Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

Tornado Hits Mississippi; Feds: Delta Baggage Handler Smuggled Guns; U.S. Economy in Overdrive; Google Unveils Driverless Car; Naughty Politicians Inspire Sex Scandal Play

Aired December 23, 2014 - 16:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: We're back with breaking news. On a day when so many are trying to get to their loved ones, a tornado has touched down in Columbia, Mississippi. That's about 30 miles from Hattiesburg.

Now joining me on the phone is Greg Flynn, the spokesperson for Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. So Greg, tell us what has happened so far. I understand there is potentially one that has already hit and another that's on the way?

GREG FLYNN, SPOKESPERSON, MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (via telephone): Yes, Suzanne. Right now we have a storm system moving through the state and probably 45 minutes to an hour ago, we believe a tornado -- the weather service believes is a tornado touched down in Marion County near the city of Columbia.

Right now responders are scrambling to the scene. We are trying to get an assessment of what is going on. We have heard reports of injuries and damage. We don't have a good handle on exactly how much or exactly what we're dealing with in that area.

MALVEAUX: Who and where is in the path of danger right now?

FLYNN: Right now the system is pretty much forming a diagonal line across the southeast corner of the state. As you can see on your radar, there is a report that we have another one -- a tornado in Jones County near the city of Laurel.

It was a dangerous system coming through, but I do want to applaud, hopefully it did some good, the National Weather Service started talking about this on the weekend.

We spent all day yesterday preparing the people of our state to prepare for the bad weather forecasted today and unfortunately, that forecast has came through and hopefully we don't have too bad of injuries.

MALVEAUX: Greg, you know, this obviously is a very busy day for people who are buying gifts for the holiday and we've gotten reports that possibly a Walmart was hit. What do you know about that?

FLYNN: Yes. I don't have any details on specific businesses or how much damage we're talking about. But that's -- it could not have come at a worst time of year. People are out scrambling to get their last- minute Christmas shopping done.

We have a lot of people moving around and traveling for the holidays. A lot of visitors in our state that may not necessarily know where to go and what to do when the bad weather came through.

So hopefully we're talking about this and it's just some pieces of buildings that we have to pick up. I'm talking about any serious injuries.

MALVEAUX: All right, Greg, we're going to keep in contact with you throughout the day. Greg Flynn, the spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Thank you so much. We hope that people are safe.

In other national news, an alarming discovery at a U.S. airport as millions of us are packing our bags and traveling for the holidays. A Delta Airlines baggage handler in Atlanta and another man, they are accused of smuggling guns and ammunition on carry-on luggage.

Court papers say that the worked used his credentials to enter a secured area, avoid security then deliver the weapons to his alleged accomplice in an operation that allegedly went on for months.

I want to bring our Rene Marsh to talk a little bit more about this. I have traveled through that airport many, many times. Security is very tight. How on earth did something like this happen?

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you that we are just learning now from a press conference that just wrapped up, this operations a lot bigger than originally thought. This now involves five men. It's a five-man operation here.

Allegedly an airline worker abusing his special airport access, loading up bags and bags of high-powered guns, some of them loaded and smuggling them onto an airplane, several airplanes. It's an alarming breach at the world's busiest airport.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH (voice-over): One hundred and fifty three firearms recovered, smuggled on board nearly 20 commercial passenger planes from Atlanta to New York, that according to federal investigators.

KEN THOMPSON, KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: They could put guns on planes this time. They could have easily put a bomb on one of those planes.

MARSH: Here's how authority says it happened. Delta bagger handler, Eugene Harvey, with a backpack full of guns, uses his badge to enter the secure area of the Atlanta Airport bypassing security checkpoints.

Most airport and airline employees like ramp workers and baggage handlers undergo security vetting and reoccurring background checks, but they do not go through daily TSA screening to gain access to secure and restricted airport areas.

The accomplice is former Delta employee, Mark Henry, clears TSA and arrives at a concord. The two men communicate by text message and meet in an airport bathroom. Once inside, out of the cameras view, the guns are handed off.

CHAD WOLF, FORMER TSA OFFICIAL: TSA, the airports and the airlines after 9/11 are there to prevent this type of incident from occurring.

MARSH: According to prosecutors, Henry boarded flights from Atlanta to New York with handguns, AR-15s and AK-47s. Some of the weapons loaded.

JOHNSON: This gun can shoot through a car door, can shoot through an apartment door, and can shoot through a bulletproof vest. In November, Mr. Henry brought this gun on a Delta commercial airliner to New York.

MARSH: This kind of breach and security has happened before. In 2010, an American Airlines baggage handler helped smuggle 12,000 pounds of marijuana on board a flight to New York. In 2013, an airline employee sentenced after agreeing to smuggle guns and cocaine on to a commercial plane. In 2009, government audit says, workers with access to secured airport areas, is one of the greatest potential threat to aviation.

WOLF: Everyone who is involved in aviation and aviation security know that this is a gap and a vulnerability.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: Well, I spoke with Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport and asked them the very question that probably everyone is wondering, has anything changed in their security procedures? And at the time that I spoke with them, nothing had changed.

They say that they are in discussions to talk about possible steps, but there is no guarantee any changes have been made. You just heard in the piece there, it is no secret this is a vulnerability so the question is, why hasn't anything been done after so many years.

We've seen this sort of thing happen before and it really comes down to resources and money in many cases. You're talking about scanning and screening lots and lots of employees.

MALVEAUX: And you said -- like you said, this is busiest airport in the world.

MARSH: Yes, absolutely, a lot of foot traffic. It's an international hub there. And so the question now is, you know, does this bring light to the fact that someone else with very bad intentions could take advantage of this vulnerability and many are hoping not, but some are saying we need to close this loophole.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. Excellent reporting, Rene, appreciate that. And in our Money Lead today, record highs on Wall Street. Gas prices are below $2 a gallon and the U.S. economy pulling in the strongest quarter in more than a decade. Is there anything that you can do now to capitalize on this economic boom? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Suzanne Malveaux filling in for Jake Tapper. In our Money Lead, the U.S. economy is running in overdrive. Today the Dow closed above 18,000 for the first time ever, up 1,000 points in just the last week.

The U.S. economy grew 5 percent in the third quarter. And gas prices, they are dipping below $2 a gallon in some places. Now, according to a new CNN poll released this morning, a majority of Americans believe the economy is in good shape, compared with just 38 percent who thought that in October.

Joining me is Jim Tankersley, economic policy correspondent for the "Washington Post." So Jim, it looks like these are very good indicators, very good numbers. Is it real?

JIM TANKERSLEY, ECONOMIC POLICY CORRESPONDENT, "WASHINGTON POST": It's certainly a very strong number. We have to be happy about it because we have not seen strong growth for a long time. You toss in gas prices dropping and it's a very good sign for consumers going forward. The question is, as it's been for the last 10, 15 years, will this great economic news translate into actual raises for people in the middle class?

MALVEAUX: We know that 20 states are trying to at least address this issue giving raises to minimum wage. But is there something that most people are feeling or the very rich or the very poor, are they becoming the gap actually narrowing or is it still the same, becoming farther apart?

TANKERSLEY: The Pew Research Center said the wealth gap is the widest it has ever been. I think there's a lot of disconnection between people in the middle and the people at the top. The good news is, especially about falling gas prices that affects people across the board. If you're a middle class consumer, that's a few hundred dollars in your pocket and that's real money.

MALVEAUX: And so what are people doing this holiday season? Are they buying, buying, buying?

TANKERSLEY: The early indication is that we've had pretty good sales and it might get better in the next couple of days. I have a little shopping left to do. I think that's the hope that lower gas prices turn in to more consumption and more of that fuel for the economics.

MALVEAUX: So the interest rates, what happens if they raise the interest rates? Is that going to be the thing that really puts everything in reverse?

TANKERSLEY: It probably won't put things in reverse, but it could put the brakes on the economy. If the fed slows down and starts raising rates, that's a sign that the economy is doing well, but also a sign that there won't be as much confidence maybe from the markets, that they are going to keep getting the stimulus as the fed has been doing. I think maybe we'll see the stock market's big rise flatten out a bit.

MALVEAUX: OK, this has been the biggest job growth year in a very long time. What is fueling that?

TANKERSLEY: Well, first off, it's been a year when not very much has gone wrong. We didn't have a sequester or big bickering in Congress that almost shut down the government. Not a bunch of impediments to growth. The reason it looks really good is because the last 10, 15 years were terrible.

MALVEAUX: All right. There's some good news.

TANKERSLEY: Yes.

MALVEAUX: It's all relative.

TANKERSLEY: Everything is relative.

MALVEAUX: All right, thanks. Have a great holiday.

TANKERSLEY: Thanks, you too.

MALVEAUX: In our Tech Lead, protecting your personal computer from hackers. Apple is not leaving anything to chance, issuing the first ever automated security update that could provide access to machines remotely.

The vulnerability in software that synchronizes clocks in computer systems and has been exploited in the past, one Apple spokesman told Reuters, the update is seamless and that users don't need to restart their computers.

And we were promised flying cars by 2015, but this might be even cooler. You've got to check this out. Google just unveiled its update prototype of a car that drives itself. The company claims it will be capable of navigating city streets and avoiding pedestrians on it is own.

Google says the car will go through a series of tests over the holidays before hopefully hitting San Francisco's famed and wildly curvy Lombard Street as early as next year. Pretty cool, like the Jetson's, I think.

California's regulators want to make sure safety regulations are in place before a convoy of unmanned vehicles take over our nation's roadways.

Coming up, he's facing nearly three years in prison for lying to the IRS, but despite a guilty plea, this congressman says he won't be giving up his seat. Will he be forced to resign?

Plus, the Broadway show Anthony Weiner definitely will not be seeing. One former SNL star's recreation of Washington's biggest sex scandals using the politicians own words. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome back to THE LEAD. The Politics Lead today, Congressman Michael Grimm, a Republican from Staten Island, New York, pled guilty to a federal tax evasion charge and could do time.

You may remember when Grimm threatened a reporter for bringing up questions about his campaign fundraising for which he never faced charges. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Finally, before we let you go, since we have you here, we haven't had a chance to kind of talk about some of the --

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL GRIMM (R), NEW YORK: This is off topic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, what about -- all right. So Congressman Michael Grimm does not want to talk about some of the allegations concerning his campaign financing. He refused to talk about that. Back to you.

GRIMM: Let me be clear to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Despite pleading guilty to a felony on a tax charge, Grimm says he will not resign. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has said he should step down. But House Speaker John Boehner has not yet weighed in.

Grimm won re-election in November while fighting the charges and he is one of several so-called "bad boys" that I highlighted just after the Election Day. Politicians who won basically because they were wearing the right jersey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Voters are an awfully forgiving bunch. Just check out these guys, the midterm winners. The Republican doctor, who got one of his patients pregnant and then demanded she get an abortion.

The federally indicted congressman who threatened to throw a reporter over a balcony or how about the ex-con who served four terms as Louisiana's governor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: You can't make this stuff up, which is exactly the idea behind a new play from a "Saturday Night Live" alum who used the words that politicians said after screwing up. CNN's Gloria Borger has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Talk about political fear --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am not gay. I never have been gay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last Friday night I tweeted a photograph of myself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As much as I did talk about going to --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I ended up.

BORGER: No, it wasn't. And now Mark Sanford and three fellow infamous politicians are the stars of "Tailspin," an off Broadway comedy about their sexual exploits.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My favorite young staff doing.

BORGER: The entire script is verbatim, the words exactly as they were spoken, texted and tweeted, really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This day is ready to do damage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was instant chemistry.

BORGER: Starring next to the offending talks is Rachel Dratch, you may remember her as "Saturday Night Live's" Debbie Downer. Now she's live again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on. I'll show you. This is life in the theater. You put on your own makeup.

BORGER: On stage, she plays the wronged wives and the other women, too. From one of Anthony Weiner's e-mail buddies --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a person that strips sometimes.

BORGER: To Mark Sanford's Argentinian soul mate now his former mistress.

(on camera): Could you believe all of this stuff was real?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The thing I was most shocked out was the graphic nature of the talk like you hear they were sexting and then it's like, whoa. This is beyond my sexting skills. These guys were pretty dirty dogs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hear liberal girls are very accommodating.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's all about taking care of a little guy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Little? Ouch. You'd be surprised how big.

BORGER: The bigger surprise is the size of their electronic trail of flirtation.

(on camera): What makes these guys think they can get away with this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Power. And really the show is not about sex but about power.

BORGER (voice-over): Mario Carrera is familiar with the combination. He's a former congressional staffer who wrote the play.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of us make mistakes in our personal lives. I know I have. The reason we don't take these outlandish risks and expect to get away with them, we don't have power to protect ourselves. These guys are like I'm a member of Congress. I have a business car like Larry Craig who shows his car to the cop and says --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think about that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's always been the hero.

BORGER: Senator Craig was still arrested for solicitation in an airport men's restroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to tell you and your husband to hang in there.

BORGER: His wife remaining loyal standing by her man as did most of the others.

(On camera): What on earth do you think they were thinking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I imagine when the scandal hit, probably just want to err on the side of, I'm going to believe what he says, I'm going to keep the family together, blah, blah, blah, I'll sort it out later with a skilled therapist.

BORGER: Which was the most fun for you to channel?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, the most fun of the show for me is Barbara Walters. They stood next to their husbands. You did not stand next to your husband. Did you think of doing that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I didn't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And so by that time she's the last one in the audience who is like, woo-hoo. Barbara Walters says, he gave you a used bike.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He drew me a picture of a half a bike.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another time --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He gave you a diamond necklace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which you loved. And then --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He took it back.

BORGER (voice-over): Truth may be stranger than fiction but in this case it's also really funny, although Mark Sanford may not think so.

(On camera): So in the end, after doing this show, what DOEs hiking the Appalachian Trail mean?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do feel bad for folks who go to hike the Appalachian Trail? Who can say that now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They go to show receipts and stuff.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Suzanne Malveaux sitting in for Jake Tapper. I turn you over to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM."