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Obamacare Deadline; Robots Replace Guards At Airports; Enrollment Hits 2 Million; Countries Celebrate Start of 2014; Air Quality Unknown Near Oil Fire Site; NSA Track iPhones; Pot Going on Sale

Aired December 31, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: That includes people who have signed up through the federal marketplace and the state-run exchanges. Coverage begins tomorrow for people who enrolled by the December deadline but March 31st marks the deadline for individuals to purchase health insurance or face a penalty. The surge in enrollment follows what was a very disastrous rollout of the Web site in October. And we'll be talking about more of that later in this hour.

Meanwhile, we're knocking on 2014's door and with the new year comes new technology you might see it at an airport near you. We're talking about robots that could end up replacing humans. TSA agents who check your boarding pass. Of course, that begs the question, who is really better at flagging at risk or risky passengers such as terrorists, potential terrorists, man or machine?

Some airports are already experimenting with robots and our Brian Todd joins us now. This is obviously a story that pops out to any traveler crisscrossing the country over these days -- over these holidays, Brian. We're used to seeing this stuff in the movies and on TV. How real is this going to be?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, this is a trend that experts say is coming to major airports like Dulles here in Washington and elsewhere. It's already been used in limited fashion in testing in Europe and in Asia and elsewhere. It's essentially the process of biometrics, smart security some people call it. The process of machines scanning your face, scanning your iris, your fingerprints to identify you to at least get you through the boarding process.

Now, some of that has already been tested in Europe. According to the "Wall Street Journal," London's Gatwick airport processed 3,000 passengers this year through the boarding gates of British Airways using just their irises. They scanned their irises and that eliminated the need for boarding passes and identification. They already can identify some of those passengers.

This is again, being used in limited fashion overseas in Europe and in the testing of other places. But experts believe this is kind of the wave of the future. And then, they'll go from, you know, eliminating the boarding passes and getting you streamlined at the gates to possibly doing that for security screening. But that could be a little bit further down the road.

And as you mentioned, Jim, it does kind of prompt this debate, at least in the United States and in Europe and elsewhere, over what is better at catching potential terrorists. Could a machine do it with some kind of facial recognition or is it better to have a person do that? You know, there's some debate as to whether this might eliminate the job of a TSA screener.

But some experts believe that if they can at least get you through that initial security check point where they look at your I.D. and your boarding pass only by using a scanner to scan your face, that might free a TSA agent or other screener to actually look at behavioral patterns, look and see if someone is behaving strangely, maybe really focus on that. So, some experts believe it wouldn't necessarily eliminate the TSA screener completely but it might just streamline the process.

ACOSTA: And what will this mean for jobs? I mean, are we going to see TSA agents losing their jobs, security officers losing their jobs over this, Brian?

TODD: It doesn't appear they'll lose their jobs anytime soon, Jim. Again, they're just testing a lot of these biometrics' programs in Europe and elsewhere and they've got to really streamline it. But it could conceivably eliminate some jobs well into the future. But, again, it might also just change the nature of the TSA screener.

Again, you know, freeing them up to look at behavioral recognition and things like that, look at -- see if someone is acting nervous, acting -- you know, maybe sweating or something like that, looking at other people differently or trying to communicate with others in a strange way. That's what it really frees the TSA screener up for. So, it may just change the nature of the airport screener's job.

ACOSTA: It's a brave new world. Brian Todd at Dulles airport. We'll have to see how this shakes out. Thanks very much, Brian, we appreciate it.

We want to turn back now to those brand new Obamacare enrollment numbers. They may not be that new. We heard yesterday that they talked about 1.1 million people signing up through the federal health care exchange. But it seems like we're starting to see some of the state-based numbers rolling in as well and the Department of Health and Human Services combining that.

Let's bring in Michael Shear. He's a White House Correspondent for the "New York Times" and he is actually going to be with us later on this hour to talk about the Obama agenda for the next year.

But let's talk about enrollment numbers. HHS put out this advisory that they're having a conference call with Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary, in about an hour or so from now. And there is this number in there, 2 million people have signed up for Obamacare. We know they talked about the 1.1 million through the federal exchange.

It appears now that we're starting to see that it may it be something around 900,000 on those state-based exchanges. What do you make of these numbers and what does it mean for this administration in achieving these goals of getting people signed up?

MICHAEL SHEAR, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "NEW YORK TIMES": Look, I think -- I think they're trying to reach for the best number that they can possibly put out there, right? We all know that they've had a sort of goal of reaching several million -- 7 million people by the end of March. We all know how badly the federal marketplace performed.

They're trying to put everything together and say, look, between the people that signed onto the federal website in the 34 -- in 36 states and then the other 14 states where they had state-based marketplaces. They've put them all together. They've said 2 million people had insurance -- will have insurance starting tomorrow that they didn't have before.

ACOSTA: And it's interesting, Michael, because as you and I both know from sitting in the briefing room, we were sort of hammering the administration, hammering the White House, we want these enrollment numbers, in those early months when things weren't going so well. And now, it seems almost on a weekly basis, we're seeing new numbers sort of trickle out of the administration basically trying to give themselves a better headline to talk about.

But one thing that was interesting to note, HHS also put in the last several minutes a blog from Kathleen Sebelius noting that, you know, come January 1st, people who go see the doctor or people who go get prescriptions filled and they have signed up for insurance through Obamacare where there are state-based exchanges, --

SHEAR: Right.

ACOSTA: -- that they better have their paperwork ready, better have that insurance card ready. And if they don't, call your insurance company. So, they seem to be bracing for potentially some problems.

SHEAR: Yes, the thing that I thought was interesting in that blog post was that you saw them mention, like, actual real people. I think they said some woman named Molly who is going to have insurance for the first time. They want the good news stories to be out there. And what they want to minimize to the extent possible is people getting to their doctor, getting to the pharmacy, getting to the hospital and somehow having problems, not having the insurance they expected to have.

And so, if they have their insurance cards, if they have the number for their insurance companies, they'll be less likely to have those kinds of stories that, frankly, you and I know Republicans are going to seize on.

ACOSTA: And you mentioned the goal of 7 million people by the end of March that was put out. I guess originally it was an estimate from the --

SHEAR: Right. ACOSTA: -- from the Congressional budget office and then the White House sort of embraced it. But 2 million on the path to 7 million, they're not quite halfway there but it's not bad.

SHEAR: Well, I think -- I think that's true. However, the White House also always estimated and assumed that there would be a drop-off after January that there would be a big -- a big surge. Even before any of the problems on the Web site, there would be a big surge before the first, before tomorrow, and that there would be some kind of a drop-off before you had another surge in March.

So whether they can keep up the pace of, say, a million enrollees every month, if they can, they'll be close to 7 million. If they don't, they'll be lower. The key thing though is not so much did they hit that 7 million figure. It's is the mix of people, right? Do they have enough healthy people to offset the unhealthy people in whatever the final number is?

ACOSTA: All right. And we'll talk more about this later this hour. Michael Shear, thanks for racing in for us. We appreciate it.

Let's -- speaking of numbers, let's turn to the markets and the amazing year that is about to wrap up. The Dow has surged more than 25 percent since the beginning of 2013. You probably know that by checking your 401k statements. In fact, the Dow and the S&P 500 haven't done this well since Bill Clinton was in the White House.

Alison Kosik joins me now from the New York Stock Exchange. And, Alison, almost no one predicted the kind of boom we saw in stocks this year. Is this going to last?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's a really good question. You know, you think about if we saw this coming, you know, a year ago today, we were about to fall off the fiscal cliff. So, I'd say it's safe to say we probably didn't expect this to happen. There's a champagne maker who's going to be ringing the closing bell here today and traders certainly have good reason to pop the cork. It's the last full trading day of 2013. And I'll tell you what, what a year it's been here on Wall Street.

Now, if you're invested in the market, you've probably made a lot more than -- a lot more money than if you're just let's say parking it in your savings account. If you look at the Dow, it's up 26 percent for the year, the NASDAQ is up 38 percent. The S&P 500 which is what most of our retirement and mutual funds track, that's up 29 percent. Just remember, in a typical year, you're looking at a gain closer to eight percent on the S&P 500. So, that double-digit return is really stunning.

Now, the main driver for the markets has really been the fed stimulus. The fed's been pumping billions per month into the economy all year. We did learn a couple of weeks ago, it's going to start pulling back on that. But contrary to what we may have expected, it hasn't spooked the market at all. The plan to pull back in stimulus shows, you know what? The fed's got confidence that the economy can start to stand on its own and that, in turn, is giving investors confidence too. The reason we could be looking at the Dow's 52nd record close of the year today -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. No question about it. They probably are due some champagne down there on Wall Street. Not out of the question this time of year. All right, Alison Kosik, thank you very much.

We're about 11 hours away from the start of 2014 here in the U.S. But the new year has already arrived in some parts of the world. Take a look at this. Last hour, Bangkok, Thailand ushered in 2014. Fireworks exploded alongside a giant Ferris wheel. Flashes from spotlights illuminated the city. It's a beautiful sight there.

Two hours ago, fireworks lit up the skies over Hong Kong. Tens of thousands of people were on hand for the celebration along Victoria Harbor. And over in Australia, Sydney was the first major city to welcome 2014. The celebration is one of the largest, as you can imagine. More than 1.5 million people were expected to turn out for the fireworks spectacular along the iconic Sydney Harbor. A beautiful sight there.

Now, in New York, they're putting the finishes touches on preparations for the big celebration in Times Square. Security, of course, will be tight and the weather will be cold.

Our Margaret Connelly joins us now from Times Square. Margaret, set the scene for us. I assume -- I've done this before. I've been down there for New Year's Eve just as you are right now. And I can see the people gathering behind you. It's a sight to behold.

MARGARET CONNELLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, they've tested the confetti. They've tested that crystal ball. And, actually, at the top of the flagpole now, you can see the sign for 2014. And it is very cold, as you've known from covering it from down here. You can see the crowd next door. Right here, they're all bundled up. They're actually expecting about a million people to be down here in Times Square today.

Security is extremely tight. They're going to start closing down some of the streets as early as 3:00, depending on how many people are down here. You can see the NYPD in action right here where the camera's panning. They're actually scanning people as they're entering into Times Square. They're scanning people for big packages and big backpacks. Do not bring the big backpacks and also alcohol is not allowed.

At 6:00, that crystal ball is going to rise up the flagpole. It's going to be lit and that's when all the festivities are going to begin. They're going to start off with a Chinese cultural program, then there are going to be live performances by Blondie, Melissa Etheridge and Miley Cyrus. Also, Sonia Sotomayor, she's going to be the first U.S. Supreme Court Justice to push that button to have the ball drop. She's returning to her hometown here in New York to join in the festivities -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Margaret, thank you very much for that. We'll look forward to that. And the New Year's tradition continues right here on CNN. Kathy Griffin joins Anderson Cooper on the platform in Times Square. We all know just about anything can happen when those twos are together on New Year's Eve. It starts tonight at 9:00 Eastern. Don't miss it.

First, it was Internet phone records and bugging laptops. Now, reports say the NSA is developing software that may be able to track everything you do, say or watch on your iPhone. Could that possibly happen? We'll have the details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: People who live in eastern North Dakota still don't know if it's safe to go about their daily lives this New Year's Eve. Two trains crashed and burned yesterday. One of them was hauling crude oil. Emergency crews are testing the air to see if the thick black smoke made it dangerous to be outside. Nobody was hurt in the crash, but firefighters had to let the oil fire burn itself out. A lot of people who live in the area left their homes when officials issued an evacuation order.

First it was phone records and laptops. Now a report says the NSA may be developing software that can track everything you do, say, or watch on your iPhone. It seems like we're in a state where fiction becomes reality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENE HACKMAN, ACTOR, "ENEMY OF THE STATE": In your phone was a GPS sat tracker. The plus is at 24 gigahertz.

WILL SMITH, ACTOR, "ENEMY OF THE STATE": I don't know what that means.

HACKMAN: It's like a LoJack only two generations better than what the police have.

SMITH: And what does that mean?

HACKMAN: You speak English?

SMITH: Obviously not that well.

HACKMAN: You're kind of a jerk, aren't you?

It means the NSA can read the time off your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) wristwatch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All right, so I'm old enough to know that was Gene Hackman portray an ex-NSA agent, along with Will Smith, whose character was being tracked. That film came out in 1998. Way, way, way back in 1998. Our Evan Perez -- justice reporter Evan Perez is with me now.

Evan, so let's talk about this because you see the headline and it's like, oh, my gosh, you know, they're looking at my iPhone. Tell us exactly what we're talking about here.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, the NSA has developed this software. It's called "Dropout Jeep." And it apparently this magazine -- German magazine called "Der Spiegel" published slides. Apparently came from Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor, who's been leaking these documents.

ACOSTA: Right, it was. Right. Right.

PEREZ: And they've described this program whereby the NSA can insert or can load up software on to iPhones in order to access voice mails, to access pretty much everything inside of it, your camera phone, your -- even activate the microphone and the phone. And so this -- these slides refer to an older version of the iPhone. The newer one we don't know whether or not the NSA has the same capability. But it is pretty intriguing stuff to be able to take control of your entire device without even holding on to it.

ACOSTA: But two things. One is, we shouldn't be surprised that they have this capability.

PEREZ: Right.

ACOSTA: Right.

PEREZ: Right. I mean by this point, given the fact that these disclosures have been going on for a few months, and it seems every week there comes another disclosure about the capabilities of the NSA, I think there's very little surprise anymore.

However, it is pretty interesting. I mean the iPhone is a very popular device. And it's not just the iPhone. I mean there's --

ACOSTA: Now here's mine right here. You know --

PEREZ: Right, exactly.

ACOSTA: Exactly.

PEREZ: Pretty much everything I'm hearing, you know -

ACOSTA: Right.

PEREZ: Is potentially vulnerable, not only to the NSA, but to hackers from anywhere. And that -- it could apply to your Android phone. It could apply to your Blackberry.

ACOSTA: Sure.

PEREZ: Even anything that has a camera, anything that has a microphone, even your car, for instance, the - you know, that gives you the ability to make phone calls or to be able to access your navigation, all of that is susceptible to hacking.

ACOSTA: But should Americans who are driving around, you know, or who are out and about today and hear this story, should they - should they think, OK, wait a minute, my iPhone is being hacked by the NSA? Are they looking at my e-mails and what I'm up to?

PEREZ: No. I mean this is -- right, this is not something that is done for - you know, most people don't have anything to worry about. Most of the NSA's programs are targeted at preventing terrorism.

ACOSTA: Right.

PEREZ: Most of it is outside the country. To be able to do anything inside the country or to -- against Americans, they would have to get court orders. So there's no allegation that this is being abuses. It is very intriguing power that the NSA does have. And it's something that, you know, they're always working to try to be able to figure out how to get access to technology.

ACOSTA: And what are Apple and the NSA saying about this? I'm sure they have something to say.

PEREZ: Well, the NSA is not commenting. But Apple released a statement to us this morning saying, "Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor into any of our products, including the iPhone. Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products. We care deeply about our customers' privacy and security," Jim.

ACOSTA: Well, and it's interesting, Evan, because I was over at the White House the other day when those hi-tech firms were coming through, those CEOs, and a lot of those folks were saying, you know, some -- most of them privately, that we're just as concerned about this as our customers because a lot of people out there are hearing about these NSA disclosures and they're saying, hey, wait a minute, you know -

PEREZ: Right.

ACOSTA: Maybe we can't do much about the NSA, but we can, you know, direct our anger at these hi-tech companies.

PEREZ: Well, you know, the billions of dollars are at stake here. You're talking about companies that depend on China, depend on the markets in Europe and elsewhere for a lot of their business. And they're very concerned that people will stop buying their products and perhaps go to a competitor from Germany or from China or Japan because they fear that they're being surveilled by the NSA or by the U.S. government.

So it's a big - there's a big economic incentive here for the White House and for the U.S. government to clarify what it's doing, which I think, as you know, President Obama says he's planning to do next month, to try to, you know, calm some of this because right now everybody's afraid that the NSA is looking at every single thing you're doing.

ACOSTA: Everybody's talking about this and it is on the administration, it is on these companies to make sure people are at easy about this. And as you said, it is for the protection of the American people, as well, that is -- at least that's what the NSA is saying. And thanks very much, Evan Perez.

PEREZ: Sure.

ACOSTA: Appreciate that reporting. Thank you.

All right, Colorado just hours away from being the first state where recreational marijuana goes on sale legally for adults. But schools and police are concerned about Colorado's youngsters. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: In a few hours, recreational marijuana goes on sale in Colorado. Anyone over the age of 21 will be allowed to buy pot in specialized shops and smoke marijuana on private property. That's only in Colorado, where the state will watch over the marijuana business from seed to sale, as they put it. But it's not the adult users that have some people concerned. Ana Cabrera reports the state has a pot problem in schools.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How many people around your age do you know who have smoked marijuana?

MARCUS CARRASCO, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: Almost - I want to say like nine out of 10 students.

CABRERA: Really?

CARRASCO: Yes.

CABRERA: It's that prevalent?

CARRASCO: Yes, definitely.

CABRERA (voice-over): Colorado schools have a pot problem.

CABRERA (on camera): Where do people get it?

SHAWN BAILEY, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: I don't know exactly, but just like I know that kids smoke it a lot.

MELIK ELLISTON, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: And now that it's legal, everybody's just getting it.

CABRERA (voice-over): While still illegal for anyone under the age of 21, younger people are finding ways to get their hands on marijuana. And we found they don't shy away from talking about it.

ELLISTON: I see people selling it and I think it's easy for people to get now.

CABRERA (on camera): Even for somebody who's underage?

ELLISTON: Yes.

TAYLOR MCCORMICK, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: I know lots of people. Most of my friends use it.

CABRERA: Why do they want to use it?

MCCORMICK: I feel like that it's not typically classified as like a harmful drug, like as meth or whatever.

CABRERA: Do you know of anybody who comes to school high or gets high during lunch break, for example?

CARRASCO: Oh, yes, this is - yes, definitely.

CABRERA: Not that uncommon?

CARRASCO: Yes. Yes, it's not uncommon at all. There's a bunch of people that come to this school high.

CABRERA (voice-over): While some teens seem to think using marijuana is OK, schools are trying to send a message that it's not. Pot is now the number one reason students are kicked out of Colorado Public Schools. Two hundred and thirty expelled last year because of marijuana according to the Colorado Department of Education. Pot proving to be a bigger problem than alcohol, disobedience or weapons violations.

CHRISTINE HARMS, COLORADO SCHOOL SAFETY RESOURCE CENTER: The message we'd like to get out from the School Safety Resource Center is, we really need parents to be talking to their children about the risks.

CHRIS COLLINS, RECOVERING ADDICT: Because that's where all my problems started with weed I guess.

CABRERA: Eighteen-year-old Chris Collins knows about the risks all too well. He says he began experimenting with marijuana when he was just 10 years old. By age 14, he was hooked.

CABRERA (on camera): What did you get out of it?

COLLINS: Bad grades and trouble pretty much.

CABRERA (voice-over): Kicked out of school. He's been in and out of jail 10 times in the past four years.

COLLINS: When I was 14, that was the first time I got my first drug paraphernalia ticket and possession of under an ounce. And now I have like six drug paraphernalia tickets, five possession of under an ounce tickets. And it's like slowly got worse.

CABRERA: Collins warns marijuana isn't as harmless as some may think.

CABRERA (on camera): Did you ever think you were going to become addicted to it? Did you really realize even what was happening?

COLLINS: Well, like I didn't think it was possible to like become addicted to marijuana I guess.

DR. PAULA RIGGS (ph), ADOLESCENT AND ADDICTION SPECIALIST: The evidence is very clear that it's addictive.

CABRERA (voice-over): Adolescent and addiction specialist Dr. Paula Riggs says one out of six kids who tries marijuana as a teenager will become addicted. She says compared to the 1960s, the marijuana sold today has a higher concentration of THC, a chemical that impacts memory and learning, reaction time and motor skills. Riggs says a developing brain is most vulnerable.

RIGGS: Daily or near daily use can be associated with six to eight- point reduction in their adult IQ. Looks like you don't get that back.

CABRERA: Collins has a lot in life he wants to get back. Now drug free for eight months, he's focusing on small goals.

COLLINS: To graduate, get my license back.

CABRERA: And he hopes sharing his story will help prevent others from going down the wrong path by using pot.

Ana Cabrera, CNN, Denver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Enrollment in Obamacare hits another milestone. Two million people -- more than 2 million people, according to the administration, have signed up for coverage. But will that be enough to help President Obama get this program and his presidency back on track? Our political panel joins me to talk about what the president can expecting in 2014.