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Jobless Claims Fall More Than Expected; Millions Brace for Massive Winter Storm; Newspapers Push for Snowden's Clemency; Antarctica Rescue Mission Complete; Snapchat Hacked, User Info Leaked Online

Aired January 02, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Edward Snowden should get asylum, says the "New York Times"? The surprise editorial that claims the NSA leaker deserves a deal because he did the country a great service.

And Snapchat users, you've been hacked. 4.6 million usernames and phone numbers leaked online months after Snapchat was warned about a major security hole.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Carol Costello. She has the day off.

Just minutes ago, a new pulse of the economy according to the Labor Department, jobless claims fell last week to 339,000. That's better than expected and the lowest weekly level in a month.

Alison Kosik is in the New York bureau.

So, Alison, good news to start a new year.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is good news to start the new year. What it basically shows, Fredricka, is that layoffs are slowing. Now the trick is we want to see more jobs being -- you know, being offered out there, more hiring going on. And for that we look for the -- we look to the Big Kahuna, the jobs report, the government jobs report.

And the next one for December, that comes out a week from tomorrow, on January 10th, on Friday. And the forecast is for 190,000 jobs created in December. Now in November the economy generated 203,000 jobs. December's unemployment rate, it is expected to stay at 7 percent but that 7 percent, it still is very high by historical standards this late in an economic recovery and that's the reason there's so little pressure for companies to raise wages at this point.

It also gives workers very little bargaining power and without more job opportunities and stronger growth in wages, the economy could be stuck in low gear for longer, but sooner or later, economists say companies are going to have to add more workers as demand continues to grow. Most companies can't get much more production from current employees without more overtime or other added costs -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Alison Kosik in New York.

All right. On the second day of 2014, the year's first big winter storms are bearing down on the Midwest and taking aim for the northeast now. An arctic blast will keep highs in the single digits in parts of the heartland. Look at these whiteout conditions. And another storm, a powerful nor'easter is forming off the East Coast.

Seventy million people are in the paths of these storms with winter weather advisories in 18 states that includes blizzard warnings for Long Island and Cape Cod, and a snow emergency in Boston, there have been more than 1,000 flight cancellations so far this morning. Take a look at the map. Pretty clustered there. And more are expected.

We're covering every angle of the arctic blast with correspondents and meteorologists across the Midwest and East Coast. We begin with CNN's Ted Rowlands in Naperville, Illinois, just outside Chicago.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fred. It has been snowing since New Year's Eve Day and it just keeps on coming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS (voice-over): Throughout the night, snow continuing to pile up in Chicago. Millions, from the Midwest to New England, will be impacted by the New Year's first major snowstorm, bringing with it blizzard-like conditions and dangerously cold temperatures. Some parts could see more than a foot of snow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems like it's been snowing since winter got here.

ROWLANDS: Boston already declaring a snow emergency and planning to close public schools on Friday. The massive winter storm already wreaking havoc.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay off the road.

ROWLANDS: More than 200 spinouts reported in Minneapolis alone as ice blankets the roads. Frigid temps complicating rescue efforts in the Twin Cities as firefighters had to be rotated in and out of the front lines of this raging apartment fire.

CHIEF JOHN FRUETE, MINNEAPOLIS FIRE DEPARTMENT: Our nozzles have a tendency to freeze up if we don't keep the flowing water.

ROWLANDS: In upstate New York, lake-effect snow is the story, more than two feet of the white stuff on the ground already.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was hard on the businesses last night because people had reservations to go out to New Year's Eve and they couldn't get out.

ROWLANDS: The deep freeze will have parts of the country feeling temps that are well below zero.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Too cold. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're too cold.

ROWLANDS: If you think that's cold, take a trip up north to Winnipeg, Canada, where the temps hovered around 40 below zero, colder than the surface of Mars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This storm is something else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: It sure is something else, Fred. The biggest problem, transportation. The roads very difficult to keep clear because it keeps snowing. They keep clearing them but it keeps coming down and then air travel to over 1,000 flights canceled at O'Hare. Expect more today.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ted Rowlands, more of the same in Naperville, Illinois, thanks so much.

Another city in the storm's path, Boston, where officials have declared a snow emergency citing high winds and possibly a foot of snow there. The state's Emergency Management Agency is predicting near blizzard conditions tonight into tomorrow morning.

CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray is live for us now, joining us from a snowy Boston.

So much for the Sunshine State of Florida, where you hail from, and get used to all the snow. How does it feel?

(LAUGHTER)

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, this is definitely a lot colder than I'm used to. We are -- with the wind chill it feels like the single digits out here and folks in Boston definitely waking up to a blanket of snow.

Look at this. It is so fluffy and fine, you can't even make a snowball out of this if you wanted to, but this is nothing compared to what they will see on their cars as we go through the next 24 to 36 hours. This is going to be a mess across all of the northeast, and so folks are urged to just cuddle up indoors, stay off the roads for sure.

Even the city of Boston telling people not to come in the city, use public transportation, and also get your cars off the road by noon today. So we're tracking this storm. It feels like seven degrees right now in Boston. Very, very cold, and it's expected -- the snow is expected to get much worse as we go through the late evening hours into tomorrow especially.

These two areas of low pressure are going to converge in the northeast, rain in the south, snow in the north, and we could see snow totals of 12 to 15 inches of snow in Boston, six to eight inches of snow in New York City, and one to three inches of snow in D.C. Areas like Philly, Pittsburgh, going to see the snow as well. We've already seen incredible amounts in the Midwest and the northern plains. Chicago picked up over five inches of snow, blizzard warnings even in effect for Long Island as well as the Cape, and when you have light, fluffy snow like we're seeing now, you add winds of 35 to 45 miles per hour, it is definitely going to create whiteout conditions because the snow will be blowing all around.

That's what's going to be so dangerous for people in the northeast tonight through most of tomorrow, and so by Saturday this should be better. However, temperatures are going to stay well below freezing for some days now, at least through the weekend, so it's not going to have much of a chance to melt -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, but the folks there are very hardy, they're used to this. Something tells me they'll endure.

Jennifer Gray, thanks so much.

GRAY: Yes. They're a lot tougher than I am.

WHITFIELD: Keep -- yes, I know. Keep those hands warm. Get some of those little warmers to put into those mittens. Just a little tip for the day.

GRAY: I need some.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Jennifer.

All right. Today two major newspapers published editorials urging the Obama administration to have mercy on NSA leaker Edward Snowden. The "New York times" and Britain's "The Guardian" are praising Snowden's leaks, calling him a whistleblower and pushing for the government to either drop its case against him or offer him a deal so that he can return to the U.S. without fearing life in prison.

The "Times" editorial board writes this, quote, "Considering the enormous value of the information he has revealed and the abuses he has exposed, Mr. Snowden deserves better than a life of permanent exile, fear and flight. He may have committed a crime to do so but he has done his country a great service. It is time for the United States to offer Mr. Snowden a plea bargain or some form of clemency that would allow him to return home." End quote.

Snowden is currently in Russia where she was granted temporary asylum. He faces espionage and other charges in the U.S. for giving journalists classified information about the NSA's mass phone and Internet surveillance programs.

CNN justice reporter Evan Perez is live for us now in Washington.

Any reaction coming from this editorial?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, not yet, Fredricka. I mean -- but as you know Edward Snowden engenders a lot of sharp opinion on both sides of this question, whether or not -- is he a traitor, as some people in Congress have called him, or as some people -- some of his supporters, some of his journalist supporters say he is a hero.

He himself told "The Washington Post" recently that he felt his mission was accomplished already, but, you know, the question of whether or not the government can try to, you know, give him some kind of clemency, that's a very complicated thing. For instance, Snowden has -- allegedly took hundreds of thousands of documents, but he no longer controls most of those document according to the journalist that he has been working with.

I asked Attorney General Eric Holder this question a couple of weeks ago and here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's not something that I would support. I think that he has clearly broken the law and harmed the nation that he claims to have -- to love. The conversation that we are engaged in is one that I think is certainly worthwhile to try to determine how do we safeguard privacy and keep the American people safe, how do we find balance in that effort with regard to our surveillance activities but I would not say what he did is worthy of clemency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: So as you -- as you can tell, there would be tremendous pressure on the other side to not do this within the government -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And so the Snowden leaks overall, what if anything has been impacted by him revealing this classified information?

PEREZ: Well, you know, there are -- there are some changes that are being contemplated right now. In Congress there's a discussion of some bills to pull back what the NSA is doing. The question of whether or not there's been a big argument over what the NSA -- what the NSA has been doing, whether it's legal or not, and it's clear that, you know, Congress has authorized it, the president is in favor of it and authorizes it and the courts so far have signed off on what the NSA is doing.

So the question of legality is probably separate. Now the question of what -- whether the government should be doing this, whether the NSA should be doing this, that's a more complicated question.

You're talking about politicians who have to worry about whether or not there's a terrorist attack tomorrow and whether they will be questioned later on, that, you know, what the NSA was doing could have prevented those attacks, for instance. So that's a much more complicated question. That's something for Congress and for the president to decide. The president says he's going to address this next month and we'll see what he says -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK, thanks so much. Appreciate that, Evan Perez. All right. Still to come, stuck in Antarctica's ice since Christmas Eve, now all 52 passengers on board the trapped ship have been rescued but wait until you hear how long it will be until they actually return home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Looking at our top stories now.

Secretary of State John Kerry just hours ago landed in Tel Aviv for peace talks. He'll meet with the Israeli prime minister then head to Ramallah to meet with the Palestinian president.

For now the Israeli government reportedly has delayed an announcement about new settlement construction. The move avoids a potentially high profile dispute during Kerry's visit.

And relatives trying to get a 13-year-old girl on life support, moved to another medical facility, have a new ally. Jahi McMath has been declared legally dead. Now, the family of Terri Schiavo is calling for Jahi to be moved before the machines who keep her alive are actually shut off.

Schiavo was severely brain damaged when she sparked a national debate over the right to die. She passed away in 2005.

Martha Stewart Living and Macy's settled their dispute over the marketing of products under Stewart's name. Now, the terms are being kept secret. Macy's says the deal doesn't resolve its dispute with third party JCPenney. JCPenney had agreed to sell products endorsed by Stewart without using her name. Macy's claims that violates its own prior deal with the queen of homemaking.

And Toronto's crack smoking mayor is expected to file paperwork this morning to launch a bid for re-election. Rob Ford has not been charged in connection with his drug admission or claims he tried to bribe suspected drug dealers to get a tape that shows him smoking crack. Polls are mixed on his chances at a second term, the election is October.

Mission accomplished this morning. All of the 52 passengers on board a research vessel trapped in the ice in Antarctica have been rescued. After facing major problems and delays, the researchers and journalists who were stuck on the ship since Christmas Eve are now rejoicing. Some even wept tears of joy.

CNN's Poppy Harlow is live with the very latest on this.

So, Poppy, this really was an emotional roller coaster for the passengers, they really seemed euphoric about being stuck but then rescue brought on a whole new host of emotions.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's true.

I mean, can you imagine after a week watching that helicopter finally come and the weather be good enough to be rescued? But their attitude through all this has been stunning. They have kept their spirits up through all of these failed attempts to get them.

They've been stranded on that ship, Fredricka, for more than a week. They have now all been safely transported to an Australian ice breaker but the stranded passenger's trip is far from over. AMSA is estimating it could take until mid-January for the passengers to finally touch land.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW (voice-over): Rescue efforts complete.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The helicopter to take us home. Thanks, everyone!

HARLOW: By air and sea, teams have now successfully ended a complex operation to airlift the 52 researchers and journalists who were stranded aboard a research ship off the coast of Antarctica.

The Academic Shokalskiy stuck since Christmas Eve in 10 feet of ice.

CHRIS TURNEY, EXPEDITION LEADER: If all goes well we'll be off in about an hour's time.

HARLOW: Stranded passengers seen here stomping on the snow and ice, arm in arm, preparing a landing zone for the Chinese rescue chopper.

The helicopter transported 12 passengers at a time, flying them to the Australian ice breaker Aurora Australis.

The mission started around 1:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and it took five helicopter flights to transport all 52 passengers, along with their luggage and equipment.

The stranded research ship's 22 crew members will stay aboard.

ALVIN STONE, CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR CLIMATE SYSTEM SCIENCE: There was real sign of relief and joy when I saw the helicopter coming in to land. But I have to say, the morale has been surprisingly high the whole way through. I've been impressed actually.

HARLOW: In the last week, three ice breaking ships failed to reach the stranded research ship, those missions unsuccessful because of bad weather and ice.

TURNEY: The wind is quite intense, not ideal for helicopter operations, unfortunately.

HARLOW: But being trapped at sea for more than a week didn't put a damper in ringing in the New Year.

CROWD: Five, four, three, two, one!

HARLOW: Breaking out in song.

They shared their cheer all the way across the globe with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin in Times Square. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a little bit of champagne, I think, actually. Just a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't want to tell tales, but there has been alcohol on the ship.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Very glad they got to ring in the New Year with a little champagne even though they were stuck.

You know, Fred, the 22 crew members are going to remain on board. Why is that? Well, the master of the ship said they had plenty of supplies and they want to stay onboard to makes sure that they keep operating the ship and that eventually get it out of the ice. They really need the winds to shift to move some of the ice that trapped them and then they can get it back to land.

WHITFIELD: And then, as for all of those who were rescued mid- January, before they reached land in Australia, is there no other way for them to get home, the long route?

HARLOW: Right. That's sort of shocking. Why can't they get home in a day or so? They're pretty far out. But the Australian ship that they're on right now was actually on a mission to deliver scientific supplies. It was diverted to be part of this rescue mission.

So, frankly, it still has to finish that delivery. So, they're going to go along with that and then they're going to head back and about mid-January it's estimated they're going to touch land in Tasmania.

I was thinking what is the first thing I would do? I'd probably go for a really long run.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, that's it? I don't know, I'd look for a --

HARLOW: You can't do it on the ship.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I guess you couldn't, I guess you couldn't. But, you know -- and they have had food and all the vitals. So that's true, maybe it wouldn't be a great hot meal, so OK a nice run. We'll see if they take you up on that idea.

Poppy Harlow thanks so much.

All right. Still to come, a popular photo sharing app, it's hacked.

Laurie Segall has details from New York.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fredricka.

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you have a snap chat account, you might have been hacked. I'm going to have more information about that, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. Now, Skype appears to be the latest victim of hackers tied to Syrian President Bashar al Assad. The Syrian electronic army took credit for busting open social media accounts run by the Internet calling service. The group also posted contact information for the retiring CEO of Microsoft, which owns Skype, along with a message that accuses the software giant of selling user data to the government.

Microsoft officials did not immediately comment.

And now, another tech company is dealing with a massive data breach. Snapchat is a popular smartphone messaging app that allows people to send photos and videos that quickly kind of disappear. Hacking group has posted the names and phone numbers of more than 4 million of its users online.

CNN's Laurie Segall is following the story for us from New York.

Oh, boy. It gets creepier and creepier, doesn't it?

SEGALL: Hacking in the news today, definitely, Fredricka.

You know, when we look at what happened with Skype, essentially, the Syrian electronic army hacked Skype's log and Twitter accounts. I actually just heard from someone from the SEA, the Syrian electronic army, and he said this was a hack but no user information was actually taken.

But I unfortunately cannot say the same thing about Snapchat, which was a completely separate hack, not done by the Syrian electronic army. But let me get to the details, but this was a pretty extensive hack -- 4.6 million accounts affected in this data breach.

You know, what was revealed, phone numbers were revealed, user names revealed, and also this information, Fredricka, was posted online and available for anyone to download. Now, the hackers that put this out there, they blurred out two digits of your phone number. But said they would consider putting those out there without those blurred digits and they wanted to do this for good.

So, you think, well, why did you put this information out there if it was to help out?

But let me read you what they said in a statement. They said, "Our motivation behind the release was to raise the public's awareness around the issue, and also put public pressure on Snapchat to get this exploit fixed."

You know, this is where we have to go to Snapchat and hold them accountable, what are you doing to fix this? Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: So, is there a way to find out whether you've been hacked?

SEGALL: This is the first thing I did when I heard about this, because I use Snapchat sometimes with my friends and there's actually, developers put together a Web site. It's lookup.gibsonsec.org. And what you can put your user name in there and, ironically, if you look at the user name on your screen, that's one of the co-founders of Snapchat. And if you put in his user name, it shows he's been hacked and shows his phone number with a couple digits blurred out, which is pretty eye-opening.

And one of the things I'll say, as I spoke to the folks from Gibson security who initially talked how there was an exploit available, how this could be done. And I said, are we safe now? You know, Snapchat says they fixed it.

He said they put a couple patches on there with a couple modifications, they can still do this exploit.

So, you know, bottom line: if you're really concerned, delete your account.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. Every time any of us sign up for anything you're always nervous about your personal information, where will it go past this point and now I guess new inspiration for the leeriness that we all feel.

SEGALL: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Laurie Segall, thanks so much.

All right. Still to come, a big storm is headed for the Big Apple. CNN's Alexandra Field is there live, poised and ready.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we are talking about sub-zero wind-chills and a lot of snow. New York City officials are getting ready and the crews are working around the clock. We'll have a live report coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)