux is here is that Sony is an example of the real threat to any major company here in the United States that this could happen. Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cyberattacks against Sony, Target, Home Depot, JPMorgan Chase, Google, e-bay and virtually every business sector allowed criminals and bad actors to steal millions of Americans personal data, credit card numbers as well as corporate secrets.

Now imagine if similar cyberattacks made your lights go out or cutoff your water supply. Imagine in critical infrastructure we rely on every single day simply shut down. The threat is not only very real, it's inevitable.

ADMIRAL MICHAEL ROGERS, NSA DIRECTOR: It's only a matter of when and not if that we're going to see something traumatic.

FEYERICK: Admiral Michael Rogers heads the NSA and cyber command.

ROGERS: We've seen individuals, groups inside critical U.S. infrastructure.

FEYERICK: That's right. Power plants, banking systems, air traffic control, subways, all are vulnerable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Years ago what could have only been accomplished through a kinetic attack using missiles or bombs can now be done with a few key strokes to wipe out a sector of our nation's electric grid not just for days or weeks but potentially for months. FEYERICK: According to the department of homeland security

adversaries are inside hundreds if not thousands of U.S. critical infrastructure computers.

It's not just about getting information it seems. It's also the ability to control those sectors.

SUZANNE SPAULDING, DHS UNDERSECRETARY: This is something that we worry a lot about.

FEYERICK: CNN was given rare access to DHS' heavily protected cybersecurity sector known as N-kick (ph). It is run by the DHS undersecretary Suzanne Spaulding who oversees team at federal investigators, analysts and private infrastructure experts scrutinizing realtime cyber breaches.

SPAULDING: The thing that keeps me awake at night is knowing that there is the potential there for adversaries to get to those control systems, those systems that run machinery whether it is gates on dams or parts of the electric grid.

FEYERICK: Isn't this an act of war?

TOM PARKER, CTO, FUSIONX: Well, that's the million dollar question. What the Chinese are doing is really preparing the battlefield, if that day were to arrive, and then they would have significant advantage.

FEYERICK: Cybersecurity expert Tom Parker showed us just how easy it is to shutdown something like a power grid.

PARKER: Here we have the hacker's computer. And the hacker has already berg in to the electric utility and not we put access to that electric utilities network doing reverse engineer the codes which are sunning the operating system that is running on this device which is controlling the electric grid in this scenario.

FEYERICK: Once inside the system, the attacker waits to strike. And then watch as the lights go off in less than a second. More than three-quarters of the nation's critical infrastructure is privately owned. Critics say shows companies are not doing enough to safeguard their own systems.

REP. JAMES LANGEVIN (D), RHODE ISLAND: They don't want it coming out of their bottom line.

FEYERICK: Congressman Langevin says the threat is akin to knowing about hijackers pre- 9/11 and still doing nothing.

LANGEVIN: We know that there is a glared vulnerability and we're not moving with all urgency to close it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Deborah Feyerick is here now. And you know, so we were talking about, obviously, the Sony hack. Is

it North Korea? Is it some other rogue hacker, we don't know that yet. But then you have today's tag (ph) which all of the sudden that was happened at London Heathrow airport. They are saying it is a technical glitch. Quick to say this is not a hack. But you are saying that there are experts who would say hang on a second. Why are you so quick to say that?

FEYERICK: Well, that is exactly right. Cybersecurity officials, cybersecurity experts who are all say you need to do a complete forensic analysis to find out exactly who is in your system. What they did with Sony is they shut Sony down effectively. People could not access their computers. It's as if a fire raced through your local grocery store. They could not do anything.

So now, they are trying to rebuild and put everything back in place. But the real issue is this. When you look at what happened at Heathrow, they are saying it's not computer related. There's no evidence right now because this only happened within the last 24 hours. There's no evidence that somebody hacked into the system. Though, initially they weren't quite as definitive as they are now.

But if somebody were to target critical infrastructure, what you're seeing going on at Heathrow --

BALDWIN: Is what it would like?

FEYERICK: -- is exactly what it would look like. People would lose the ability to land planes. People would lose the ability to get people out of subways. People would lose the ability if a bad actor wanted to do that. And the scary part is anyone you speak to will tell you they're in the systems. They're waiting there and that's the danger.

The only equalizer is the fact that everybody is in each other's systems. So they're not going to take down the financial system because other financial systems would be equally vulnerable. However, if you get a rogue actor, if you get somebody for whom that doesn't care, that's the issue. And that's what everybody is trying to combat right now. Hundreds of cybersecurity experts are doing that right now.

BALDWIN: Frightening.

FEYERICK: Yes.

BALDWIN: Deborah Feyerick, thank you very much.

FEYERICK: Of course.

BALDWIN: Now to this. This picture from Ferguson protest in California, are catching a lot of eyes, perhaps yours. Here you have the police chief standing side by side with these protesters hashtag black lives matter there on his owned poster board. What does that mean to the police force in his community?

And my favorite story of the day, a time capsules has been buried since the 1700s. What is inside? Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: People have missed the irony and all these demonstrations sweeping the nation as people are protesting against police, police are there standing by to protect them. And as we have witnessed in recent days, there have been clashes. And i-reporter who captured a chaotic confrontation Monday in New York during a basketball game at the Barclay Center.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

BALDWIN: Now, let's (INAUDIBLE) that with this. Let's show the picture. White police officer chief holding a black lives matter signs in Richmond, California of their chief of Richmond police there, Chris Magnus. There were other officers standing with him not, you know, face to face but by side by side with these protesters including the deputy police chief of Richmond and he joins me now, deputy chief Allwyn Brown.

Welcome to the show.

DEPUTY CHIEF ALLWYN BROWN, RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA POLICE: Well, thank you for having me. It's good to be here.

BALDWIN: Sir, let me just ask you. I mean, with the police chief of Richmond, California, standing out there side by side and I know you were as well, tell me the story behind that picture.

BROWN: Well, we learned that there was going to be a demonstration along McDonald Avenue which is a major thoroughfare through our city. And you know, in light of, you know, our knowledge that some of these demonstrations in other places, you know, have turned to violence, we thought it was our responsibility to be there really to connect and interact with the folks that were organizing this. And it really just fits with our policing philosophy which heavily depends on relationship building in communities and across neighborhoods in Richmond.

BALDWIN: I wanted to ask you at the philosophy. I was reading this article from the country coast times speaking to successes your department has seen. Now, paper says this. In Richmond historically one of the most violent cities in the bay area, the police department has averaged fewer than one officer involved shooting per year since 2008 and no one has been killed by a cop since 2007. What have you all done that is so right, deputy chief?

BROWN: Well, we're still tinkering. But essentially we feel like training is important, at least when it comes to officer use of force. So we train pretty often. But the training is really scenario-based. It's based on situations that could happen and we really drill it down to sort of walk through situations that have happened in Richmond. Richmond is a place that, you know, can be pretty active in certain neighborhoods. And so, we feel like officers, you know, are disciplined when it comes to engaging potentially volatile situations. And of course, there's also the 10,000 hour rule in deliberate practice. There are opportunities, you know, to really practice strategies, techniques, de-escalation on a daily basis.

BALDWIN: So you have all of that. But then you have this one point which was really brought to life in the wake of what happened in Ferguson about the officers looking like those they were supposed to protect and serve. I believe there were only three black officers on at the time of Ferguson police force which was not at all, what the community looked like there in Missouri.

Do you think skin color matters? Do you think it is more about police officers no matter what they look like as long as they know the community, they know the people in the community, that's the most important part?

BROWN: Well, I think it starts with really being grounded in the purpose that police exist which is really to maintain order and to prevent crime. And so, and the notion that police really are supposed to be part of the community and the community part of police, which is an alternative to sort of military approaches, and so when you look at it from that angle, it really does require building relationships with the communities.

And so when it comes to the composition of the demographics of the workforce, I think it's relevant to have a diverse workforce. I mean, not just across the spectrum of race but background, experiences, and then to value the talents that individual members bring to the policing effort and I think what you get is you get a better product.

BALDWIN: Sounds like it, at least in your city of Richmond, California.

Deputy chief Allwyn Brown, thank you for taking the time with me. Appreciate it.

BROWN: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: We are going to stay in California and talk about these mudslides. These are just unreal pictures here overtaking homes, backyards in California, rocks, debris, now reaching rooftops. We're there live right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Two people have now been safely rescued out of the Los Angeles River this afternoon on the heels of that massive storm slamming the west coast.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

BALDWIN: We have video we'll show you of the second person being pulled out of that rescue boat out of the river there on that stretcher. Rescue crews have actually responded to a call initially about two people. Apparently they were clinging to trees over the L.A. River. You saw the fast-moving water there in echo park of Los Angeles. The rescue is reported -- the person who was rescued, reportedly in fair condition. Took a little while for rescuers to locate that second person who we now have heard has been described as alert and awake when he was found about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

We're going to go to Camarillo Springs, California, where we have Paul Vercammen. He is standing in the middle of someone's backyard in the midst of, I don't know, Paul, of mud and in rock and debris. You should be standing on grass. Tell me how all this happened.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well right now, I'm in the neighborhood, and the neighborhood absolutely got engulfed in this rock slide. You can see where the breach occurred -- tons and tons of rock coming through this area and severely damaging at least ten homes, causing them to be red-tagged. Three others green-tagged.

Giving you a little bit of different perspectives here, this is what it looks like in these people's front yards. Obviously, much more rock over to the side, but it came all the way through here. And we discussed this. There was a very, very severe fire here in 2013 in May and they'd always feared that these hills could come tumbling down because so much of the vegetation was stripped in the fire. And now, we have a new issue which is this huge, huge debris field here.

You see a chopper up above with the county. You can also see a lot of men at work, the gas company trying to come in here right now, Brooke, because they were dealing with a whole lot of severed mains. And we've seen excavators and people going at it by hands. So a real challenge here in Camarillo Springs as we speak. And unfolding story. Back to you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We'll stay in close contact with you. And those pictures, my goodness.

Paul Vercammen, thank you so much, in Camarillo Springs, California.

BALDWIN: And now to this one. This teeny tiny little box here found in some stone, some rubble, could be a window into the past, the time capsule from more than two centuries ago. We'll talk to the woman who very carefully dug this out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, I'm laughing because this is my favorite story of the day. We're going to show you a box that just might be one of the most valuable artifacts ever discovered in U.S. history. And it was literally dug out of the ground. Construction workers finding the time capsule wedged in the rubble in the statehouse of Boston. And if I may, wicked cool because it has been there a very, very long time, I'm talking 1795 embedded in the cornerstone where construction first began on this building historic building. And the woman who spent hours and hours chiseling this little box free joins me now. She Pam Hatchfield, head of object conservation of the museum of fine arts in Boston.

So Pam, congratulations and welcome.

PAMELA HATCHFIELD, MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HEAD, BOSTON: Thank you, Brooke. And thank you for using that wonderful Boston phrase, wicked cool, because it's one of our favorites. BALDWIN: Right. And this I think falls under the wicked cool

category. So let's move along.

So, there were construction workers, they were there at the statehouse. They were fixing some kind of water leak and then connect the dots for me. How do they realize they hit something special?

HATCHFIELD: Well, there had been reports of a time capsule in the cornerstone of the statehouse. But nobody knew for sure that it was there. So Susan Knack Brown (ph) and Casey Williams (ph) of (INAUDIBLE) use ground-penetrating radar to find evidence that there probably was a box there. And there was a big discussion about whether or not it should be removed. And because there was water infiltration in that area of the building, it was decided to try to see if we could find it, investigate and see whether the box was still intact and what the conditions were in which it was buried.

BALDWIN: So again, let me say this again, 1795. This is the Sam Adams era, the Paul Revere era. This is how old an ancient this is. And so, you have this box. The million-dollar question, Pam, what's inside?

HATCHFIELD: Well, we actually don't know what's inside. There are some historical reports, again. It's likely that there are coins and a plaque that was inscribed by Paul Revere and other historical documents.

BALDWIN: You didn't shake the box at all?

HATCHFIELD: Well, the whole purpose of this operation was to not shake the box. This is why we didn't let anybody else do it. And the statehouse called the museum to see whether we might be able to assist. And we were very happy to do so because it is such a wonderful opportunity to connect all of this history with Boston and the museum.

BALDWIN: In the remaining 60 seconds I have, I read that you are going to rebury it, not put some of this in the museum?

HATCHFIELD: We don't know for sure. That will depend on what the state has to say about it. Right now, we want to go inside, see if we can open it safely and determine what's left from the original 1795 time capsule and how the items are preserved inside. We're a little worried because in 1855, they cleaned the contents with acid. So we're a little concerned that things maybe deteriorated inside. So we want to preserve them as best we can and try to enclose it again under safe conditions to preserve them for the next 160 years.

BALDWIN: However many years. Pam Hatchfield, head of object conservation museum of fine arts of Boston. Good thing I wasn't there, because I would have shaken the box, just saying.

Pam, thank you. Appreciate it.

BALDWIN: And actually, in the remaining seconds I have, we're just now getting some breaking news. These are pictures at North Portland, Oregon here of a shooting of at-risk high school since that's how they call, this at-risk high school.

Here is what we know. Three victims so far. A suspect or suspects, according to police still at-large. The school there is on lockdown. We are going to be headed over to Jake Tapper with more of this coverage -- Jake.