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Target Customers' PIN Numbers Stolen; Americans Not Feeling Economic Gains; Heavy Ice Preventing Antarctica Rescue

Aired December 28, 2013 - 16:00   ET

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

ROSA FLORES, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosa Flores. We're going straight to this. These are pictures from more than 8,000 miles to south of where I am sitting in right now. The Antarctic, and there 74 people are on a ship that's trapped in the grips of a frozen ocean stretching for miles and miles. The ice surrounding the ship is nearly ten feet thick. One rescue ship has stalled in the ice. And another rescue boat is to turn back. Well, we'll talk about one of the crew members live from the stranded ship just ahead.

But first, the impact of Target's massive debit card security breach is growing by the day. Millions of shoppers are being told to get new cards after Target admitted that customers' PIN numbers were stolen. But Target is insisting the PIN data is still safe and secure.

CNN's Alexander Field reports from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just a day after saying there was no evidence that personal identification numbers or PINs were accessed in its massive security breach, a turnaround from Target. The retail giant saying debit card PIN numbers were stolen, along with names and card numbers, as part of the recent hacking.

Still, Target insists the PIN code information is safe and secure, in a statement saying, quote, "The PIN information was fully encrypted at the keypad, remained encrypted within our system, and remained encrypted when it was removed from our systems."

The company insists it would be unlikely that hackers would be able to unscramble the data, but some experts remain concerned.

DAVID KENNEDY, CEO, TRUSTEDSEC: The encryption itself is actually an industry great standard called data encryption standard and it usually being called triple dash, which definitely allows it to be protected but unfortunately, the problems with PIN numbers is they're only four characters which means that there's really only about 10,000 different combinations that you can do in order to get it.

So altogether, it's not going to -- it's not going to hold up, because hackers can do what's called brute forcing it to essentially grab those PIN numbers itself.

FIELD: The security breach affecting estimated 40 million customers who shopped at Target between Black Friday and December 15th. If you're concerned about your account, experts say be vigilant.

SHAWN HENRY, PRESIDENT OF CROWDSTRIKE SERVICE: They should be talking to their bank. They should be looking for unusual transactions, any type of anomalous behavior that they may recognize as fraudulent, and contact the authorities, contact their bank officials immediately.

KENNEDY: I know it's a pain, but change your PIN number, call your bank and get a new card. That's the easiest way to do it. They say that you have fraud monitoring and monitoring detection that they're putting in place in there, but really just as a peace of mind, just change it so you don't have to deal with it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: And Alexander joins us live now.

And, Alexandra, at first, Target says the data was not stolen. What caused the about-face?

FIELD: Right. Well, Rosa, at first Target said that it was just the card numbers and the names. They say that they learned that encrypted PIN numbers were also taken after additional forensic work confirmed that. And they say that they made the announcement after they got that evidence.

FLORES: And where does the investigation stand? Do we know who did this at this point?

FIELD: This is a massive investigation, Rosa. We are talking about 40 million shoppers affected between the time of Black Friday and December 15th. Target is characterizing this as an ongoing and continuing investigation. They say they are in just the first stages of the criminal and forensic work here. So this could certainly go on. We could certainly hear more about it -- Rosa.

FLORES: Lots of work ahead.

All right. Alexandra Field, live for us in New York. Thank you so much.

Emergency unemployment benefits have run out for more than a million long-term out of work Americans. There are federal benefit checks expiring today because Congress did not extend them last week when it passed the budget deal.

The recession-era program kicked in for unemployed workers once their state benefits ran out. They've been extended for -- and expanded for 11 times. The Obama administration supports legislation to extend the program by three months. That bill will be voted on as soon as lawmakers return from recess.

Despite calls to extend those emergency benefits, the nation's unemployment rate is declining and there are signs that the economy is improving. But as Alison Kosik reports, a new CNN poll shows many Americans say they are not feeling the gains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The poll asked about economic conditions today and 68 percent of respondents said conditions were poor and a majority of those polled they don't think the economic conditions are going to be getting much better a year from now. 56 percent said they saw conditions in a year as poor.

Now here's something that's very telling. The poll also asked whether the economy has made them put off making major purchases like furniture or appliances and 56 percent said yes. And that's higher than when the recession began in 2008. So what that does is show that there's concern about the future.

So why this disconnect? You look at data on the economy. It's been getting better. There are numbers on GDP, housing and auto sales. But you look behind those numbers and you find the long-term unemployed now underemployed, and those who have dropped out of or never even entered the work force.

They're not sharing in the surging stock market and many are about to lose unemployment benefits. Those people aren't buying big ticket items like furniture or appliances. And some are even cutting back on essentials like food and medicine. So on one hand, you've got the Dow at record highs almost every day, and then those people who aren't buying medicine. Some may call it one America, two economies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Four U.S. military members who were taken into custody in Libya have now been released. All the details are not yet clear but the U.S. State Department says the four American troops were in Libya to help beef up security at the U.S. embassy. They were reportedly in custody for just a few hours. U.S. officials tell CNN they are still trying to put together all of the facts.

It's going to be a little bit longer before help comes to some trapped scientists way down at the bottom of the earth. I'm talking about Antarctica. That's where a ship with 74 people on board has been stuck since before Christmas. They are stuck in the ice. That's only one part of this frozen story. A ship sent to rescue them can't get close because, well, you guessed it, because of the ice.

CNN's Isa Soares is watching developments from London.

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosa, help is so close yet so far. The Chinese icebreaker came within sights of the stranded vessel. Only six nautical miles but unfortunately it just couldn't break through.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES (voice-over): The stranded passengers happily point to a dot on the horizon. Others cheer help is near.

ALOK JHA, ABOARD STRANDED VESSEL: What's that on the horizon, Chris?

CHRIS TURNEY, EXPEDITION LEADER: That's the ice breaker coming to rescue us, Alok.

JHA: Brilliant.

SOARES: But their relief doesn't last long. Thick ice has forced the Chinese icebreaker, the Snow Dragon, to come to a halt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was about six nautical miles away when the decision was made that the ice was too thick. It was beyond the vessel's capacity. And he turned around and went back through the channel that he'd created to open the water.

SOARES: A French rescue vessel also failed to penetrate the ice and has been turned back. But reinforcements are on the way. The Australian ship Aurora Australis is en route and is expected to arrive Sunday evening.

(On camera): The Australian vessel is stronger than the Snow Dragon and has a higher ice rating. In other words, it can cut through ice as deep as 1.35 meters compared to the snow dragons one meter or so. But we're hearing reports that the ice in the area is as deep as two meters. And that can mean those onboard will have to be winched to safety by the helicopter onboard the Chinese vessel.

(Voice-over): For now they're not in danger. There's enough fresh food to last two weeks and dried food for longer if needed. But Chris Turney who is leading the expedition says he's worried blizzards could hamper the rescue efforts.

TURNEY: We've got some snow falling, but it's not too windy. Unfortunately, the weather forecast is continuing for the next few days.

SOARES: In the meantime, the 74 people on board which consists of scientist, tourists and crew are updating family with daily YouTube messages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, mom and dad. I hope you're enjoying as much as I am. As you have probably heard, we are currently in the set of a bit of ice, but not to worry, everything is going well.

SOARES: So well, it seems, they are continuing in their research, counting birds and drilling through the ice to photographing sea life. The team is retracing the footsteps taken by Australian explorer Douglas Mawson in 1911. He mapped out the Antarctic region but faced a harrowing journey. Stranded with no companions, no food, and no icebreaker, he had to wait a year for the ice to melt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: The Australian Maritime Safety Authority say they'll assess the situation once the Australian vessel arrives on Sunday night. But they do have a back up in the form of the Chinese helicopter, so they won't need to wait for the ice to melt after all -- Rosa.

FLORES: All right. Isa Soares in London, thank you so much. We'll have more on this story after a quick break. We're planning to go live to the Antarctic and talk to the expedition leader. The ship that was supposed to get them out of there got stuck and had to turn back. So what's next for the 74 people trapped in the ice? We're going to let you know.

Also ahead, a massive underground drill has hit something. Something and we don't know what that is. And it can't get through. And so far, no one knows what's down there. All that and much more after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: We've been following the plight of a research ship that got itself in hot water in, let's say, the coldest part of the earth. Seventy-four people, scientists, crew and paying tourists, they're all on board this Russian flag ship not far from Antarctica. And they are stuck. The ice is just too thick.

Now we've been trying really hard, we should say, to connect with the expedition's leader for a live update but we're not having any luck at this hour. But a short time ago, he spoke to CNN's Fredricka Whitfield and here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: At this point, you and the other crew members, are you thinking about all of your options, the what- ifs?

TURNEY: Oh, absolutely. I mean, it would be outrageous if we didn't. If we hadn't been talking about that with the rest of the team, about what are the other -- options. There are some. And at the moment, we're concentrating on there looking to see whether the Snow Dragon can get through to us.

And if not, we'll have the -- we've got other options working with the authorities about how to get the team home safe and sound.

We're very fortunate at the moment the weather is relatively fine and it's been set to stay for the next couple of days, so that's good for us. And we'll just take it from there, really. I think at the moment, we're just keeping morale up, and trying to keep morale up and working hard to get everyone home safe and sound.

WHITFIELD: And right now the mission is to be rescued. The mission is to try and get to your mission. But can you remind us of what were you all setting out to do in the first place before this happened?

TURNEY: Can you just repeat that? The phone signal's not so hot.

WHITFIELD: Sure. I'm just wondering what the primary mission has been for you. What were you setting out to do as part of this expedition? What's the research?

TURNEY: Oh, the research, yes, absolutely. We're following in the footsteps of a great Australian explorer and scientist, Sir Douglas Mawson. And a hundred years ago, he basically took the Australasian Antarctic Expedition off the map. It was the equivalent of space travel. It was, like, to see what lay south of Australia. And in the process two of years, and they had amazing adventures in their own right. They made a raft of fantastic observations, which the pages would fill a bookshelf.

As practical option, which is there's a baseline of data, but we're comparing. And many parts of Antarctica have relied solely on -- relied heavily on satellite data, which, of course, started in the late 1970s. So this is a unique, very (INAUDIBLE) thing to compare. Just the amount of environmental changes, not just climactic and oceanographic but biological. And we've got this amazing multi (INAUDIBLE) team.

We're an incredibly strong group, we're working really well as a team. Just to compare how much change has been since Mawson's time. If people like to learn more, please visit the spiritofmawson.com.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now I've been following him on Twitter and his last tweet is very short. He says, still waiting.

People in Minnesota are going to feel like they are in Antarctica tomorrow. An arctic blast is headed straight for them with wind chills in the 40 to 70 below range. Much of the northern U.S. is still crippled by ice-related outages.

Meteorologists Alexandra Steele shows us what to expect this week weekend.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Rosa. There are two big stories. One the colder temperature is coming in. And two the rain up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

Today's highs, almost 50 in Minneapolis, 40s in Chicago. But look what happens as we head toward tomorrow. We drop 26 degrees to a high of only 4 below. Cold arctic air dropping from the Midwest. Pushing eastward. And then by Monday, the Eastern Seaboard gets to the 30s as well.

Also the rain, a rainy Saturday. Rainy Sunday. Even Monday morning along the Eastern Seaboard. Here it is tomorrow morning. Washington, Baltimore, very wet day. And then by Sunday night, it is still rain, though, for Boston and New York City. The only place that has the cold air and then the moisture coming in which equals snow is the northern tier right here. Northern New England. So the ski resorts and Vermont will get some snow -- Rosa.

FLORES: All right. Thank you so much.

Hurricane Sandy left behind so much devastation last year. Houses demolished. Neighborhoods leveled. But when you hear what a landscaper found while cleaning up leaves on Long Island, you're going to smile. Hear this. A $1 million scratch off lottery ticket hidden in the leaves. Marvin Martinez, seen here on the right, in the front row, actually found the ticket last year, contacted the lottery. But had to wait to see if anyone claimed it. But three weeks ago the lottery told him the ticket was his, absolutely his. Martinez was honored with four other winners.

Congratulations to all of them.

And still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, the flu season is gearing up and it promises to be a dangerous one.

Health officials tells us that just this past week widespread activity has jumped from four states to 10 states. What that means to your health next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. JOHN WHITE, YOKOTA AIR BASE, JAPAN: This is John and Charlene from Yokota Air Base, Japan. Just want to give a shout out to our family in South Haven, Mississippi.

Hello, Dad, Martha, family. Merry Christmas and happy new year.

MAJ. CHARLENE WHITE, YOKOTA AIR BASE, JAPAN: We love you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: This could be a very bad year for the flu. Ten states now report widespread flu activity. I spoke earlier with Dr. Jennifer Caudle about some flu myths, like the idea that the vaccine can give you the flu.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JEN CAUDLE, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, ROWAN UNIVERSITY: It's one of the biggest myths out there. The flu vaccine does not give you the flu. The flu vaccine will not give you the influenza virus. And that's not only the flu shot but also the flu vaccine nasal spray as well. It's one of the biggest myths out there. A lot of people use it as a reason not to get the flu shot.

Remember there is a couple of reasons why you might not get sick around the time you're getting the vaccine. But it's not because the vaccine is actually giving you the illness.

FLORES: And we were talking earlier about who needs the flu shot. If I'm healthy, do I still need the flu shot?

CAUDLE: Absolutely. And really, with rare exception, everyone under -- over the age, rather, of six months old should be getting the flu vaccine. Especially people who are under the age of 5 years old. Over the age of 65, pregnant women even, and those with chronic medical conditions. These are all the people that especially should be getting it but really everyone over the age 6 months old with rare exceptions should be getting the flu vaccine.

And, you know, one of the reasons why is the CDC came out recently with some numbers from last year's flu -- flu season. Reported that the flu vaccine prevent approximately 79,000 flu related hospitalizations and over six million flu-related illnesses. So the flu vaccine makes a big difference. And people -- it's really time to go out there and get it. It's not too late.

(LAUGHTER)

FLORES: That was my next question. Because the flu season is here.

CAUDLE: Yes.

FLORES: Is there something as too late to take the vaccine?

CAUDLE: You know, honestly, the flu -- the flu season starts as early as October. Goes as late as May. But the height of the flu season tends to be in January and February. So we're in December now. If you haven't gotten the flu vaccine yet, it is definitely time, and it will do you some good.

FLORES: Now I see signs for the flu vaccine everywhere. We see them at drugstores, at my doctor's office. Does it matter where you take the flu shot?

CAUDLE: It doesn't. You know, I'm a family physician and I give the flu shot in my office. But if patients don't get it from me, it's fine by me. You can get it from your public health department, you can get it from a local pharmacy. Sometimes schools or public libraries will give the -- give out the vaccine.

And that's perfectly OK. The most important thing is to get vaccinated. And to understand that no, it doesn't give you the flu.

FLORES: Now I do have another question.

CAUDLE: Sure.

FLORES: Because I'm thinking, once you do get the flu --

CAUDLE: Right.

FLORES: -- what do you do?

CAUDLE: That's a great question because it does happen. Remember the flu vaccine is very, very effective. It's not 100 percent. And remember, let's say that you don't get influenza but let's say you pick up another virus that makes you feel like you have the flu. Some other virus. OK. You can go to your doctors.

Oftentimes, a number of things we can give you, what we call supportive care to help you get through it. But let's say you catch influenza virus. All right? You can sometimes take anti-viral medications if you take them within 48 hours, et cetera. So there may be a medication that you can take to help some of your symptoms. You want to call your doctor as soon as you think that you might be ill and you talk with them about some of the options for that.

FLORES: Now there's a lot of brave souls out there that want to go to work anyway. They want to go to school anyway. Your advice?

CAUDLE: Stay away.

(LAUGHTER)

FLORES: Stay home.

CAUDLE: Stay away. If you are sick, the gift that you don't want to give people -- this is the holiday season. The gift you should not be giving is the gift of illness. OK. If you are sick, you have the flu, even a cold, stay home. Get yourself well. Make sure you don't spread it to other people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: Up in the sky, it's not a bird, not a plane. Is it a meteor? A fireball lit up the Midwest sky Thursday night. Caught on a security camera in North Liberty, Iowa. Almost 700 people in seven different states reported seeing the event to the American Meteor Society. One witnessed described it to the AMS as a bright green ball with gold sparks trailing.

Now some have guessed it might be an old, old ship wreck or a meteorite. Very deep, deep in the ground.

In Seattle, a massive underground drill has hit something, it could not get through. So what's down there? We promised you the story in this newscast. But we ran out of time. We will have it for you, though, in our 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour.

Meantime, just about any family can tell you caring for a loved one with dementia can be challenging, it could be expensive and exhausting. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta recently travelled to a small village just outside Amsterdam to see what the future of dementia care could look like. He says it's one of the most humane things he has ever seen.

I'll be back with the day's top stories in about 30 minutes. For now, here's "DR. SANJAY GUPTA, MD."