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New Day

U.S. Military Targets Terror Group; Violence Rages in Eastern Ukraine; How Safe is the iCloud?

Aired September 02, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We have new information for you this morning about a U.S. military operation in east Africa. The Pentagon says U.S. forces did hit al Qaeda linked terrorists in Somalia, the al Shabaab terror network. Now, they've been on U.S. radar since 2008 and the U.S. has targeted the group at least twice in just the past year. The question is, why now and what did they actually accomplish on the ground, especially with ISIS running free in Iraq and Syria, and on everybody's mind.

Let's get some good perspective from someone who know this world very well, Philip Mudd. He's a CNN counterterrorism analyst, a former deputy director of the CIA counterterrorism center.

Mr. Mudd, good to see you.

Everyone says ISIS is the threat. What is this North Africa? This is the al Shabaab, the youthful movement of al Qaeda. That's old news. Why are we there?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: If you look at what's happened in the history of the al Qaeda movement, al Qaeda tried to sponsor a revolution globally. That was really the point of the 9/11 attacks. And we saw that revolution crop up in places like Indonesia, we've talked about Yemen in the past. Somalia, though, has been the core of al Qaeda affiliate operations in Africa for years. The Somali movement, as you call them al Shabaab, which is the youth, was making great progress in Somali a few years ago. The combination though of African military operations against them, which had pushed them out of the capital, Mogadishu, in 2011 with these drone strikes has really destroyed, damaged the al Shabaab movement. Kind of a parallel to what we might see in Iraq. So this is just a continuation of the slow degradation of al Shabaab that we've seen for years.

CUOMO: Quick take, do you think U.S. had boots on the ground?

MUDD: I doubt it. I think they've got great collection. You don't get these kinds of point strikes against a target like this without really good intelligence collection. I'm sure they're cooperating with the African union troops. That's the coalition of African troops, sort of like maybe the kind of coalition we might want to see in Iraq that's on the ground fighting Shabaab, but I think the collection is probably largely technical, not human boots on the ground. CUOMO: So we had another analyst on earlier who said, you know what

the risk is here, if you ignore al Qaeda because you've got ISIS on the brain you allow al Qaeda to develop itself and they may pose themselves, posture themselves as a voice of moderation in the face of ISIS. What would that mean? Is that realistic at all?

MUDD: Well, it's interesting to me, as a professional who fought al Qaeda for to so many years, watching the conversation. It's almost as if we look at the al Nusra front in Syria and say, hey, they're fighting ISIS, therefore they must be the good guys. Let's remember between ISIS and Nusra, one is these groups is the al Qaeda affiliate. That's Nusra. So let's not, as we fight ISIS, forget the fact that there is a larger, in essence, revolutionary movement out there beyond Iraq in places like north Africa, the Sahel (ph), which is sort of north central Africa, in Somali and Yemen. Like al Nusra, these groups have an ideology that says America's the target. So I understand Nusra in the short term is an advantage to us, they're killing ISIS guys, but they are the al Qaeda affiliate and I think we shouldn't forget it.

CUOMO: You know, what I think, you know, in terms of what people are forgetting versus what they're being force-fed is, it seems that everybody is attacking the west right now and it raises an interesting question, where is or what is the role of the Islamic majority in putting down these extremist groups? We don't seem to hear as much about that as we do of what the west is going to do to fight extremism in the Islamic world.

MUDD: Well, to be blunt, Chris, that's because, in some cases, this country's myopic. We look at activities overseas, for example, what the U.S. is doing in terms of its force deployments. We don't talk about stuff that's harder to understand, more nuanced. As I watched the middle eastern press coming in, you see middle eastern political leaders and a lot of religious leaders in places like Saudi Arabia and Egypt talking about ISIS and talking about the horrors of ISIS and telling youth in vulnerable countries like Saudi Arabia that joining ISIS is wrong.

The other thing I'd say, Chris, really interesting is, if you look at public relations data, that is polling data across the Middle East, it's hard to get at but there are some companies that are doing pretty good polling from 9/11 on, public attitudes in those countries, countries like Jordan, Turkey, are wildly anti-suicide bombing, and anti-al Qaeda. They weren't as anti-al Qaeda 13 years ago. So behind the scenes, as we talk about what we're doing, that is positioning troops, the Middle East is talking about what a scourge ISIS is and how they have a responsibility to prevent youth from going.

CUOMO: But then don't we have to start altering our policy towards invigorating that resistance from those people in the Middle East? You know, not to make it us and them, but to get these countries where a lot of this is percolating to do something about it, otherwise you're just going to have more and more reactive policy from here, witness the U.K., deradicalization classes, good mosques versus bad mosques. I mean that wouldn't fly here in the U.S. But if that's the direction you're going, that's a bad direction. You need to get that part of the world invested in its own future, don't you?

MUDD: I think that's why -- we go back to Somalia. There's an interesting parallel between Iraq and Somalia and what the president is trying to do to build a coalition. One of the things - one of the successes of Somali is the fact that its African troops that supply the boots on the ground, America that supplies drone operations and some of the intelligence. In Iraq, by contrast, we've already got military operations underway led by the U.S. and we're sort of waiting for other countries in the region, the Turks, et cetera, to show up and put boots on the ground.

I think one of the reasons for that is not just that these countries can bring military force to bear. It's that the image in a newspaper in a place like Riyadh in Saudi Arabia -

CUOMO: Right.

MUDD: Or Cairo of American operations is a lot different than operations led by say Jordanians or Turks. And there's a real psychological advantage to them getting involved.

CUOMO: Absolutely and we haven't seen in enough - hell, we don't even talk about it enough. you know, it's good that we brought it up in this discussion now because it's never on the agenda. It's never part of the toolkit for fighting this, what those actual domestic fronts of where these extremists are coming from, what they're doing about it. It's always about what these outside forces from the west will do.

MUDD: Yes.

CUOMO: Philip Mudd, thank you very much for the perspective.

MUDD: Yes.

CUOMO: Always appreciate it

MUDD: My pleasure. See you.

CUOMO: All right, so, in terms of what the west will do, that comes down to NATO, right? And we have a meeting of the leaders of NATO as the crisis going on with ISIS and in Ukraine specifically heats up. The question is, can anyone rein in Vladimir Putin with what's going on in eastern Ukraine, which by all accounts is getting worse?

Then you have what's happening back here at home. Hackers hitting Hollywood. Apple and the FBI now investigating how these nude photos from top celebs were stolen. More importantly, forget about their pictures, what about yours? Are our files safe? We'll give you the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Are we getting closer to all-out war watching that play out between Ukraine and Russia? Top Ukrainian officials are sounding the alarm after the latest round of aggression coming from Moscow. The crisis no doubt at the top of the agenda for the NATO summit occurring later this week. Top NATO leaders are already proposing a fighting force to respond faster to security threats around the world, including from Russia. This as the bloody conflict - as - this as the bloody conflict rages on in eastern Ukraine. CNN'S Diana Magnay is in a small town where Ukrainian forces have been under siege and are now retreating with the very latest.

What are you learning on the ground right now, Diana?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kate.

Well, we've just been leaving the town of Ilovaisk, where Ukrainian forces have been routed by the pro-Russian rebels. We were driving south and came across the scene of really a chaotic retreat on the part of the Ukrainians. Behind me, these charred military vehicles. That is the turret of a tank that was blown off a tank just a bit further down the road. The ground here is absolutely covered in unexploded ordnance and there are cars constantly driving up and down this road. There are mines here. It is - it is a scene of chaos really.

And a couple of days ago presumably this was the Ukrainians' last stand as the rebels pushed them south. And what is happening in this region, a little bit southeast of Donetsk towards the Russian border, is that the rebels are continuing to catch more ground, and that argues NATO argues Ukraine is because of their increasing help from Russia, the fact that Russia is not only providing incredibly sophisticated weaponry, but is also actually providing Russian military units to fight alongside the pro-Russian rebels.

Now, Kate, I've got to add, we have been down in the south where a new front has opened along the Sea of Azal (ph), very close to the Russian border, and now we've been in this area around Donetsk. And it's been very hard for us to actually lay eyes on Russian troops, not least because they don't want to be filmed by TV crews like us. So it's difficult for us to verify the fact that they are there. But from the Russian - I'm sorry, the Ukrainian troops we have been speaking to, the Ukrainian units, they say they're not even trying to hide it and certainly the rebels tell us that, yes, they have plenty of Russian volunteers here to help them, though they say most of their ammunition, and I went round a store of ammunition with one of the rebel commanders in the town of Ilovaisk earlier, he says that all of the weaponry has been caught from the Ukrainian as they fled.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: It is pretty remarkable, though, just to see what looks to be completely abandoned military equipment right all around you where you are. Diana Magnay on the ground for us in Ukraine. Thank you so much, Diana.

Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go with the five things you need to know for your new day.

At number one, the Pentagon says U.S. military forces conducted an operation against terrorists in Somalia. A suspected U.S. drone strike targeting leaders of the al Shabaab network. No word yet on whether or not that operation was successful.

As we've been telling you, the president leaves for Europe today ahead of this week's NATO Summit in Wales. President Obama's focus remains on slowing Russia's aggression on Ukraine and explaining a strategy as he tries to form a coalition to fight ISIS.

The White House says it is doing all it can to help three Americans being held in North Korea, calling their release a top priority. The men spoke with CNN, pleading with the Obama administration to get them released.

Jury deliberations begin today in the trial of four former government contractors who gunned down 17 Iraqis in 2007. In question is whether the Blackwater guards were justified in opening fire.

And at number five, the first human safety trials begin today for an experimental Ebola vaccine. Three healthy human volunteers will be tested at the NIH, Institute of Health. If found safe, it will be given to another small group of volunteers. We'll be watching that, of course.

And we do update those five things to know, so be sure to go to newdaycnn.com for the latest.

Chris.

CUOMO: Thank you very much, Michaela. It'll be some day when they finally have a vaccine.

BOLDUAN: Oh my God, unbelievable. Especially in face of what they're up against right now with the virus outbreak.

CUOMO: Because it's so hard to get help where you need it so if you could have a vaccine there to start would make a huge difference.

Speaking of huge difference, weather. There's supposed to be changing of seasons.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CUOMO: There was some suggestion by a certain meteorologists that there would be cooler weather and now it's hot as Hades in there!

INDRA PETERSONS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Is that how we're starting this?

CUOMO: And with that suggestion I come to you, Indra Petersons.

(CROSSTALK)

PETERSONS: But, yes, everyone is complaining, right? Kids going back to school, everyone's saying hey, summer's over. Hardly. There's so much heat out there today. But first let's start with a line of storms. Look at this, impressive. St. Louis actually many waking up without power this morning thanks to the severe line of storms now pushing in through Cincinnati. Very easy to see, just ahead of the cold front. That's the punch where we're really looking at the more severe weather.

Meanwhile, down to the south today just some scattered showers. But, yes, if you're out towards Pittsburgh, maybe Columbus, even Cincinnati today look for very strong storms to make their way through. A lot of lightning already seeing that and of course the heavy downpours and even tonight in the Northeast you may get a quick storm kind of through those overnight hours.

Then there is the heat. Yes, it is September but feels it definitely feels like even July and August, especially if you're way down to the South. Temperatures there into the 90s, thanks to the jet stream well to the North. So look at all of this heat out there, temperatures a good 10, 15 degrees above normal, even New York City looking at 92 today. Check out Dallas looking at 98 degrees. Meanwhile, you add in the humidity factor feels like, I don't know, what? A lovely 104. D.C. Feeling like 100 degrees, that is the heat no one likes. Keep in mind we do have a tropical storm but staying South, it looks like Dolly going to be affecting places like Texas. No, don't worry September, we're still all hot and muggy.

BOLDUAN: You said it feels like 100 in D.C.?

PETERSONS: 100 today. Do you think they like that? I'm going to say no.

BOLDUAN: You know that humidity in D.C., very specific to D.C.

PETERSONS: Yes, it doesn't feel good.

BOLDUAN: Very painful.

PETERSONS: No, thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Indra.

CUOMO: By humidity we mean political inaction.

BOLDUAN: I didn't, but okay. Alright.

The FBI and Apple are now both investigating how hackers accessed private photos of A-list Hollywood stars. So what about your information most importantly, is it safe? Be right back

(COMMERCIAL)

PEREIRA: So the hunt is on for the hackers who stole and posted naked pictures of Hollywood A-listers, including actress Jennifer Lawrence. The FBI and Apple are now both investigating just how hackers obtained the private photos. They were apparently accessed from Apple's iCloud online storage service. CNN technology analyst Brett Larson here. Here is the question.

BRETT LARSON, CNN TECHNOLOGY ANALYST: Yes.

PEREIRA: Was it about password, lack of sophistication, or was it something more sinister than that?

LARSON: It could be one of two things. It could be that the password hacking, that somebody just went in, got the username and said I'm going to try every password in the book and get in. And, since most of us use password as our password or password - -

PEREIRA: Fido123.

LARSON: Or 12345 or whatever it is, it could have been that simple. It could have also been you know the celebrity, you know their e-mail address.

PEREIRA: And you know enough about them.

LARSON: You send them a little phishing scam.

PEREIRA: Boom.

LARSON: A little hey, you have to update your password and you got it.

PEREIRA: What about this idea that some are reporting that there was a bug with the iCloud that might have been --

LARSON: Yes, that has been talked about - -

PEREIRA: A volunerability.

LARSON: - - and it has been patched.

PEREIRA: It has?

LARSON: Apple did say they patched - - they're calling it the iBrute because they said they might have just used brute force. We're just going to try every single password because they're not locking us out once we get it wrong three times.

PEREIRA: So here's the thing.

LARSON: Yes.

PEREIRA: Apple is doing their part. The FBI is investigating. What about us? What about our iCloud? What about my iPad and my iPhone?

LARSON: Right.

PEREIRA: And the darn cloud?

LARSON: These are very serious things and it brings to light a very serious issue. Everything we have now goes to the cloud.

PEREIRA: Right.

LARSON: You've got your iPad. Now the thing about your iPad - -

PEREIRA: My pictures.

LARSON: If someone stole your iPad, this is what they're going get. They're going to get your pictures.

PEREIRA: I know, I'm not very exciting.

LARSON: They're going to get three pictures, they're going to get an address book, they're going to get maybe your e-mails and access to your e-mail, which is bad, but also its going to be backed up to the cloud.

PEREIRA: So it goes from here to here.

LARSON: It goes there to there. Same thing with your iPhone. Your iPhone has your pictures, your e-mails, maybe some selfies that you took at a party.

PEREIRA: Same with the laptop.

LARSON: Worse for the laptop because you have your banking data, you've got, maybe you've got your tax returns and your documents folder because you did them digitally and then when this guy gets in - -

PEREIRA: Boom.

LARSON: - - he's got everything.

PEREIRA: Here's the question then. What do we do? Because the fact is password protection only goes so far, correct?

LARSON: Correct, that is absolutely correct. You've got to change your passwords often.

PEREIRA: Frequently.

LARSON: You have to use something that someone couldn't guess and you should also consider using a two-step authentication, where its if you want to change anything, we're going to text you a code to the cell phone number that we have on file.

PEREIRA: So you have to have a mobile device.

LARSON: Right. And Apple, the iCloud is actually pretty good about if you try and add another device to your iCloud membership it sends messages to everything else that you have connected that says hey, this computer that's calling itself Michaela's computer - -

PEREIRA: Right.

LARSON: - - is trying to access your iCloud. Is that okay?

PEREIRA: On a scale of one to ten I can feel mostly confident about the cloud?

LARSON: Yes you can because the security hole has been patched.

PEREIRA: Kate still thinks it's imaginary. She's like oh, this cloud. I can't do the cloud. LARSON: It's really a server in North Carolina but we like to call it

the cloud. And as long as you keep your passwords safe, keep your email address out of things. If you post comments somewhere don't use the e-mail address that's associated with your iCloud and change your passwords.

PEREIRA: You're the best, my dear.

LARSON: I try, I try.

PEREIRA: Thank you. You can come to my cloud any time. We have the Good Stuff coming up next. Stay where you are.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: A little question here for the five of us. What would you do if your engagement plans fell apart just days ahead of the wedding? You don't have to worry about that yet. You would lock yourself in a room, curl up in a ball, cry, cry, cry, or consider yourself lucky.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (voice-over): However, Pittsburgh man Phil Laboon did none of that. We told you about him last week.

PEREIRA (voice-over): Yes, that's right.

CUOMO: This weekend canceled wedding took place. Why? Because he used the reception hall to raise money for charity.

PHIL LABOON, USED CANCELED WEDDING TO RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITY: That's like life. Something happens, you just, you roll with it. Now we've had over 800 requests from people online asking to buy tickets.

CUOMO: Good Stuff, canceled wedding raised thousands for a group that provides free medical care to kids in need. The head of the group still can't believe it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought this is a joke, I mean. No one does this. Then I felt like a bride, thank you very much.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: Lemons to lemonade, my friend.

CUOMO: An unusually appreciative bride at that. And a beautiful thing.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO (on camera): Lemons to lemonade and then some. Good one? Right?

PEREIRA: Fantastic.

CUOMO: Good Good Stuff. BOLDUAN: I think there are some takers for him.

CUOMO: That's what they say now. Now a lot of women are interested in him because he has a big heart. The most important thing to have.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

CUOMO: Time for a lot of news and that means Carol Costello.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I do have a lot of news. Have a great day.