Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Part of Apollo Theater in London Collapsed; Data Brokers Mine Your Information, Sell to Marketers

Aired December 19, 2013 - 15:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: A new report says the federal government is not doing enough to keep our food salmonella-free. A study conducted by "Consumer Reports" found dangerous bacteria levels in raw chicken. More than 300 store-bought chicken breasts were tested as part of the study, and some contained bacteria.

Let's bring in the good doctor, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent.

I think I just had some chicken for lunch, Sanjay. Is it -- is it safe to eat?

DOCTOR SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look. I mean, I think the vast majority of people are going to be just fine eating chicken. We eat a lot of chicken in this country and most people don't get sick from it. But obviously, a report like this does get a lot of attention.

They went out and they tested these samples within grocery stores. And what they found was that about 300 samples, about half of them not only contained bacteria, but specifically a bacteria that was resistant to many different types of antibiotics. These are the bad superbugs we talk about, Brooke. And many of the samples did contain bacteria overall. So, that was what raised a lot of flags here.

But keep in mind, again, you know, we eat about 160 million servings of chicken a year in this country and 99.9 percent of people do not get sick from it. A couple of golden rules. One is the chicken itself, you have to be careful not to cross contaminate that with other foods because uncooked chicken could be a source of bacteria. And also, you have to cook it to 165 degrees. That's a magic number, really, when it comes to chicken. A lot of people don't use meat thermometers, but if you do that, you essential kill the pathogens and viruses that could make you sick.

BALDWIN: One sixty five, got that. Let me ask you this. After 30 years of guidelines on how to prevent high blood pressure, now new guidelines. But, what were wrong with the old ones?

GUPTA: Yes. This is really interesting. And we are seeing lot of changes, lately, as you may have noticed, Brooke, with regards to guidelines of all sorts of different things. This was specifically looking at people over the age of 60. Two-thirds of them in this country are diagnosed with hypertension or high blood pressure, a pretty remarkable number. Typically, the number that doctors will look for is 140 over 90. If you know your blood pressure, this will make sense to you, but 140 over 90. If it's over that, they said, you should treat it. If it's under that, you're OK.

Now, they're saying in people who are 60 or over, it's OK to be 150 over 90. They didn't find treating it lower than that made a difference in terms of reducing heart attacks, reducing heart disease overall. So, you have to be careful with the blood pressure meds, especially in older people. You don't want to lower blood pressure without understanding why you're doing it. It can cause an older person to become dizzy, to even fall. So, here, they're saying, you know, you can loosen up on the blood pressure medications and guidelines for people in that age range, over 60.

BALDWIN: OK. So, from talking about blood pressure and chicken, and everything else you do and all the hats you wear, Sanjay Gupta, you have a show on the weekend, SG M.D. I hear you are talking to Joel Osteen.

GUPTA: I know you talked to him recently. I thought that was really a fascinating discussion. We get into this whole intersection between faith and science. Something I have been instructed in and something I learned the good pastor has been interested in as well fascinating discussion. Also Richard Blaise (ph), you know him Brooke?

BALDWIN: Yes.

GUPTA: You know, I asked him, the charge was this, holiday meals, we know everyone eats a lot of calories quickly this time of year.

BALDWIN: I don't know what you're talking about.

GUPTA: Five things we can do that food doesn't taste different, but you get a lot more of the healthy benefits of it. And that's what Richard will tell us.

BALDWIN: So, you mean that all those awesome milk shakes at Flip Burger does not fall into that category?

GUPTA: Not necessarily going to recommend the Flip Burger, but it's fascinating. I like the Christmas time of the year myself. There are little thing said you can do in the kitchen, little things. Your family won't notice it. And you can make a huge difference in terms of how many calories you take in, and frankly, how you feel after you eating these meals as well. That saying you are going to bloated feeling, you know, most people don't like that.

BALDWIN: No. We don't like that at all.

Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much. We will be watching you this weekend on SG MD.

Coming up, the business of buying and selling your personal information, shady characters called data brokers. They round up everything from what you buy at the drugstore to lists of AIDS patients and rape victims, and sell all of that information to the highest bidder. Why are they doing this? And really the best question is what can be done to stop them? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

You know, from target's security breach, we talked about that at the top of the hour, to the NSA phone surveillance, the privacy of Americans seems to be getting left and right here. But some say there are worse offenders out there. They don't take your money, but they do a lot from you without you knowing.

I'm talking about data brokers. These are companies that mine your information and sell your information to marketers. Listen to one privacy expert at a Senate hearing on this very issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAM DIXON, FOUNDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD PRIVACY FORUM: The data broker industry as it is today does not have constraints and does not have shame. It will sell any information about any person, regardless of sensitivity, for 7.9 cents a name which is the price of a list of rape sufferers which was recently sold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Rape suffers.

With me now, CNN legal analyst, former federal prosecutor, Sunny Hostin, and our business correspondent, Zain Asher.

So Zain, we heard the woman there, I mean, rape victims. What other lists, what other groups of people are these data brokers selling their information?

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, the lists are hugely troubling. It's not just lists of rape victims as you mentioned, but lists of seniors, for example, suffering from dementia, lists of people suffering from AIDS. Police officers' home addresses, that kind of thing.

So, as she mentioned, the data brokers, they take the list, they sell it to marketers for just a few cents per name, but still a $150 billion industry, so there is clearly money to be made. But also, in terms of how they get access to the data, you know, you think about it, everybody has an online presence to some degree. So, when you take an online survey, for example, to get a discount, that's one way, loyalty cards, warranty programs, that kind of thing, shopping online, buying over the counter prescriptions, that kind of thing, I think the most important thing is you have to be very careful and you just have to sort of, you know, when you subscribe to anything online, make sure you read the fine print. That's crucial. A lot of people don't do it -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: How does this industry explain this? How do they defend this?

ASHER: Right, well the director of marketing association says they don't compile these lists very often. But they also say that listen, you know, they sort of recognize that it's wrong to sort of exploit people or characterize people in certain ways, but they have a statement in to us. They say, and I'm quoting here, "we recognize there are lists being used to disparage certain groups and that's not something that the DMA or the Direct Marketing Association supports."

They also say they use these lists to create general profiles about what people like. So, whether you're, you know, you are into traveling or whether you are into sports, that kind of thing. Sort of they say harmless things. Also, consumers do have the right to opt out as well. They make that point, too -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

So Sunny, they say harmless things. You look at the list of people whose information is mined, it's mind-boggling.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. Our information as well.

BALDWIN: We all leave imprints online.

HOSTIN: Yes. I have to tell you, you know, I spent a lot of the afternoon just researching, what can a consumer do legally?

BALDWIN: To protect yourself.

HOSTIN: To protect himself or herself. I don't think there's much you can do. Like Zain just mentioned, yes, you can opt out, but you can only opt out if you know which lists you're on. And unfortunately, most of us just don't know. There's no centralized database that I could find that lists all the information instead of data broker has access to. And so, I think at this point, this is something that really needs to -- I guess, take the form of legislative action, much in the way we have seen with credit reporting agencies and that sort of thing. I think that's where it's going.

But right now, there's not much you can do. There is not much protection. I mean, federal law certainly protects some of your medical records, but we know they have gotten access to some of that information. We know that your credit, you know, report is you have access to that, and you can certainly look online and make edits and changes if there's misinformation out there. But in terms of this particular situation, I felt like I was back in law school. I couldn't find anything. I'm a pretty decent researcher.

BALDWIN: Not often Sunny Hostin says, I can't help you. But you can help us today.

Sunny, thank you. Thanks for trying. Appreciate it.

Zain Asher, thanks to you as well.

HOSTIN: We all got the red memo. BALDWIN: We did as well. Happy holidays in our red.

Coming up here, Dennis Rodman, he is back in North Korea. He says he is there to train a basketball team, but really? What's going on there?

And do you remember these? These are some of the greatest political photographs, these moments of 2013.

And Busby has put together a list, of course, they did. They're all things lists over there. We'll show you some of the great moments next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Got some breaking news just now coming in to us from London. Specifically if you have ever been to beautiful Apollo Theater in the city's west end this time of year, a lot of people on holiday, a lot of people taking in the theater. So, here's what we know as we look at the map just to give you some lay of the land there.

There has been some sort of balcony collapse. A rescue operation is under way right now after a part of the balcony in this theater has collapsed. This happened mid-performance. So think about it. It's 8:45 over there right now. Play started probably 45 or so minutes ago. Police confirm they were called to the theater. This is on Shaftesbury Avenue, shortly after 8:15. It is about a half hour ago, police were called in. This is what a spokesman said. I'm just quoting as I'm reading my e-mail.

"There's a report of a collapse in the building itself. It is believed that some people may have been injured in the collapse which occurred during the performance. This is what is onstage, the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime. Eye witnesses there at the Apollo theater in the west end of London said they saw people being escorted out of the building covered in dust and debris."

Imagine, what is it? Thursday evening in London. People are there to take in some theater. And it is -- it's incredibly frightening as part of this balcony inside the Apollo Theater has collapsed. I don't know how many people, I don't know if it was a full theater, how many people would have been on the balcony, because think about it -- people on the balcony, sitting below the balcony, watching the theater, and the balcony collapses.

We're working to get more information. And as soon as we get that, as soon as maybe even we have a reporter who is live in London who can fill us in on what they know, we will bring it to you live here on CNN.

Let's move along, talk about North Korea. Former NBA bad boy turned surprised geopolitical figure, I don't want to go that far, Dennis Rodman back in Korea. This is just one week after the dictator there executed his uncle by firing squad which brings me to Jake Tapper.

Jake Tapper, host of "THE LEAD," and you talked to former ambassador Christopher Hill today about what should we call them, the adventures of Dennis Rodman in North Korea? What did he say?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, THE LEAD: I guess its portal (ph) now. This is his third trip to North Korea.

BALDWIN: Right.

TAPPER: I asked Chris Hill, former ambassador, what he thinks. Can this actually achieve anything? There is a U.S. citizen being held captive there. Obviously, Kim Jong-Un and his country have been belligerent, bellicose even to South Korea. You might remember they shot a South Korean ship, shelled a South Korean island. What can he actually do? Not to mention the nuclear weapons program.

BALDWIN: Not to mention.

TAPPER: He thought it was a double-edged sword. On one level, it's possible that going there could achieve something, but generally speaking, this tends to serve the interests of the North Korean government. One thing that a former ambassador and governor Bill Richardson has suggested is that there is some value because Rodman can come back and tell the U.S., tell the government officials what he has seen, but he will poured cold water on that saying he didn't think that Rodman would brief state official --

BALDWIN: Forgive me Tapper, kill my mike. I'm about to --

TAPPER: Hello? Anyway, of course the big question right now --

BALDWIN: I'm sorry, Tapper. I had to cough. I'm fighting a cold. Forgive me. Not beautiful.

TAPPER: That must have been quite a hairball you had in there. And then the last issue, of course, you threw me a little with that, Brooke, I have to say.

The last issue, of course, is this U.S. citizen who is being held captive. But what's interesting about Kenneth Bae is that Rodman said at the end -- after he got back from his last trip, that it wasn't his responsibility to ask about Kenneth Bae. Kenneth Bae's sister has pleaded with Rodman to beg for her brother's release, but apparently that's not in the cards. Rodman said don't ask me about that, ask Barack Obama, ask Hillary Clinton, ask those blank-holes. So, I guess he's not really in the hostage rescuing business these days.

BALDWIN: Wow.

TAPPER: It is hard to really look at these trips as anything other than publicity stunts at this point, although I guess there's always the possibility that they could achieve something some day.

BALDWIN: OK. Jake Tapper, we will look for more of the Chris Hill interview. Forgive me.

TAPPER: They have water in Atlanta, right?

BALDWIN: I'm in New York and I just got handed some tea. They're good like that.

So Tapper, cheers. Cheers, my friend. Thank you. We'll look for you at the top of the hour. My apologies.

We'll have much more on the breaking news out of London as Apollo being collapse when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. Back to our breaking news here out of London. We're getting a little more information. We've got a reporter who will pop up in a matter of minutes here.

But let me just, if you are just now joining us, you're looking at pictures. This is the city of London. On the left side of your screen is the dot for the Apollo Theater. Because we are learning from London metropolitan police that within this theater, in the west end, keep in mind it's just about 9:00 London time, there has been what we have been reporting and here are pictures of the theater, we have been reporting a balcony collapse. We're hearing more specifically that this was a ceiling collapse during a performance of the play entitled "the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime" so mid-performance collapse. Eyewitnesses reporting people were walking out of this theater just covered in dust.

And the new bit of information that I'm reporting now is that London emergency crews as we know, of course they're on the scene responding, they are saying, police are saying they have reports of multiple casualties, multiple casualties as a result of this ceiling collapse at the Apollo Theater there in London.

We are making calls, we are awaiting more information from this reporter, but police have confirmed they were called to the theater just about an hour ago, right around 8:15 London time. This theater is on Shaftsbury Avenue. And it is believed that some people, now we know casualties, initial reports that there were injuries, and now we know casualties.

Erin McLaughlin is live for us now in London.

And Erin, just tell me what you know.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke. Well, we're still getting details as to what exactly transpired around 45 minutes ago in London's west end. The British press association reporting that a part of a balcony at the Apollo Theater in London's west end collapsed during a performance of "the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime." The London metropolitan police tweeting that they have been called to the Apollo Theater because of reports of a theater collapse. Eyewitnesses, according to the British press association, is reporting that people have been trapped inside, but we are still getting more information about exactly what transpired in London's west end this evening -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: I believe I have been to the Apollo Theater a number of years ago to see "starlight express." I mean, it's in a very popular area, a theater district, if you will, of London. And if you can just tell me, I mean, here we are, London, beautiful time of year, around the Christmas season, lot of people there, it's Thursday night at the theater. Do we know if this was a packed crowd?

MCLAUGHLIN: Not clear from the reports I've seen so far, Brooke, but you're right. This is a very busy time period here in London on the west end. It's also home to a very bustling shopping district so people flock to London during this time not just for these performances but also for the Christmas shopping. So, incredibly congested area of London, no doubt. Theater goers most likely terrified at the sight of something like this happening, very unexpected here on a Thursday night in London, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Just looking down, Erin, at my notes, stay with me, Apollo Theater seats more than 775 people so pretty sizable theater here, more than four levels. It's historic, it opened back in 1901, so four levels. There was initial confusion, Erin, whether or not it was the ceiling or a balcony. Forgive me if you mentioned this off the top, but do we know definitively what it was?

MCLAUGHLIN: At this point, authorities aren't -- they're simply not saying. We are still trying to piece information. We have the press association reporting that it was a balcony but that according to eyewitnesses so we're still waiting to hear from official sources.

BALDWIN: And you have to wonder, a theater of this size, whether or not it was packed or not. If we're talking 775 people and you have -- if it was a balcony coming down, you have rescue teams on the scene presumably there are people trapped inside this theater while we speak.

MCLAUGHLIN: Absolutely. And that again is what the British press association is reporting at this time. So a lot of terrified theater goers in London tonight. But again, authorities still most likely themselves trying to piece together what exactly happened.

BALDWIN: OK, Erin McLaughlin, I will let you go so you can do some news gathering.

We are coming up to the end of my program. But again, this happening, according to London metropolitan police, around 8:15 at night. Again, that was just about 45 minutes ago at the Apollo Theater during this performance, presumably just after the performance began, as theater typically starts right around 8:00. It was "the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime" and police are now confirming there are multiple casualties as a result of this balcony or ceiling collapse in the Apollo Theater.

Stay with CNN. We'll be all over the breaking news out of London here. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me. I will see you back at 11:30 eastern, 8:30 pacific on a case you missed it.

And now to Washington, "the LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.