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Target Had Up To 40 Million Credit Cards Breached; Aide Says Bill Would Give Iran Up To A Year; Hillary Clinton Says She'll Decide in 2014; Clinton Chided Over Iraq War Vote; Iowa Governor Says Biden Is Dead Meat Here; Russian Values Threatened; Obama Commutes Sentences

Aired December 19, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, a federal investigation is underway into a major hacking attack against shoppers at Target. Credit card information belonging to tens of millions of people have now been stolen. We're going to tell you how to find out if you're a victim and what you need to do to protect yourself against this growing threat.

Right now, Hillary Clinton isn't saying whether she'll run for president, but she does say when she'll decide. We'll discuss whether an issue from the past could come back to haunt Secretary Clinton. One of her potential Democratic opponents is talking about that issue.

And right now, Russian President Vladimir Putin is offering amnesty, allowing thousands out of prison, including a former billionaire rival and some punk rockers. He's also defending Russia's values ahead of the Olympic games.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

We begin with that massive security breach at one of the large retail chains in the United States during the height of this holiday shopping season. Target says hackers may have stolen credit and debit card information from as many as 40 million, yes 40 million, of its shoppers. The breach happened at Target stores not online between November 27th, that's the day before Thanksgiving, and December 15th, this past Sunday.

A security researcher who first reported the breach says thieves gain access to data on those magnetic strips of shoppers' cards and that allowed them to make counterfeit versions of the cards. The U.S. Secret Service, which safeguards the country's payment systems, is now investigating. Target (INAUDIBLE.) So, we want to get more information on what's going on. Consumers are especially vulnerable to this type of crime over the holidays when hackers see a surge in shoppers and go into overdrive. But there are ways to protect yourself. CNN's -- CNN Money's Laurie Segall has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm connected to this phone wirelessly right now so, in real-time, I'm stealing credit card data. I just have to log in. I can make a selection here. And then I can do a credit card swipe. I now have all of your credit card data right in here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These stockings being grinched are the first things to go.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Grinch-like hackers literally steal Christmas. Now, these guys aren't Grinchers, they're actually security researchers with a company called Trustwave. Their job is to find flaws in technology to protect users or, in this case, shoppers.

CHARLES HENDERSON, DIRECTOR, SPIDERLABS AT TRUSTWAVE: And then, click pay. Nothing seems untoward. You're paid. You get your receipt. You move on.

SEGALL: Bypass the cash register and swipe your card on the Smartphone.

(on camera): This is just an iPhone, right?

HENDERSON: This is just an iPod or an iPhone. It also will work with an iPad. Basically, you've gone into a big box retailer of some sort. You've made a purchase. The employee is here to help you now. And you hand them your card. They run the card through.

SEGALL(voice-over): And that's where shoppers are at risk.

HENDERSON: Once a credit card transaction is run through, we're able to steal them off -- steal the credit card transactions before they're encrypted if they're not encrypted in the hardware.

SEGALL: The problem isn't in card swiper attached to the phone, it's in the software retailers use to process your payments. In some cases, that software doesn't hide or encrypt your personal information which makes it easy bait for hackers. They can manipulate the device in a way that allows them to tracking activity, like credit card numbers swiped or typed in.

HENDERSON: As technology advances -- as it advances at a rapid pace, security is often slow to catch up.

SEGALL: Trustwave recommends retailers to stress test their security. And encourages what they call ethical hacking, essentially breaking a system before it's deployed to find the weak points. And while it's up to retailers and banks to ensure you're protected, consumers should always be on the lookout.

HENDERSON: If the cash register attendant, mobile point in sale attendant, is entering your credit card number with their fingers rather than a swipe, there's no way that the credit card is encrypted.

SEGALL: They also recommend customers always keep tabs on their transactions, especially during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.

(on camera): Using this hack, I mean, how long would it take someone like you to get, you know, hundreds of thousands of people's credit card information?

HENDERSON: Legitimately, you can get credit card information as quickly as the clerk or clerks, if you were to compromise multiple point of sales, can swipe credit cards.

SEGALL: Exactly what it would have looked like if the Grinch went high-tech.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And Laurie's joining us now from New York. Laurie, so how does someone know if they've actually been hacked?

SEGALL (live): You know, first and foremost, I would say if you were in target between November 27th and December 15th, you need to be checking your bank statements. And you need to be looking in a certain way. You know, sometimes hackers might not charge large payments. They might charge micropayments. I just recently spoke to somebody who thinks they've been hacked. They showed me their transactions that they said they didn't have that were between $4 and $89. So, definitely start with checking your bank account statements -- Wolf.

BLITZER: To make sure that there's nothing unusual there. What are some other tips to keep yourself safe?

SEGALL: You know, as I mentioned before, I would say the number one is, you know, check your statement, see if there are any irregular charges. You know, call your credit card company. Call the bank. Call Target. Get on the phone with these folks now. And also, you know, worst-case scenario, replace your credit card. You know, change your pin number. That could be a solution. And also, you know, for some folks, you could sign up for a fraud monitoring service. There's one called LifeLock.

But, you know, I should mention, you are protected. You know, card issuers don't hold you liable for fraudulent activity. You know, that being said, this is horrifically inconvenient. And if you were in those stores, you should be checking your bank statements repeatedly -- Wolf.

BLITZER: You certainly should. Good advice, thank you.

SEGALL: Thank you.

BLITZER: We're getting an important story just coming in right now. Jim Sciutto, our Chief National Security Correspondent, is over at the Pentagon right now. You're learning new information on anti-Iran sanctions bill that is about to be introduced? What's going on?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. I'm told by a senior Senate aide involved in drafting this bill that Senators, Mark Kirk, Republican Senator, Bob Menendez, a Democrat, very involved on the Iran issue, will introduce a bill today that would apply new sanctions to Iran. And here hows -- here's how it's described to me, and I'm quoting from the senior Senate aide. "It will give the president up to a year potentially to negotiate with Iran before sanctions must kick, although sanctions would come back sooner if Iran cheats on the deal, plans a terror attack against the U.S. or launches a look-range ballistic missile." So, a change in here you can notice from previous bills we've heard talked about initially. There had been a six-month delay discussed to allow this six-month interim agreement with Iran to proceed before any sanctions would come in.

What's significant though, and you and I have talked about this a number of times, Iran has made it very clear they don't want any new sanctions imposed. In fact, the Iranian foreign minister said just a week ago that if that happened, any new sanctions would kill an interim deal. And, you know, the administration has been pushing hard on this, pushing back to keep this from happening.

Now, I'm told by the senior Senate aide that they have a quarter of the Senate on board, equal Democrats and Republicans. And at least in this aide's view, that would be a difficult support for Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, to not allow this to come to a vote next month.

BLITZER: I assume it will pass, especially since they give the Iranians a year to comply with this deal, this interim deal. If it works out, then these new sanctions would not go into effect. In the course of the year, if it doesn't work out, presumably, the sanctions would go into effect. I assume it would pass the Senate if it's allowed to come up for a vote, pass the House of Representatives.

Here's the question, I don't know if we have any reaction yet from the White House. If the House passes it, the Senate passes it, would the president veto it or sign it into law?

SCIUTTO: We don't have reaction from the White House yet. But one way that they're hamstrung, Wolf, is that if you read the text of the interim deal with Iran, and I can't quote it to you now because I don't have it in front of me, but I know that it has language in there that says, no new sanctions will be applied during the six months of the interim deal.

Now, I suppose you have some legal wiggle room in there to say, well, they wouldn't be applied, that they're held out for 12 months or earlier if Iran violates the agreement. But at least the indications we've gotten consistently from the administration, as well as from the Iranians, is they would treat something like this as new sanctions. So, it would be a real challenge for the administration to overcome this.

BLITZER: Well, it's a sensitive issue, obviously, and a sensitive point in these negotiations with the Iranians. We'll stay on top of it. We've got reaction presumably from the White house as well. Jim Sciutto will have a lot more in "THE SITUATION ROOM" on this later on this today. Thanks, Jim, very much.

So, will she or won't she? Hillary Clinton says she will decide next year whether she'll run for president of the United States in 2016. Clinton says, right now, the country should be focused on issues like unemployment and the economy, not the next presidential election. But in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, she couldn't avoid the inevitable questions about 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA WALTERS, ANCHOR, ABC: OK, here it comes. When will you, if you do, decide whether or not you're going to run for president?

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, it's such a difficult decision and it's one that I am not going to rush into. I haven't made up my mind.

WALTERS: You really haven't?

CLINTON: I really have not. I will look carefully at what I think I can do and make that decision, you know, sometime next year.

WALTERS: Does your husband want you to run?

CLINTON: He is very respectful. He knows that this is --

WALTERS: But he does want you to run.

CLINTON: Well, he wants me to do what I think is right.

WALTERS: If you ran and you became president, what would I call your husband? First spouse?

CLINTON: I have no idea, first mate, I don't know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Let's bring in our Political Reporter Peter Hamby. He's in Des Moines, Iowa right now, the state that derailed, hurt Hillary Clinton's 2008 run for the White House as a lot of us remember. So, what do you make of Secretary Clinton's latest remarks about 2016, Peter?

PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, honestly, Wolf, not very much other than the fact that she said she would make her decision sometime next year as opposed to after next year's midterm elections which is what potential presidential candidates say. The most revealing thing about this to me is just, again, the amount of attention it's getting which signifies, you know, the kind of, you know, swirling intensity of the attention that's being paid to her at the moment. I mean, she's being -- she's being named one of the most intriguing people of 2013 but she left the State Department, you'll recall, back in February.

You know, but talking to people out here in Iowa, talking to Iowa Democrats, they want to see her soon. They want her to come out here. I was talking to a bunch last night at a liberal event just outside Des Moines, and, you know, they respect her. They like her even though she lost here in 2008. But they do want to see her soon. There's two House races, a Senate race and a governor's race, out here next year, Wolf, so if she wants to come and be a loyal soldier Democrat, there's plenty of chances for her to come out here next year -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, if she wants to start campaigning for those Democrats, that probably couldn't hurt her. Could probably help her a lot if she wants to run in the Iowa caucuses in 2016.

One issue, though, could hurt her and it's already resurfaces where you are in Iowa. Her vote in favor of the war in Iraq. The former Montana governor, Brian Schweitzer, telling Iowa Democrats, what, only yesterday, that secretary Clinton's decision to support military inaction in Iraq was the wrong decision. So, what's go on here? Schweitzer, his name has been thrown out there as well as potential Democratic presidential candidate even though he's not all that well known.

HAMBY: That's right. And he's actually throwing his own name out there. Brian Schweitzer is a former two-term Democratic governor of Montana, a self-styled prairie popular (ph) because he liked to talk about economic issues. He came through Iowa here last night and gave a speech to some -- to a liberal group called Progress Iowa here. And he, you know, brought up Hillary Clinton's Iraq War vote. He didn't mention her by name but it was clear who he was talking about. Take a listen to what he said last night here in Iowa -- Wolf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN SCHWEITZER (D), FORMER MONTNA GOVERNOR: Anybody who runs in this cycle, whether they're Democrats or Republicans, if they were in the United States Senate and they voted with George Bush to go to Iraq when I'd say about 98 percent of America knows that it was a folly, that it was a waste of treasure and blood, and if they voted to go to Iraq, there would be questions for them on the left and on the right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMBY: Now, Schweitzer says he's just sort of poking around out here in Iowa. But again and again in an interview with me and in the speech he gave, he made these sort of veiled illusions to Hillary Clinton, both her vote for the Iraq War and just the fact that she's been in politics for so long.

But it was surprising that people in the room, Wolf, I've got to tell you last night, thought he was going to come and talk about economic issues, income inequality, things like that. And the people I talked to were actually kind of surprised that he brought up an Iraq War vote that's over 10 years old. She voted for the Iraq War back in 2002. And now, as secretary of state -- or as secretary of state, she actually helped wind down the war in Iraq -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, that strategy worked for a young senator from Illinois in 2007, 2008. That would be Barack Obama. He opposed the war in Iraq. She voted for it. It was a major campaign issue on his part. So, maybe Schweitzer is going to his -- to Barack Obama's play book against Hillary Clinton. Let's talk about another story coming out of Iowa where you are right now. The state's Republican governor, Terry Branstad, he had some blunt words about the vice president, Joe Biden, and maybe his run for the White House. Branstad said, Biden is dead meat out here. He is so associated with this administration and all of its failures. He was unpopular before and he is even less popular now. Now, that's from a Republican, a Republican -- a Republican incumbent governor. But that's pretty harsh coming from a governor against a sitting vice president to call him, quote, "dead meat."

HAMBY: Absolutely. And what's interesting about that, yes, you're right, he is a Republican. But Terry Branstad, the governor here, is a pretty genial guy. He's just Iowa nice. So, to hear him say something like that was unusually blunt. I spoke to him yesterday in his office, just over my shoulder here in the state capitol yesterday, and we were just talking about 2016 a little bit. He admitted he -- you know, he knows more about what Republicans are thinking than Democrats.

But he has a point. You know, according to a Quinnipiac poll that came out this week showed that just about half of Democrats think Biden would be a good president. And a full third of Democrats don't think he'd be a good president, whereas Hillary Clinton, you know, about 90 percent of Democrats think she would be a good president. So, Biden's poll numbers out here in Iowa not great, even among Democrats -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Peter Hamby on the scene in Iowa. A little early to be in Iowa but it's never too early to be in Iowa for those of us who love politics.

HAMBY: Never.

BLITZER: All right, thanks very much, Peter. Thanks, we'll have you back later.

Up next, the Olympic controversy in Russia. Vladimir Putin takes aim at his social enemies. I'll talk about it with our own Christiane Amanpour. And you're going to hear what Billie Jean King told Christiane about representing the United States at the Sochi winter Olympic games.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Speaking in Moscow today, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said his government is not working with Edward Snowden. He also said he envied President Obama for being able to get away with spying, but admitted it's nothing new.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA (through translator): There's nothing specific to be pleased about or to be upset about. Everything has always been like this, first of all. Spying has always gone on since ancient times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Earlier on, Putin also spoke about the Olympics and criticism over Russia's anti-gay laws. He also said it's all about preserving traditional Russian values.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PUTIN: It's not important for me to criticize western values. What is important, to defend our society. It's not about criticizing anyone. It's about protecting us from rather aggressive behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is joining us now.

So what do you make, Christiane, of President Putin's explanation for the anti-guy laws in Russia that's generating so much commotion out there, especially in advance of the Winter Olympic games in Sochi?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. You know, he -- you just heard, he's not talking just about traditional Russian values, as he puts it, but he calls it aggressive attempts. And what this means is they believe that western gay icons or the gay community are aggressively, in his word, trying to bring, you know, that to Russia. Well, this, of course, is met with division (ph) from many inside Russia, although there are many who believe what he says. But certainly there are many who are really, really, very worried about it because it's yet another example of essentially, you know, the anti-human rights campaign really that's been going on in many, many corners of the Putin administration on many issues, including the political issue.

So, as you know, President Obama is not going to the Sochi Olympics, nor is the vice president, nor is the first lady, first time in a decade that that level has not been represented. Instead, the president is sending two gay delegates and one of them is the chief tennis champ of the world. So she comes with a real heft. And I spoke to her today and I asked her, would there be any kind of demonstration appropriate by the delegates or by the athletes in regard to what's going on in Russia right now?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLIE JEAN KING, MEMBER OF U.S. OLYMPIC DELEGATION: Well, maybe it wouldn't be appropriate, but why not? I think the -- it's OK to say what you feel and think as long as we're protected. But if you look back at the '68 Olympics with the fists and whatever, if there is something they want to --

AMANPOUR: The black power (INAUDIBLE).

KING: Maybe we should wave rainbow flags or something. I don't know. There's no reason, as long as we - we're not being malicious, but we can show our feelings, I think that's fine. I think it's - I think it's OK. But by even being present and not boycotting sends a very positive message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So that's also really important. You know, some called for a boycott. But many of the athletes have said, no, that's not the right thing to do. And many in Russia are worried that there would be a boycott. There isn't going to be, but they're very concerned that if there's any kind of disruption of the Sochi Olympics, that they will be blamed for it. So they're trying to figure out, you know, as they say, positive ways to protest this anti-gay propaganda law that the Russians have instituted.

Wolf.

BLITZER: On the whole issue about Edward Snowden, President Putin's remarks were pretty, some would say, cavalier. They're not helping Snowden. They're not working with Snowden. Sort of envies, he said, the - I don't know if he was sarcastic or what -- President Obama's ability to engage a massive NSA surveillance programs. What do you make of his comments on this?

AMANPOUR: Well, first of all, spoken like a true former KGB agent. Secondly -- or chief. And secondly, he has always said that they're not helping. He says that they're not debrief, they're not downloading Edward Snowden, they're just giving him shelter.

He said from the beginning, made it very clear actually, that they didn't necessarily approve of what Snowden had done, but he's not going to throw him out. And he always says it's up to Snowden to figure out where to go next.

You know, there are issues between the U.S. and Russia where they're trying to keep some kind of even keel. But it is a very difficult time because it's a very, very spiky relationship right now.

BLITZER: Christiane Amanpour, thanks very much. And thanks for all your excellent reporting, as usual.

One of the stars of the "Duck Dynasty" reality show is in hot water over his comments on homosexuality made in an interview with "GQ" magazine. Responding to a question about sin, Phil Robertson said, and I'm quoting, "start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and those men." A&E, the network that airs "Duck Dynasty," announced that it is suspending Robertson from the show's filming. Robertson responded by say, and once again I'm quoting, "I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like him, I love all of humanity." Sarah Palin, by the way, is coming to his defense. She posted this, "free speech is an endangered species. Those intolerants hatin' and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us." That from Sarah Palin.

When we come back, we're getting new information, President Obama about to commute sentences of eight people in crack cocaine cases. Our own Brianna Keilar is standing by with new information. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: An important story coming out of the White House. Our senior White House correspondent, Brianna Keilar, is here with me to tell us what's going on involving the president's decision to commute some sentences of individuals who are serving long prison sentences for using crack -- or selling crack cocaine?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For offences related to crack cocaine. That's exactly right. And we've just learned that we're talking about eight people here. We're expecting President Obama to commute these sentences today.

And, Wolf, sort of the back story to this is that in 2010 President Obama signed into law what was called the Fair Sentencing Act and it reduced - really eliminated the disparity between sentencing for crack cocaine and powdered cocaine, because the penalties for offenses related to crack cocaine were much more severe.

So when you're talking about these individual people, a White House official says all of these folks were sentenced before this law was signed into effect. So they were serving severe penalties. In fact, they are serving, we are told -- they have served 15 or more years of these sentences. So that's a pretty long sentence at this point. And we're also told by a White House official that in the case of these particular individuals, it was for many of them a case where the judge had to adhere to a mandatory minimum and actually lamented the fact in these cases relating to offenses, relating to crack cocaine, they lamented the fact that they felt their hands were tied. They felt that the penalty was too great. So the White House saying that the president is going to be fixing this, as they would explain it.

BLITZER: Well, he's urging the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Congress, to pass legislation that would change the disparity much more significantly than is already the case.

KEILAR: That's right.

BLITZER: But these -- the decision to commute these eight individuals, that's, I guess, a symbolic first step. There are probably thousands of people in jail who are serving long prison sentences because of this disparity (ph) between the powder and the crack cocaine.

KEILAR: It is symbolic, but I also think you have to look at the timing, and that's because you talked about the push in the Senate Judiciary Committee that they will be taking up wider spread reform, or certainly the concept of it. That's expected to happen next month. So this is, in a way, sort of sending a signal, raising awareness of the issue. And also, I think, showing that this administration is deemphasizing those severe penalties related to these drug offenses as part of his agenda.

BLITZER: At the end of every year, a president does issue a decision to commute sentences. These are the first. There will be more, presumably, over the next -- before the end of the year, I guess, right? KEILAR: Yes. We would expect. That does often happen. And so we'll be waiting to see what happens here in the next couple weeks.

BLITZER: Yes, he's been criticized in the past that he hadn't done a lot of commuting of sentences. We'll see what he does between now and December 31st. All right, Brianna, thanks very much.

Thousands of seniors are facing a troubling choice, leave their trusted doctors or find a new insurance plan. We're going to tell you about that and much more news right after the break.

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