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Chase Limits Debit Cards; Obama Signs Up For Coverage; Weather Update; Georgia Says No to A&E; U.S. Marines In Africa

Aired December 23, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Brooke Baldwin. Great to be with you on this Monday, this holiday week.

And here's what we begin with today. Hackers stealing debit and credit card information from millions of Target shoppers, perhaps including you, forcing them to change pin numbers or get new bank cards. And now, in the name of preventing more potential fraud, at least one bank, specifically Chase, has but a squeeze on those same customers.

Here's the deal. Mandatory spending limits on Chase debit cards that were used at Target. Those same Chase customers now have a limit. You can only withdraw up to $100 from the ATM. All of this with just a couple days left to finish your Christmas shopping.

And some Target customers fed up with the entire debacle. They're fighting back in a very, very big, very American way. They filed suit.

George Howell joins me live outside of a Target in chilly Warrenville, Illinois, on this Monday.

And, George, I read about this this morning. We're not talking one suit or two suits. I mean multiple suits here.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brooke, we're talking about, at least from what we've heard so far, three possible class action lawsuits. And there could be more to come. When you think about the timing of what's happening here, right before the Christmas rush, we're talking about sales that are reportedly down at Target stores and shoppers, some shoppers who are finding other places to shop.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL (voice-over): Some last-minute Christmas shoppers may be frozen in their tracks because of the massive security breach at Target. JP Morgan Chase, the nation's largest bank, has temporarily placed limits on those customers, potentially impacted by the hacking. Chase clients who shopped at U.S. Target stores between November 27th and December 15th can now only withdraw $100 a day from ATMs, their daily total spending now capped at $300.

With 40 million credit and debit card accounts now considered compromised, irate customers took Target to task online. One tweet reads, quote, "my bank account got hacked and now I can't finish Christmas shopping at Target. Anything to help?" Another chimed in, "the moral of this story, Target hacking and Chase bankcard limits have a backup plan, cash, paper checks, gift cards, one other bank card." And other hacked customers are asking why it wasn't noticed sooner.

ERICA EAKEN, HACKED TARGET CUSTOMER: They purchased six gift cards at $200. And as the person at the bank told me, they went for a seventh and it was denied because I didn't have enough. And I just think that would have been suspicious.

HOWELL: U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chuck Schumer are now demanding immediate federal investigations to prevent a breach like this from happening again.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: We could get to the bottom of how Target's in-store payment security was compromised in order to make sure that Target, in the future, and all other stores adequately protect consumers from this kind of devastating theft.

HOWELL: Some customers in California have already filed what could become a class action lawsuit against Target, saying the chain, quote, "failed to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices." Target said on Sunday it notified millions of effected customers via e-mail and is working with the Secret Service and financial institutions to resolve the problem. They also offered customers 10 percent store-wide discounts this weekend as well as free credit monitoring.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: So, Brooke, you know, this has certainly put the focus on these, you know, data breaches. And it's also put the focus on the cards that we use. We all have them, the cards that have the magnetic strip. According to the National Retail Federation, those cards can be easily compromised. It's the same technology that you remember back from cassette tapes. You remember mixed tapes?

BALDWIN: Of course.

HOWELL: Same technology there. Easily compromised and can be copied, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You know, listening to your piece, I don't know if a 10 percent discount is going to quite cut it for some of the people I'm sure you're talking to at Target.

HOWELL: Yes.

BALDWIN: What have they told you today, George?

HOWELL: It's been a mix, Brooke. An interesting mix. You know, I talked to a few customers. They said, look, we're going to keep shopping just like we usually do. And I want to step out of the way and just show you, it's a parking lot, but in the context of what we're talking about, is this normal? Well, customers say, yes. And, in fact, this is what you would expect this time of year, more shoppers at this store. So we're hearing people are still going to the store. However, one person told us, instead of using my card, I'll use cash. You see some of that here just given what happened with the security breach.

BALDWIN: Can you blame them given what happened? George Howell for us in Illinois. George, thank you.

And now to this. We have this today. President Obama has signed up for Obamacare. Apparently, all the way from Hawaii. He is, of course, on vacation there right now. Athena Jones also there, not on vacation, covering the president and the first family.

And, Athena, I hear the president signed up for specifically the bronze plan. What else are they telling us?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke.

Well, the president signed up for a plan via the Washington, D.C.'s health care exchange. So he used the D.C.-run marketplace. He selected a bronze plan, an individual plan, so not a plan for the whole family, just a plan for himself. He has not yet paid for his premium, the White House says, but, of course, they say he will.

Now, this is symbolic because the president already gets health insurance through the military. This is as part of his job. But the White House says he wanted to sign on as a show of support to these exchanges, to really set an example for all of these folks who really do need to sign on this week, certainly by tomorrow, in some states a little longer, in order to have coverage starting in January.

One more bit of news, Brooke. As this deadline was fast approaching over the weekend, we - officials say that a million people visited the federal website, healthcare.gov. So that's an early sign that there was a surge in interest leading up to this deadline.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. And as the president is resting up in Hawaii, his staff back home saying Obamacare hopefuls will have until the end of tomorrow, not today, to enroll for coverage that would kick off the first of January. Athena, thank you.

They are citing possibly a last-minute rush. Let me read just part of the statement that we were given this afternoon, quoting here, "anticipating high demand and the fact that consumers may be enrolling for multiple time zones, we have taken steps to make sure that those who select a plan through tomorrow will get coverage for January 1st." So there is that for you today.

There is also this. We have this. This is opposition to Obamacare. And it keeps increasing. Look at the numbers with me. At the top there, 62 percent. Even though the White House suggests that it's past this whole bumpy rollout. John Avlon is with me now, CNN political analyst, also with "The Daily Beast."

Nice to see you, sir. JOHN AVOLN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let me begin with a left-field question. How many times since the first of October, when this whole website launched, and when we first started reporting on this, how many times, John Avlon, do you think the president, you know, swiveled around in that Oval Office chair, typed in, you know, healthcare.gov into his browser, can't get in, picked up the phone, you know, I don't know if he's yelling, but speaking sternly to someone, and then said this is my big achievement and you're blowing it, people?

AVLON: Seven. Seven, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Seven.

AVLON: No, I'm totally making that up. I have no idea how many times the president yelled at his staff.

BALDWIN: Several.

AVLON: But at least several. Look, I mean, that's the key point. You've got the key legislative achievement of this administration. And the rollout's a face plant. And, obviously, that's frustrating. And because it's not just an indictment of this president and his signature legacy, but it also calls into question liberalism's promise that it can solve complex, societal problems.

So this cuts to the heart of the administration. And that's why we've seen the president's poll numbers really take a dip since this flawed rollout. You know, even if you're the commander in chief, you're still subject to the tyranny of the tech guy. And that's something the president has learned over and over and they're trying to fix as furiously as they can.

BALDWIN: Yes. Speaking of poll numbers, this poll's got some other gloom and doom numbers. Let me just pass these along to our viewers. Forty-two percent say they are worse off now with Obamacare out than they were before. And opposition among women, specifically, has hit 64 percent.

So when you're looking at the polls, and I'm looking at these polls and things of this nature, do you think that the president himself, just (ph) flat (ph) out (ph) over 2013? I mean I have to imagine the president is -- I don't know if he's thinking this is old news and he's 20 steps ahead, looking ahead. And if so, what do you think he's looking toward, looking at?

AVLON: Oh, I think he's cheering on the coming of new year. I mean he wants to turn the page on this last six months --

BALDWIN: Yes.

AVLON: Or last three months at least. Look, these poll numbers are serious. I mean they show that the trend is not the president's friend. That perceptions are hardening against Obamacare. There is still plenty of time for them to right the wrongs. But you never get that second chance to make the first impression. So right now people are really projecting all their frustrations about the health care system on health care reform.

Now, whether that lasts to the mid-term elections in November, that is the big question in Washington and in the nation. And the administration's made good faith efforts to fix this flawed rollout, but these poll numbers today really do show women moving against it and opposition increasing. That is not where the president and the administration wants to be. They have a lot of ground to catch up in the first quarter of the new year.

BALDWIN: John Avlon, thank you very much. Happy holidays to you and Margaret. Thank you.

AVLON: Thank you, Brooke. You too.

BALDWIN: And a strong weather system is bringing a dose of winter and spring-like storms to a huge section of the country. And when you think of this weekend, I mean the outbreak brought this deadly mix of tornadoes and snow and ice and floods. At least 10 people died across parts of the south and the Midwest. Especially hard hit here you have parts of Mississippi, where tornadoes lifted homes off their foundations and just totally collapsed roofs.

Yikes. The ice so thick atop stores in this Oklahoma City outlet mall, it snapped and one after another after another, look at those shoppers just standing around and watching this tumbling down. Thank goodness no one was hurt.

And from Oklahoma City to New England, firefighters rushed to rescue this pup from the icy river. Oh, the dog was very cold and very wet, but very OK now. So that's good news there.

The bone-chilling temperatures combined with blowing snow made driving conditions just absolutely treacherous in the upper Midwest.

As for those of you in Manhattan, beautiful heading through Central Park. New York City warming up to a balmy 70 degrees on Sunday. But enjoy it now. It will be short-lived as the mercury will fall drastically over the next couple of days.

As we look ahead to this week, to Christmas, how cold might it be? I'm afraid to ask you, Chad Myers, tracking all the cold, cold weather and looking at your map and seeing some negatives.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well --

BALDWIN: Oh.

MYERS: Yes. Forget about 70 in New York until maybe April.

BALDWIN: Forget about it.

MYERS: I mean it's going to be 40 degrees colder coming up this morning, coming up in the morning, than we were over the weekend. And I can't believe you didn't give our reporter in Honolulu a little jab about 76 degrees in Honolulu, considering now it's 86 degrees colder in Fargo. How about that?

BALDWIN: Pretty sweet gig, but she's working this Christmas week, you know?

MYERS: Yes, true, but it feels like 27 below in Minot. Now this -- the pets feel this temperature. Your skin feels this temperature. Your car doesn't. But it is cold out there. Make sure the pets are taken care of, away from the wind. Cedar Rapids, it feels like 22 degrees below zero right now.

It is raining in New York and it's been raining most of the day. We had some airport delays there. Still icing across parts of Maine. That's going to continue for the next couple of hours. But then finally head on out.

And one more thing. A lot of travelers may be thinking about maybe heading overseas. If you are, there are significant delays expected across parts of England, Whales, even into Glasgow and Dublin. We have 56 mile per hour winds expected in London tonight. And they will go up from there. This large low-pressure center right there, that circle right there, I can put that low right there, is the same pressure as a category two hurricane.

BALDWIN: Geesh.

MYERS: Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Look at you, Chad Myers, with the international travel forecast.

MYERS: That's right.

BALDWIN: Wishful thinking, perhaps, that we'd be hopping overseas as well. Chad, thank you very much. Nice to see you.

MYERS: You're welcome. Good to see you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, a new chapter in the "Duck Dynasty" controversy. Phil Robertson's comments about homosexuality have ignited conversations nationwide. And one of those with a pretty strong opinion is a sheriff in Georgia. Here he is. He is allowed A&E to film some shows in his county, but he says, nope, not anymore. We'll ask him about his decision and how the folks in his county feel about his stand against the cable network. That's next. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just in to CNN, a federal judge is rejecting Ohio's ban on same-sex marriage. This is a narrow ruling. The judge found the ban to be unconstitutional and authorities -- authorities, rather, must recognize those marriages on death certificates. The decision results from a lawsuit filed by two gay men whose spouses have died and who wanted to be recognized as married on their death certificates. The narrow ruling only applies in those cases, but his decision could easily lead to new lawsuits challenging the ban. "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson doubling down on his controversial comments from that interview he did with "GQ" magazine, essentially saying, hey, don't blame me. Everything I said is right there in the Bible. In an interview with "The Daily Mail," Robertson said, and I'm quoting him, "I am just reading what was written over 2,000 years ago. Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom." He goes on. "All I did was quote from the scriptures, but they just didn't know it. Whether I said it or they read it, what's the difference? The sins are the same, humans haven't changed."

And one sheriff in Georgia agrees with the "Duck Dynasty" star. He is Phil Miller, and he talked to the "Atlanta Journal Constitution" and said that he will no longer allow A&E networks to film in his town of Douglasville, Georgia. "Duck Dynasty" is not actually filmed there, that show per se, but there are other A&E shows that are. This sheriff told the Atlanta paper, quote, "if you can't speak about what's in the Bible, that's wrong." And joining me now, Sheriff Phil Miller.

Sheriff, welcome.

SHERIFF PHIL MILLER, DOUGLAS COUNTY, GEORGIA: Good to be here, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let me just begin with this. I know you say, you will not -- given what Phil Robertson said and what you agree with and his ability to speak up, what would change your mind with A&E? Would anything change your mind?

MILLER: Well, if they did the right thing. I don't think you should be punished for your belief in the Bible and what it says. That's -- that's no disregard to anybody. I think you have a right to believe what you want to believe. But when somebody punishes you for your belief and your Christian values, which is the foundation of this government, I believe, it's been a part of our history throughout our history, and I believe a person ought to get to believe in the Bible without repercussions. And I -- if A&E does the right thing, I'll do the right thing.

BALDWIN: So what is the right thing? Bringing Phil back on the show?

MILLER: Well, I think so. If his punishment was for what he said, that the Bible said, then I think the right thing to do is no harm, no foul and let him do what he was doing.

BALDWIN: I'm curious, in Douglasville, Douglas County, what kind of support, sheriff, have you gotten among those in the community, among your colleagues. Because I have to imagine that A&E, you know, in shooting shows in your county, brings money to town. So how many are standing with you and how many aren't?

MILLER: Well, I think it's probably 80 percent for it, 20 percent against. You know, A&E doesn't pay us for those shows. We do them because we get publicity from it and it helps support our program, the Mace (ph) program, which is our scared straight program in Douglas County. So it doesn't affect us monetarily. They're here for a day, and they're gone.

BALDWIN: I see. I see.

MILLER: But, you know, I don't want to -- I don't want to do anything to hurt the economy in Douglas County, but sometimes, somewhere, somebody has got to stand up and say, hey, what about us, too? And I believe in tolerance. I love everybody. But I simply think that tolerance ought to work both ways.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you this, because I know we have Phil Robertson and the comments he made. He said he was roughly quoting the Bible. And you agree with what he was saying. But let me throw a question, flip the script a little bit on you.

MILLER: OK.

BALDWIN: Let's say someone, reality TV star, someone said something roughly paraphrasing the Koran. Let's say you did not agree in belief with what that person said, but you stand by this notion of, you know, freedom of speech. Would you feel the same way as far as doing the same thing, making sure A&E can't come to your town because that free speech has been breached? Are you following me?

MILLER: Well, I do follow you. In fairness, I don't know what I would do, except I know this, I would protect their right to free speech. If somebody violates the law, whoever you are, and whatever you are, it's my job to protect you and I would try to do that.

BALDWIN: Whether you believe what they were saying or not?

MILLER: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: OK. Sheriff Phil Miller from Douglas County, thank you very much. Happy holidays, sir.

MILLER: Thank you. Merry Christmas to you.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

MILLER: Coming up next, do you recognize this woman? We'll show you. If not, I know you've seen this tweet. She said, "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white." Yep, she tweeted that. So much trouble, so few characters. The PR executive made headlines. She has lost her job now. So we're asking today, how the heck does a single tweet turn into an online firestorm?

Plus, CNN has just confirmed the U.S. is moving Marines to Africa. We are going live to the United Nations to see how this could impact Americans still in the South Sudan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Right now, 150 U.S. Marines are on standby to head into a country on the verge of civil war. I'm talking about South Sudan where a daring weekend mission to rescue Americans had to be aborted when their aircraft came under intense fire and they tried to land here. Four Navy SEALs were hurt in that attack. Those American civilians, they were trying to go get to have since been safely evacuated. But keep in mind, there are still Americans left behind. Just about 100 of them. And President Obama says the U.S. really has no choice but to get more troops involved.

CNN International's Jim Clancy is here with me.

And so we know that the president wrote a letter to Congress basically talking about protecting U.S. interests over there. What interest is he referring to?

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The embassy and U.S. civilians that are working for U.N. agencies or working there with USAID trying to build the country of South Sudan. It was in the U.S. interests to do that. They tried to push this project ahead. Now it is falling apart in front of its eyes.

BALDWIN: The other major layer of this story, we talked about this earlier, this is an oil-rich country. This is a country that had been fighting to break apart from the northern part of the nation for years and years. Finally did so in 2011. What's the fight really about?

CLANCY: The fight is really over power. Power in the country. You can say it's also connected to the oil money because the government is funding 98 percent by that oil money.

BALDWIN: Wow.

CLANCY: And it's just now starting to flow.

BALDWIN: Yes.

CLANCY: But what has happened is Salva Kiir, the president, who's a Dinka (ph), the majority tribe in this area. But you've got to remember, there's like 40 different ethnic groups that are really involved here.

BALDWIN: OK.

CLANCY: What held them together was the war with Khartoum. The war against Sudan to break away. Now they --

BALDWIN: But now that they've broken away --

CLANCY: They can't share power. They are not sitting down. They are not being adults. They are being --

BALDWIN: Who specifically? Who's fighting whom?

CLANCY: Well, the various different groups that are in -- that have control of their own local areas are now -- in other words, the oil- rich area was not taken over by the rebels. The leader there just decided, well, I'll join the vice president, Machar (ph), break-away group. And that's what they've done. They're just -- more people rebelling, if you will, against the leadership of the Sudan people's liberation movement. The SPLM. President Salva Kiir. They were in charge of it. It's just shaking apart at the seams. Nobody wants to see this because they know how volatile, how dangerous it is. Most of those who have been killed are precisely just innocent victims of one ethnic group or another. And if they allow this to spin out -- somebody's got to get their handle on this. They've got to get these people to sit down and talk. They've got to take off their military uniforms and somehow become diplomats. But, you know, it's worrisome. The first $4 billion went missing from oil revenues.

BALDWIN: Just gone?

CLANCY: Just gone. And the president appealed for people to give it back because he knew it was public officials who took it, but that's what's happening in South Sudan.

BALDWIN: OK. Now that we have a better grasp, we'll take you to the United Nations live next hour with more on what's happening and how this affects us here. So, Jim Clancy, thank you, as always, thank you very, very much.

CLANCY: Great to be here.

BALDWIN: An American -- an American locked up for months and months in the United Arab Emirates was making a parody -- made this parody video, has just now been sentenced. His punishment for making this mockumentary, one year in prison. Shezanne Cassim's brother telling CNN's "New Day," it just doesn't make sense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERVON CASSIM, BROTHER OF AMERICAN PRISONER: This is horrifying. You know, the UAE tries to position itself as being this modern society with its film festivals and Dubai is trying to host the World Expo 2020. This tells the world that it's not as modern as it likes to make people think it is. It was a fictional video. It was a comedy video with no intent to harm. And it -- it was pretty clear. And he's already been in there for eight months. And there's no reason why he has to -- he should have to spend any more time in jail. We don't feel that this is justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The video in question poked fun at Dubai teenagers who are influenced by hip-hop culture. This apparently, quote, "defamed the UAE society's image abroad."

A PR executive, a celebrity, and a state lawmaker. What do they all have in common? Well, they tweeted and the twitterverse fought back. Next, why the social network's mob mentality has the power to sink anyone.

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