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Wolf

Hackers Discover Gaping Security Hole; Does Cameron Know Identity of David Haines' Executioner; 2016 Presidential Race Heating Up; Obama Bestows Medal of Honor to 2 Veterans.

Aired September 15, 2014 - 13:30   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's check some headlines here in the United States.

There have now been 19 deaths tied to the General Motors ignition switch flaw. That according to Ken Feinberg. He's the attorney who's overseeing a GM compensation fund for victims. The company has said 13 deaths were tied to the problem which wasn't reported until 10 years after engineers actually discovered it.

A Pennsylvania State Police officer is conscious and speaking for the first time since being shot in an ambush Friday night. Alex Douglas was one of two shot officers outside police barracks in rural Pennsylvania. The other officer was killed. No arrests have been made. Police are hoping to interview Douglas to see if he can provide information about the shooter.

Also, Ravens running back, Ray Rice, is expected to appeal a suspension from the NFL. Rice was banned indefinitely after a video showed him punching his then-fiance in elevator and ragging her unconscious body out of that elevator.

If you think you're being vigilant enough in securing your personal data and that of your children, you could be wrong. A security hole has now been discovered that is being described as potentially one of the biggest ever.

Our Jake Tapper is following this story.

Jake, you have breaking news on this very disturbing information.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD: It comes from two ethical hackers, named Brian Ceily (ph) and Ben Caldel (ph). Ethical hackers are individuals who use their computer schools to find these holes and vulnerabilities and tell the companies and FBI about them so the black-hat hackers, the identity thieves and others, can't access that information.

They found a hole in the systems from Oracle. Now Oracle discovered in 2012 and sent out an alert saying, if you have our system, please get this patch. But a lot of government agencies did not manage to get that patch. They have identified more than 50 educational institutions, 20 government-related organizations, and five different school districts at the county level each with 20 schools minimum in each one, in three different states. And you can access -- here is just one of example. I'm not going to

identify this obviously. But this is a young girl's information, her Social Security number, birth information, and other records, I've seen bus routes. The fear, of course, is that any of this information can be used at the very least for identity theft, which is a massive problem. That's why these hackers say this is even worse than the credit card breaches. You can always get another credit card. But you can't get another date of birth and Social Security number and identifying information.

We have reached out to two of the organizations that have already patched this hole. One of them, the Texas Department of Child Protective Services, says that there were up to 30 breaches, meaning it's not just that the vulnerability was there, somebody went in and got the information. Some of the other organizations that we're not identifying because the holes are still there, the Oracle holes are still there, the names, photographs, bus routes, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, grades, transcripts, medical information of students K through 12 in a large county Mid-Atlantic Public School System, on you have heard of, Wolf, as well as their parent's Social Security information, addresses, names and marital status.

From a court system in a major Midwestern city, convictions, dockets, DUI arrests, Social Security numbers, case notes and more. From a big-10 school, applicants' information, student's name, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, personal information, schedules, grades, test scores. It's all really rather shocking.

I have to tell you, at my computer, I was accessing some of this with the help of this ethical hacker, and it's horrifying. You see a photograph of a student, you see his bus routes, his immunization. You can go into area where's you see their excuses for gym, for not making gym. It is the most sensitive information. If you think the government is protecting it, you could be wrong.

BLITZER: I don't understand. So Oracle, a couple of years ago, advises everybody, you've got to get this patch, fix it. Otherwise, you could be endangering all these people.

TAPPER: Right.

BLITZER: Why wouldn't every one of these organizations, private organizations, government organizations, do what Oracle told them to do?

TAPPER: Well, I don't think that when it comes to software in this country that there is the same kind of alert that you find out, for instance, if there is something wrong with your car, and your car needs to be recalled, you might get an e-mail, there might be a blog post. I don't know that Oracle -- which would not comment for this story, we might add. I don't know that they reached out to every customer and made sure that in every school district, every college, every government organization -- there was the Homeland Security area that's very sensitive, a major port and top secret defense intelligence agents visited this port. They left their names, their driver's license numbers, other information. Diplomats, foreign dignitaries have visited this port. All this information, because the port is not guarding it. They still have this Oracle hole right there for the taking. So there are questions about whether Oracle was vigilant enough when it came to informing its customers to close this hole.

BLITZER: And to fix it, the patch, is it complicated, expensive?

TAPPER: No. It's no complicated at all. And I believe it's free of charge. I believe Oracle just fixes it. But because people are not as vigilant, the government agencies that we're talking about, the school districts, the counties, this major American port, this information is all right there for the taking, and it is very alarming. We'll have more at 4:00.

BLITZER: I hope that after your report on "The Lead" later today, and the other reporting you're doing, these companies and Oracle will get the job done.

TAPPER: I hope so.

BLITZER: And fix this because this is really shocking information.

TAPPER: I still can't believe, by the way, that Oracle wouldn't comment on this. You'd think they'd say we're going to fix this, we're going to reach out to all of our customers, this is shocking, this if horrifying. Just a no comment. Declined comment from Oracle.

BLITZER: Let me just guess. By 4:00 p.m. eastern, they will have a comment.

TAPPER: Maybe.

BLITZER: I suspect they will.

All right, thank you very much for your reporting.

TAPPER: Thank you.

BLITZER: Another horrible execution video from ISIS. Are we at least able to gather more intelligence from it? Brian Todd has been reviewing all three of these horrible videotapes to get some answers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The terror group ISIS has beheaded another Western captive. And there are reports the British prime minister knows the identity of the man who actually carried it out. Over the weekend, ISIS posted a video showing the beheading of the British aide worker, David Haines. They called the killing -- and I'm quoting now -- "A Message to the Allies of America." But as with previous videos, this one may provide important clues about the group's activities, the people responsible.

Brian Todd is here. He has been going through with experts on these three videos now.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. BLITZER: You've had three beheadings. What are you learning?

TODD: A couple of clues, Wolf, that reveal something about ISIS that you may have not seen in the Sotloff and Foley videos. First, most people believe it's the same person in each of the three videos, the same militant speaking. The voice, the way he tilts his head, the way he holds the knife, that's pretty obvious at this point. This video of David Haines, they give away kind of a time period as to when this might have been done. The militant mentions the bombing of the Haditha Dam, which was on Sunday, September 7th, indicating it was made some time over the past week.

Also, we spoke to a former CIA officer who is an expert in these types of videos. He says this one is different from the others because, if you look at the background -- and I think we have a still picture of the three backgrounds. There they are. Look at the Foley one top left, top right, then the latest one of David Haines. It's much more generic. It's just dirt and sky. The others, you can see certain cuts in the terrain, certain distinguishing slopes of the terrain. In the Foley video, not shown here, you can see at the end of it, when they bring in Steven Sotloff, you even can see a little bit of human habitation, like up on a ridge somewhere. If you look at that video of David Haines, it looks as if they are trying harder here to mask their location, meaning they may be feeling some heat now with the pressure on them from the U.S. campaign. It may be that at least this cell, this unit of ISIS might be on the run a little bit. So that's something telling there.

And as you mentioned, our national security analyst, Peter Gergen, he has written on CNN.com this morning that David Cameron, the British prime minister, knows the identity of that militant but they're not revealing it yet.

BLITZER: Why wouldn't they reveal the identity of that individual, who makes the statement with that British accent? What would be the downside of doing that?

TODD: Peter Gergen and other analysts tell us -- and I actually heard this from a British official -- it's for security reasons. And Peter drills down on this a little bit more, saying they may be planning a rescue operation or some other kind of commando type operation now, and giving his name might send him to ground, might make him go underground more, maybe not make them as apt to come out with another video that might give them some more clues. So that may be part of the equation where ISIS is concerned.

BLITZER: There may be some explanation. That one I don't necessarily buy because he's hearing us talk presumably right now, saying they know the identity. Peter Gergen's article is online, so what's the difference if they say what his name as opposed to this guy being told that, in effect, the British prime minister knows who he is?

TODD: Sure. It's one of these cat-and-mouse games between the two sides as to who knows what and who's planning what. Everybody is trying to figure out the other person's next move. It's a dicey and very delicate business. BLITZER: All right, Brian, I know you'll be working the story --

TODD: yes.

BLITZER: -- and have some more for us in "The Situation Room" later today as well.

Thank you.

Coming up, we haven't made it to the midterm elections yet, 50 days from today, but there are some clear signals the 2016 race for the White House could be heating up. One of those signals coming in from Hillary Clinton.

But first, some historic signatures are on display at the National Archives. CNN's Tom Foreman take a closer look at how some of the most famous and how some of the most notorious people in the world have left their mark in this "American Journey."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the heat of war, in the cool of peace and in the daily struggle with life, great souls have left their marks. And now at the National Archives, those marks are getting their due in a show of historic signatures.

Jennifer Johnson is the curator.

JENNIFER JOHNSON, CURATOR, NATIONAL ARCHIVES: I think the power of the signature can't be overemphasized. Whether it's a letter from an individual who had a question for the government or if it's a president signing an act of Congress and making those words law, the power is hard to walk away from.

FOREMAN: General Dwight Eisenhower traveled much in Europe in World War II collecting these signatures on bank notes from people he met all along the way.

(MUSIC)

There is much joy. This is Michael Jackson's patent for a dancing shoe where he signed his name with a flourish, as did magician, Harry Houdini, who put his pen to his draft card as if it were yet another spectacular trick.

JOHNSON: It was truly part of his personality at the time. And that is his signature.

FOREMAN: There are surprises, too. Like a calling card left for Vice President Andrew Johnson by Johns Wilkes Booth the very day Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, or the wedding registry of Adolph Hitler.

JOHNSON: I think some of the most powerful ones are, or at least the most interesting to me, are examples you might not expect to find.

FOREMAN: Katherine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, Jackie Robinson and so many others pulled from the billions of papers in the archives, each making a mark in history.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: It is true, I am thinking about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Not much surprise there, she's thinking about it. Thinking about running for president of the United States again. Her comments at a fundraiser in Iowa over the weekend for Senator Tom Harkin, the retiring Democrat. And there are more signs the 2016 race is starting to heat up a little bit. The Independent Senator, Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, says he's thinking of running as either a Democrat or Independent. A move that could complicate Hillary Clinton's path to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT: The issue is not Hillary. I've known Hillary for a lot of years. I have a lot of respect for her. The question is, at a time when so many people have seen a decline in their standard of living, when the wealthiest people and largest corporations are doing phenomenally well, the American people want change. They want Congress, they want candidates to stand up to the money trusts. So I'll let Hillary speak for herself. I know where I'm coming from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Another sign that the race is ramping up a bit, the New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie is taking a trip to New Hampshire on Wednesday.

With us now to discuss, our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger; and our executive editor, politics, Mark Preston.

Gloria, I don't think anybody really doubts Hillary is running for president.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: No. Is she giving any sign that she's not running? She isn't. It's clear that she intends to go back to Iowa. The interesting thing to me in watching this from afar as I did -- I wasn't there -- is that it seems to me that that she's traveling around with the greatest transactional politician of our time, Bill Clinton. Every time you compare her to Bill Clinton, he's chatty with reporters about the Senate races and what's going on in the country and how the country needs to be brought together, and she gives a very rigorous speech. And he's the one people are sort of flocking to, still.

BLITZER: He's Bill Clinton.

BORGER: He is. He is.

BLITZER: Arguably, the greatest politician that we've covered at least --

BORGER: Absolutely.

BLITZER: At least around our times.

BORGER: Absolutely.

BLITZER: Let's talk about Hillary Clinton. It's been almost seven years. Last time they were in Iowa was January 2008 when she was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. She came in third behind Barack Obama and John Edwards --

BORGER: By a little bit.

BLITZER: -- by a little bit. She came in third. And now she's running once again.

What do you make?

MARK PRESTON, CNN EXECUTIVE EDITOR, POLITICS: There's no mystery in politics anymore. She's running. She comes out and says I'm back. Basically, she's in.

I think the biggest problem for Hillary Clinton is going to be the fact that she has no opponent in the Democratic primary because there could be this Clinton fatigue that sets in. There's been criticism of whether Hillary Clinton should have acknowledged that she's running for president even earlier than what we saw yesterday. But the fact of the matter is, when you're running for two years, you're at the top of the mountain. People will take pot shots at you. The Clintons have tried their best to stay out of the limelight, but, yet, stay in the limelight. And as Gloria says, having Bill Clinton as your wing man, there's no one better at that point.

BLITZER: He's a great politician.

What about Bernie Sanders? How does he play into this?

BORGER: He's trying to inject a little youthful exuberance into the race.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: He's 73 years old.

BORGER: 73. Barry Sanders represents one wing of the Democratic Party that is very disappointed in President Obama and is just as disappointed in Hillary Clinton. They believe that not enough has been done to raise people out of poverty, that they are too hawkish, that Hillary Clinton certainly is too hawkish. And so for a certain wing of the party and many of those people reside in Iowa, I might add, he can have a little conversation with her. Over the long-term though -- and I think that could be good for her to have that conversation. But over the long-term though, is Joe Biden going to challenge Hillary Clinton?

BLITZER: He's on his way to Iowa in the next few days, too.

BORGER: He's on his way to Iowa. But once Hillary Clinton says she's running, I don't think Joe Biden will challenge her. I do think you're always better when you have a little competition.

PRESTON: Right. I think Joe Biden is just too loyal, and the fact for the party, moving forward, for him to try to challenge Hillary Clinton in 2016.

BLITZER: He's going there in a few days.

BORGER: Who isn't going there?

(CROSSTALK)

PRESTON: Martin O'Malley says, I can't wait for Hillary Clinton to make a decision.

BLITZER: The governor of Maryland.

PRESTON: The governor of Maryland. I have to put building blocks in place. You would be foolish as a politician not to do so.

BLITZER: It's only a little more than a year from now from the Iowa caucus. They elections may be more than two years away, but the Iowa caucus is coming up relatively quickly.

BORGER: Inevitability has never been a good campaign strategy. I think if it was up to Hillary, actually, she doesn't want to be inevitable again. It didn't work for her last time. She wasn't. So the more people get in the race, I would argue, it would make her a better candidate.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: Chris Christie on his way to New Hampshire. What's all that about.

PRESTON: On his way to New Hampshire. He already has three former staffers working in New Hampshire. One on the gubernatorial campaign and one for the state party, running the state party, and one running Scott Brown's campaign. The bottom line is people left Chris Christie for dead, seven, eight, nine months ago because of Bridgegate. But he's still in the high single digits at this point, which isn't a bad place. He's going around the country, trying to raise as much money as he can. I wouldn't count Chris Christie out. I think his politics -- I think his politics, being from New Jersey, fits pretty well in with New England, RGA, the Republican Governors Association.

BORGER: And that works for him because it allows him to travel, saying I'm not doing this for myself. I'm doing this to raise money for other people. But, look, New Hampshire is a lucrative spot for Chris Christie because Independents can vote in a Republican primary. We know what happened with John McCain. We know that lots of conservatives believe that Chris Christie is too liberal for them. And so this is -- if you were going to run and you were Chris Christie, I think you would log some hours in New Hampshire.

BLITZER: Senatorial race in New Hampshire is close as this new poll shows. Jean Shaheen and Scott Brown, they are basically neck and neck.

PRESTON: Yeah. And most disturbing think is the Barack Obama approval rating right now if you're a Democrat not only across the country but in New England and New Hampshire. At 35 percent, which it appears that 35 percent is dragging Jeanne Shaheen.

BORGER: You might expect to see that in other parts of the country. When it's in New England, it's telling.

BLITZER: A state that he carried decisively both times in 2008 and 2012.

So you think the announcements of who is running for Democratic nomination and Republican nomination could come shortly after the midterm elections, right?

PRESTON: The first one back in 2007? Was Tom Vilsack, the first one in, the first one out?

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Yeah. And I think it's got to come by -- you know, Hillary's timetable apparently is the New Year. I think you'll start seeing people -- I think Jeb Bush has to make a decision. I think a lot of people who are raising money want to know whether he's in or whether he's out. And I think -- so that's going to be important on the Republican side. Who knows? You could end up having Hillary Clinton/Jeb Bush --

And Mitt Romney, you think he's --

PRESTON: No.

BORGER: No.

BLITZER: -- definitely not think --

BORGER: No.

BLITZER: You have spent time with him.

BORGER: Yeah. I don't think so. I don't think the family would want him to. I don't think his wife would want him to. This is redemption for Mitt Romney because he's in demand on the campaign trail. He didn't just go away. He lost and he was not a great presidential candidate. And I think so now if he can make a difference and be a king maker in a couple Senate races, he's doing it.

BLITZER: There are a bunch of Senate races that will determine, Mark, as you know, who will be the majority. Will Democrats retain the majority? Will Republicans be the majority? One of the things hurting the Democratic candidate, whether a challenger in Kentucky or some of the other states, the incumbents, is low job approval number that the president has nationwide. Let's say it's 40 percent. In some of these states in the mid 30s, low 30s, some of them even high 20s and that's not helping these Democratic candidates.

PRESTON: Certainly not helpful in states such as Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, as we've seen today, and all across the country.

BLITZER: All right, guys, I want to switch subjects. Importantly, the president is about to bestow the Medal of Honor on two veterans, two Americans who worked brilliantly, courageously. Let's listen to the president.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- American squad in Vietnam sent out on patrol. They marched down a trail past a rice paddy. Shots rant out and splintered the bamboo above their heads. A soldier tripped the wire, the booby trap. A grenade rolled toward the feet of a 20-year-old machine gunner. The pin was pulled and that grenade would explode at any moment. A few years earlier, on the other side of the country, deep in the jungle, a small group of Americans were crouched on top of a small hill. It was dark and they were exhausted. The enemy had been pursuing them for days. They were surrounded and enemy was closing in on all sides. Two discrete moments, but today we honor two American soldiers for gallantry above and beyond the call of duty at each of those moments. Specialist Donald Sloan (ph), who stood above that grenade, and Command Sergeant Major Benny Atkins (ph), who fought through a ferocious battle and found himself on that jungle hill.

Nearly half a century after their acts of valor, a grateful nation bestows upon these men the highest military declaration, the Medal of Honor. Normally, this medal must be awarded within a few years of the action but sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in the fog of war or the passage of time. When new evidence comes to light, certain actions can be reconsidered for this honor and it is entirely right and proper that we have done so and that is why we are here today.

So before I go any further, I want to thank everyone present here today whose research and testimonies and persistence over so many years finally resulted in these two men deserving the recognition they so richly deserve. I especially want to welcome members of the Medal of Honor Society as well as two American families whose love and pride has never wavered.

Don Sloan grew up in Oklahoma. He grew big, to over 6'4". He loved football and played it for a year at a junior college. And then he decided to join the Army. But when he went to enlist, he didn't pass his physical because of high blood pressure, so he tried again and again and again. In all, he took the physical maybe seven times until he passed because he was determined to serve his country.

In Vietnam, Don became known as one of the most liked and reliable guys in his company. Twice in his first months, his patrol was ambushed. Both times, Don responded with punishing fire from his machine gun, leaving himself completely vulnerable to the enemy. And both times he was recognized for his bravery or, as Don put it in a letter home, "I guess they think I'm really gun-ho or something."

(LAUGHTER)