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President Obama Meets with Tech Leaders; Snowden Offers to Help Brazil Probe NSA; Chinese Hacked FEC During Shutdown; U.S. Helicopter Crashes in Afghanistan; Tonight's Mega Millions at $586 Million; Senator Coburn's "Wastebook 2013" Targets Big Federal Spending

Aired December 17, 2013 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: NEWSROOM starts now.

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin at the White House where next hour some of the biggest names in tech have a great big meeting with President Obama. This morning's round table comes one week after many of these companies sent an open letter to Washington, asking them to reform government surveillance programs. On the agenda for these 15 technology leaders, the economy, the headaches surrounding the Obamacare website and the NSA spying scandal that just won't go away.

Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta joins us now with more. Good morning.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That's right. And we're not just talking about mid-level executives here at these tech firms. Consider the names. We could throw some of their pictures and their names up on the screen.

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple; Sheryl Sandburg, COO of Facebook; Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google; and Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo. All of these executives and plus executives from other top tech firms that you just showed up on screen, Carol, they're going to be meeting with President Obama within the next couple of hours to talk about these issues.

Most critically, it appears from this meeting, at least what we're being told about this meeting so far, they're going to be talking about these surveillance issues over at the National Security Agency.

And, Carol, keep in mind, even before this federal judge's ruling came down yesterday on the NSA, that judge's ruling saying that James Madison, President James Madison, would be aghast at those bulk phone collection records, gathering that's been going on over at the NSA. Even before that ruling came down, tech executives had sent a letter over to the White House, as you mentioned, calling into question some of the surveillance activities over at the NSA.

Just to show you a quick quote from that letter from those executives to the president. It said, "The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual, rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It's time for a change." So even before that judge's ruling yesterday, these top tech executives were saying to this White House that these NSA programs, these surveillance programs go just too far so they're going to be talking about that with the president.

But as you mentioned, Carol, yes, they're also going to be talking about the implementation of healthcare.gov, that messy rollout of the Web site. Some other tech firms are going to be here sort of specialize in Web site development. So the president will likely be tapping their minds for some insights into that as well.

And keep in mind, in all of this that is going on right now, the White House has sort of gotten very quiet about this issue of domestic surveillance over the NSA. They're sort of punting over to the Department of Justice at this point, which is still saying that the -- that they believe that the opinion of this administration, that these bulk phone record collection activities at the NSA, which was really the subject of that federal judge's ruling yesterday are constitutional.

So we're going to be watching and waiting as these executives come into the White House within the next couple of hours. We're hoping to hear what they have to say after that meeting with the president -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Expected arrival time 10:45 Eastern Time. Jim Acosta, reporting live from the White House.

President Obama is finishing his fifth year in office with his worst approval ratings yet. Just 43 percent of Americans approve of the way the president is handling his job. That's according to a new "Washington Post"/ABC News poll. That's down 11 points from just a year ago.

Today's meeting at the White House comes one day after a federal judge says the NSA's controversial and secret program of collecting Americans' phone records is likely unconstitutional. The collection which involved the gathering of phone numbers, dates and times without any content was one of the first pieces of information leaked by Edward Snowden. The ACLU thinks this ruling vindicates him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WIZNER, DIRECTOR, ACLU SPEECH, PRIVACY AND TECHNOLOGY PROJECT: This is what happens when important legal issues are decided in open courts where both sides get to make legal arguments rather than in secret courts where the government alone gets to present arguments to a court. This is, I think, a good day for Edward Snowden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: As for Edward Snowden, he has something else in mind, too. That would be Brazil. The NSA leaker wrote an open letter to the Brazilian people. He told them he would be willing to help Brazil's government investigate U.S. spying on its soil but that he would only do so if granted political asylum. Chief national correspondent -- chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is in Washington with more on this part of the story.

Good morning.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning, Carol. He may have chosen well in choosing Brazil. Brazil, one of the country's most upset by the NSA surveillance overseas. You may remember that the Brazilian president, Dilma Roussef at the U.N. General Assembly confronted the president directly in her speech, saying that tampering in such a manner in the affairs of other countries is a breach of international law particularly among friendly nations.

So Edward Snowden reaching out now. He's looking for a way out of Russia, looking for asylum, writing an open letter to the Brazilians. And this is what his letter said. He said that, "Many Brazilian senators agree and have asked for my assistance with their investigations of suspected crimes against Brazilian citizens. I have expressed my willingness to assist wherever appropriate and lawful. But unfortunately the United States government has worked very hard to limit my ability to do so, including limiting his ability to leave Russia and travel the world.

He has said that -- in his letter he actually said that they made it impossible for him to fly to Brazil. So that's a problem, Carol, can he get there even if the Brazilians did offer him asylum?

COSTELLO: We'll see. Jim Sciutto reporting live from Washington this morning.

Three conservatives in the Senate are helping to move a budget deal closer to a vote. Senators Orrin Hatch, Ron Johnson and Johnny Isakson are the Republicans to support the bill on a test vote today. If that test vote succeeds, final passage of the budget bill is expected no later than Thursday.

Just days after a weekend storm dropped as much as 16 inches of snow in the northwest. Another round of winter weather is heading that way. This is what it looks like in Erie, Pennsylvania. Cities like Boston and Providence could see half a foot of snow by the end of today. Maine is expected to get hit, too. They're expecting another nine inches of snow.

In Massachusetts state troopers are slapping drivers with a fine for not clearing off their cars properly because that snow can fly off and damage someone's windshield.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TROOPER MICHAEL CROWLEY, MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE: The snow, depending on how cold it is, how warm it is, what time of day, it turns into ice. Sometimes the snow falls off the roof and lands on cars into windshield. And it's almost like a cinder block.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm on a highway and it just came out of no way from a car in front of me. And I can't be mad at him because I have snow on my roof myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: To get a ticket for not clearing your windshield it'll cost you 200 bucks. Today's storm is the fifth we've seen this month. Cities in the Midwest have already set records with temperatures 20 to 40 degrees below normal.

Back to politics now. A startling new report suggests that the Federal Election Commission, the agency that enforces our nation's Federal Campaign Finance Laws, was hacked by the Chinese. And it all took place while Washington was on hold during the government shutdown. Now an official with the Center for Public Integrity, which issued the report, is speaking out about how serious this is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE LEVINTHAL, CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: The FEC exists for transparency, disclosure, all of the thing that you think are emblematic when you think about free and fair U.S. elections. And here you have for days at a time the FEC's Web site is part and partial of the agency's mission to provide Americans with the ability to access information about their elections, access information about political campaigns and candidates, and nobody in America could do it during that time. So it was a huge black eye not only for the agency, but for the country's government in general.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And remember this happened during the government shutdown so nobody was at work at the time.

Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence is in Washington with more on this story.

Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. I mean, you heard him talk about it a little bit. And basically the Center for Public Integrity is reporting that just after the government shutdown, the FEC's computers were completely crashed by a hacker. As they scrambled to try to get those online, you had two special elections going on at that time. One in New Jersey and another, a Senate race in Massachusetts, the one that Cory Booker won that Senate seat.

So this is the organization that is supposed to keep track of, you know, who's spending money, who's raising money. Candidates, political parties, outside groups. And at that time of those elections, while the government was shut down, their computers were completely crashed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEVINTHAL: Hackers from China, in Russia, Syria, you name it, are constantly targeting U.S. Web sites. But what happened here with the Federal Election Commission, which is the independent watchdog sponsored by the government to keep elections fair and free effectively, got hit about as hard as it has ever has gotten hit. And it came as the FEC had absolutely no regular employees actually serving at the agency because of the government shutdown.

It was one of the agencies that actually went completely dark during the government shutdown, only had the commissioners themselves manning the doors, manning the systems and they are not IT experts by any stretch of the imagination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: And the thing about it is, it's just a year ago an independent audit firm, you know, took a look at the FEC's IT systems and said this doesn't even meet minimum standards. This is at very high risk for not only some sort of malfunction, but also to be hacked in the way it ended up being done. They said they haven't even adopted the minimum practices.

Now right now the FEC is requesting more money, about $2 to $3 million, to try to shore up some of those systems. But this really shows -- this report shows an agency that is in complete decline -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It's just awful. Chris Lawrence, reporting live this morning.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

COSTELLO: Sad bit of breaking new this morning. Actually it's quite sad. We're learning of a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan. American forces have been killed.

CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon with more.

Hi, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Terrible news for U.S. military families. A U.S. military official tells me six U.S. troops were killed in this helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan. One survived. No indication that the helicopter crashed due to enemy fire in southern Afghanistan, but under investigation, I am told, as to why there was an engine failure for this helicopter.

They are now notifying the families and, of course, the names of the fallen will be released after all of the families are notified.

This is one of the worst incidents in recent months as the U.S. presence has basically wound down in southern Afghanistan and across that country. So far this month until this terrible accident, or incident if you will, only one U.S. troop had died in the war in Afghanistan this month.

Still, terrible news for all of the American families involved, all of those who serve in Afghanistan and have been killed in action, but now today six more U.S. troops killed -- Chris -- Carol, I'm sorry.

COSTELLO: No worries. Barbara Starr, reporting live from the Pentagon.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a fresh look into the crash that killed Princess Diana. Were British Special Forces really involved?

Plus your government, your wasted money. In a do-nothing Congress where only 56 bills were passed this year, they certainly wrote a lot of checks.

And George Zimmerman, neighborhood cop.

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, VOLUNTEER NEIGHBORHOOD COP: These guys always get away.

COSTELLO: Accused murderer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not guilty.

COSTELLO: And now painter. His American flag. He's now fetching, get this, $100,000.

And the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame.

Kiss, Nirvana, Peter Gabriel. The inductees are named. Find out how you could go to the show.

NEWSROOM is back after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 15 minutes past the hour.

Police now say it was 30-year-old attorney who was shot to death by two carjackers at an upscale New Jersey mall on Sunday. The victim had been shopping for Christmas gifts with his wife. Investigators found his stolen 2012 Range Rover in Newark yesterday. A $10,000 is being offered to help capture the gunmen.

Passengers started on a delta jet. Plane skidded off the runway in the snow shortly after arriving at the Madison, Wisconsin, airport. No one was injured. Passengers were bussed back to the terminal.

The FDA challenging the makers of the anti-bacterial soaps to prove their claims. And if they can't, the companies will have to re-label their products. Under a proposed rule, manufacturers must provide data that anti-bacterial soaps are better at killing germs than plain soap and water. The FDA also wants proof that anti-bacterial soaps and body washes are safe for long-term use.

A heart-stopping moment at an airport in Poland. Watch carefully. You see that man puts his baby on a luggage counter and looks away for a second. You know how fast things can happen. That baby suddenly -- you're going to see it in a second -- falls off.

You see the security guy? He does an amazing dive and he catches the child before the baby hits the ground. Wow!

We hear that officer received a bonus for that amazing rescue. Good for him.

Five hundred eighty-six million dollars, that's what's up for grabs at the mega millions jackpot. It is possible there will be no winner. After all, no one has picked the winning ticket in the past 21 drawings. And if it rolls over again, it will reach $800 million by the end of the week and possibly $1 billion.

Joining me on the phone is Gary Grief, former mega millions group lead director and current executive director of the Texas Lottery.

Welcome, Gary.

GARY GRIEF, TEXAS LOTTERY (via telephone): Good morning, Carol. How are you?

COSTELLO: I'm good but I bet you're better. How briskly are tickets selling this morning?

GRIEF: Oh my gosh, Carol. We're bracing for today. We're on a typical draw we'll sell between $15 million and $17 million worth of tickets.

By the end of today, nationwide we'll sell $240 million worth of mega millions tickets. It will be business at those retail locations.

COSTELLO: You're not kidding. By the end of the week, the jackpot could go as high as $800 million. How many tickets do you have to sell for that jackpot to reach $1 billion?

GRIEF: By the end of this week, we would have to sell an extraordinary amount.

What we're looking at, I can guarantee you -- not this coming Friday, if we continue to roll, but Christmas eve, if we continue to roll and no one wins, then our players will have an opportunity to win $1 billion or more in their stocking next Tuesday.

COSTELLO: That's just crazy to think about. So no one has won in the past 21 drawings. How possible is that?

GRIEF: It's very possible. If you hear people say there's a certain percentage of numbers that are being covered, that's all speculation, because we don't know how many of those sets of numbers are being duplicated. Only thing I can guarantee you, Carol, is if you don't buy a ticket, you won't win that jackpot.

COSTELLO: You got that right. Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery, thanks so much you for joining me this morning.

GRIEF: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: You're welcome. And good luck to all of you out there. Behold, a masterpiece by George Zimmerman. Seriously? Seriously. It is true. The man acquitted in the murder of Trayvon Martin now says, quote, "I found a creative way to express myself with original work" that he's selling on eBay.

The bid for this painting that you see right here on your screen is nearing $100,000. The bidding started at 50 bucks. As you can see, this is the painting of a blue U.S. flag with the words "God, one nation with liberty and justice for all." It showed up yesterday on the site under the seller name the real George Z. And his brother confirm this was done by George Zimmerman.

The auction page includes a description of the work. "Everyone has been asking what I've been doing with myself," says George. He says, "I have found a creative way to express myself, my emotions and symbols that express my experiences. My art work allows me to reflect, providing me therapeutic outlet and allows me to remain indoors."

If you want to bid, go to eBay. Still on there.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, what are the most extravagant ways the government spends your tax dollars? One senator says he has the answer and his waste book list is out. We'll give you the highlights, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Hopes are high for the senate to pass a budget deal this week that would spare us the pain of another government shutdown. But as the vote approaches, one lawmaker is calling out his colleagues for wasteful spending.

Senator Tom Coburn has just released his list of wasteful government spending. It includes $25 billion of what he calls stupid spending.

Let's bring in chief business correspondent Christine Romans.

I'm surprised they passed anything that would do anything. But apparently they did.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Just $25 billion, that's all? Look, Carol, this is something he does every year, annual tradition.

In 2010, he started doing it. We started to look forward to it, because he finds -- you know, his research team finds funnily little things, such as a robot squirrel, part of a government project to create a robotic squirrel I guess to chase away rattlesnakes. That's made the list a couple of years in a row. And he even talks about the do-nothing Congress, how much we pay for our Congress that does nothing.

He also -- this year, this $10 million for this Superman Campaign for the National Guard even as sequestration is nearing and there are cutbacks for the military. So, on one hand, you're spending money to try to recruit people, men and women of steel. Oh, wait a second, we're cutting money and we're cutting jobs there. So, that seems to go one against the other.

It's interesting, because you point -- it's against the backdrop, Carol, of what has been budget progress in Washington of late. Remember, especially among the Republicans, you have this feeling we're still spending too much money, borrowing money from China to spend money on things that, as Senator Coburn was saying, we don't need.

Every year when we look at this list, though -- you know, you talk to the researchers sometimes for the National Science Foundation who gets one of thee grants and say we think it's pretty worthwhile, putting scientists to work and the point of this is x.

So, there are always two sides to the story. Is it waste or your government working for you? Senator Coburn has his list this week and he says oh, it's waste. Carol, it's waste, $25 billion is a waste.

COSTELLO: Christine Romans, thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM -- yes or no? Senate must finally decide whether they will approve a budget deal that's already gone through the House.

Our chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash is following all the developments this morning.

Hi, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Well, it looks like it could be the beginning of the end of a threat of a government shutdown, for two years.

We'll have more on that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for being with me.

Checking our top stories at 30 minutes past the hour.