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Snow Closes Logan International; Can Hackers Be Stopped? LZ Granderson Says Red Lobster's Problems Linked to Income Inequality and Minimum Wage; Antarctic-Stranded Russian Ship Passengers Rescued; Man Steals Brains From Museum; Family Watches Over Internet As Loved One Dies in Hospital; Crack-Smoking Mayor Files for Re-Election Run; Woman Receives Package for Obama Girls' Godmother

Aired January 02, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

You know, 100 million people right now are in the path of a nor'easter, and Boston is going to take a direct hit.

Logan Airport is stopping flights in five hours from now, and the city is already under a snow emergency.

CNN Fred Pleitgen is live for us. As the snow is falling, when we say snow emergency, how much snow is expected there?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of snow expected here, up to 16 inches in some places.

As you can see, up until now, there's already been some snow that's accumulated. We think it's about 2 inches so far, but that's nothing compared to what's going on in the evening hours when the snow is going to increase considerably and the wind is going to increase considerably as well.

I have been on the roads here in the state of Massachusetts earlier today, and right now, the roads are actually OK for the amount of snow that's coming down. A lot of them were pretreated with salt.

Also, there's about 2,000 snow plows on the road right now in the state of Massachusetts. That's going to become more difficult when the snow comes, when the winds comes. The snow drifts are going to make it extremely difficult for crews to keep the roads difficult.

The state of Massachusetts has sent all government workers home. It's urging private businesses to do the same thing because they believe the situation will become very difficult for the people in this region and anywhere in the northeast, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Fred, thank you very much in Boston.

Just, again, a quick reminder, when we talk about Logan, they're closing from 8:30 tonight through noontime tomorrow.

Now this. Is anyone safe from hackers these days? You look at the headlines, think the answer is no.

Consider the past couple weeks. Yesterday, you had the Syrian electronic army hacking into Skype. Then Snapchat had to fend off an attack, not before hackers posted user names and phone numbers for 4.6 million members.

Last month, remember the huge security breach at Target with all kinds of financial information stolen from millions of shoppers?

Can the hackers be stopped or will they always be one step ahead of authorities?

Peter Singer is here to help us understand this. He's the co-author of "Cybersecurity and Cyberwar -- What Everyone Needs to Know," and he joins me from Washington. Peter, welcome to you.

And you know, given the recent hacking, even if you're one of the Americans who thinks, no problem, I haven't fallen victim. I haven't been hacked, is this something every American needs to really start worrying about?

PETER SINGER, CYBERWARFARE EXPERT: As long as they're on the Internet, yes, most definitely.

Look, we need to worry about it, but we also need to understand that it's something to be managed.

It's a lot like the story you were having about the big snow storm in Boston. It's something to be concerned about, but it's also, if you prepare, if you manage your way around it, it doesn't mean that we all have to run around with like chickens with our heads cut off.

At the end of the day, the challenge of this space is that there's probably no issue that has become more important than cybersecurity and though is least understood, whether you're talking about the politicians or the business executives or just you and my role as citizens and consumers.

BALDWIN: You wrote the book on how future wars could be fought, not even necessarily on the battle battlefields, but within technology.

Where does America rank in terms of protecting its citizens and pr protecting us?

SINGER: We probably are the -- not probably, we are the greatest cyberpower out there in terms of our offensive capability, and we should be because we spend the most on it.

We have the largest organization, the most sophisticated. I think that's one of the things that has come out of the NSA disclosures from Edward Snowden.

But we're also in a little bit of a position of having the sharpest rocks but standing in a glass house. We're so depend on the Net for everything that we need from our communication to our commerce to our infrastructure. But we also don't have the proper balance of resources right now, the proper balance of attention to the threats that are out there.

When I say, I'm not just talking about the government. It's been since 2002 that we passed major cybersecurity legislation. That's five years before anybody had heard of the iPhone.

It's also the case when you're talking about power companies and down to how you and I interact with the Internet.

BALDWIN: The dark ages, pre-iPhone.

And now that we all are on the Internet, what's the one thing Americans can do to protect themselves?

SINGER: It's funny. I asked that of a U.S. military officer, and his answer was short but direct. He said, quote, "Stop being so damn stupid on computers."

What it comes down to is there is a series of basic norms, rules of ways to protect yourself online, that most of us are not following.

And I say us. It's things like companies that we saw with some of these recent cyber-attacks, organizations, the NSA not following its own best practices.

To you and I, even look at things like passwords. What's the most password out there?

BALDWIN: One, two, three, four.

SINGER: Password. One, two, three, four is actually number two. That's the world that we're in today.

But it also comes to following basic cyber-hygiene, basic rules out there. As long as we're using the Internet, cybersecurity and cyberwar issues are going to be with us.

If we're going to get the good, we have to accept there's bad. We have to manage our way around it.

BALDWIN: Don't be stupid on the computer, so simple but a great takeaway for all of us. Peter Singer, thank you very much.

Coming up, we'll take you inside the dramatic rescue of dozen of passengers who were stranded on the Antarctic ice, and I'm just getting word -- oh, I'm just getting word as I'm reading this.

This is news to me. I'll speak live with somebody onboard the rescue vessel.

Also, my next guest said growing up poor, he and his family grew up in Detroit, he and his family dressed up once or twice a year when they were lucky to go to Red Lobster.

But with the chain facing a struggle, he said it's a symbol of the dying middle class. Don't miss this conversation. That's next.

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BALDWIN: You know those towns, the small towns that get their first, you know, major restaurant, burger chain, coffee shop, it's a really huge deal. It's a big milestone.

And then this joint arrives and you're shouting, Hallelujah, because your town is finally on the map.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now at Red Lobster, every day we have 15 dinners under $10, like a half pound of snow crab with a large portion of scampi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Red Lobster, there was a time when the waiting line snaked out the door. Not so much these days.

Red Lobster is losing money and its parent company is talking about selling.

LZ Granderson sees something of significant social import. LZ, nice to have you on.

LZ GRANDERSON, CNN COMMENTATOR: Happy new year, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Same to you.

A great column, let me quote you off the top. You write, "If your family went to Red Lobster for dinner, that meant you were really doing something.

"You got dressed up in your church clothes. It meant twice, sometimes three times a year, a poor family like mine could order a steak in a middle class restaurant and pretend we were rich."

LZ, in your family, you talk about growing up in Detroit. What was the difference between a two-Red Lobster year and a three-Red Lobster year? Someone hit the jackpot, right?

BALDWIN: It is a jackpot. You know, I hesitated at first to write this column because I thought it was so, you know, small. It was just me and a couple of people.

And then as I was doing research on what was happening to Red Lobster, at the same time, talking about things like income inequality and whether or not we should raise the minimum wage, I noticed a really interesting correlation in terms of 1968 being the peak of minimum wage and also the same year in which Red Lobster was founded.

So when I looked at that number, I really thought about the fact this wasn't just a personal story for me, but actually it's more a reflection of people like me, people who, you know, struggled to put the pennies together.

And I know for a lot of people, going to a fast food or a casual dining place three times a year doesn't seem like a big deal, but in my neighborhood, and to so many people who have reached out to me on Twitter, that was a huge deal. Huge deal.

BALDWIN: So Red Lobster's revenue down about 5 percent. We're going to get back to the social implications and the crux of your piece in a minute.

But I definitely went to Red Lobster growing up a couple times, loved the lobster. You like the cheesy biscuits?

GRANDERSON: You know, as I got older, you know, and made a little more money in my life, I stopped going to Red Lobster.

What I never stopped loving were the cheddar biscuits. They were fantastic, and I'll be real with you. I will still swing by and grab the biscuits because they were a big -- I think they have crack chips in them or something.

BALDWIN: You know, the deal with Red Lobster, perfectly acceptable seafood, good family atmosphere. Above all, it's affordable.

What you're saying, the business is down because things are now, economically, middle class families being priced out. Priced out of Red Lobster, right?

GRANDERSON: Well, absolutely. I don't want to make it all about Red Lobster because, across the board, the restaurant industry has seen a drop in terms of people going out.

BALDWIN: But it's a symbol.

GRANDERSON: -- from 2010 to 2013. But it definitely is a symbol. And I don't think it's one we should just chuckle at.

Because when you look at the conversation about wealth inequality and income inequality in the country, when you think about the fact for the last 30-plus years, the bottom 20 percent's income has actually gone down by three percent.

Now, three percent may not sound like a large number, but when you're talking about a family of five going out to dinner, three percent is a huge number.

It seems as if we're cannibalizing the very customer base we need in order to thrive in types of these restaurants and these type of businesses like a JCPenney and like a Sears -

BALDWIN: I love that you -

GRANDERSON: -- which are also struggling, right?

BALDWIN: They are. And I love that you wrote the piece. And I'm not surprised that it's resonated with a lot of people. LZ Granderson, thank you, thank you, thank you.

And you can read LZ's full column. Go to CNN.com/opinion.

Fifty-two passengers from that ship stranded in the Antarctic are headed home as I speak. A helicopter ferried them to an Australian icebreaker today.

First, they found time to thank everyone who followed their misadventure for the past couple of days. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The helicopter to take us home!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, everyone!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The Chinese helicopter helped rescue them from the ship where they had been stranded the past 10 days, but they left behind 22 Russian crew members. They still hope to free the ship, eventually.

The chief mate of the ship that brought on the rescued passengers says they're thrilled with their new accommodations, all smiles by the looks of that picture, celebrated their rescue with not one, we're told two dinners.

And Chief Mate Robert Darvill joins me now by phone. And, Robert, so I'm getting this correctly? You are somewhere in an ocean on the ship with these rescued folks, yes?

ROBERT DARVILL, AURORA AUSTRALIS CHIEF MATE (via telephone): That's correct. We're in heavy packed ice, packing and ramming, trying to get into open water right now.

BALDWIN: So where were you earlier today when this helicopter finally swooped in and rescued these people?

DARVILL (via telephone): It took six helicopter flights, a round trip of about 35 miles. And I was working on the bridge and working on deck at the time.

BALDWIN: And so it was this Australian ice icebreaker that helped save them today. Have you been talking to these 52 different passengers onboard this ship? What are they saying to you?

DARVILL (via telephone): Yes, a lot of very grateful people. I haven't been actively seeking them out and talking to them. We've had our couple of long days, and so we're sort of all trying to catch up on our sleep and, you know, stay inside out. In these aggressive climates, it's what we have to do.

BALDWIN: How long will it take you all to get them home?

DARVILL (via telephone): Well, that depends on where we go first. We've also got to get out of the ice pack, first.

We have been ramming for about eight hours now, and we've gone about two miles. There's another ten miles or so of pack to get through.

BALDWIN: Oh, wow.

DARVILL (via telephone): Then we go to a station or that's yet to be decided depending on how long it takes to get out of here. It will be at least a week.

BALDWIN: At least a week until these people finally get to go home. I'm sure they're happy to be rescued, several others left behind.

Robert, thank you very much. Safe travels to you and the rest of the passengers.

Coming up next, a bizarre case, a man arrested for stealing brains? You heard me right, jars of brains, out of a museum.

You will never guess how he was caught. We'll talk live with a spokesperson from the museum, coming up.

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BALDWIN: Have you heard this one today? A man allegedly stole jars of brain tissue and then sold them on eBay.

How much does a brain go for these days? About a hundred bucks plus shipping costs.

"The Indianapolis Star" reports the brain samples originally came from mental patients. The 21-year-old suspect allegedly swiped dozens of jars filled with brain tissue from the Indiana Medical History Museum.

He reportedly got caught because the buyer, the guy who bought the brains online, turned him in.

The museum has recovered many of the jars of stolen brain tissue, but some specimens are still out there.

So let me bring in Mary Ellen Hennessey Nottage, executive director of Indiana's Medical History Museum.

First, let's begin with the brain itself. Tell me why your museum has these jars of brain. Why is this special?

MARY ELLEN HENNESSEY NOTTAGE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INDIANA MEDICAL HISTORY MUSEUM (via telephone): The brains are special because they were part of a research project that started about 1896.

The museum is on the grounds in one of the buildings that was built as part of the Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane.

The superintendent of the hospital wanted to use the new sciences of the day to see if they could discover a physical basis for mental illness, and they did the research by autopsy. The patients had been admitted to the hospital. They were then diagnosed with some sort of mental disease, mental illness, as it was understood in that day, and all their clinical notes were kept, and upon the death, the doctors did a thorough research autopsy to see if they can discover anything that might correlate to the mental illness.

BALDWIN: Let me jump in. I'm hearing you on the significance and historic aspect of the brain tissue, but here's this 21-year-old suspect, I don't know if he would have fully been aware of that. Do you know why, do we know why he did this? Allegedly?

NOTTAGE (via telephone): Only speculation. Only speculation. I have no idea.

BALDWIN: How did he pull this off? We're talking like 60 jars of brain, correct?

NOTTAGE (via telephone): That's correct.

BALDWIN: How did he do it?

NOTTAGE (via telephone): We have a remote storage area in one of the other buildings of the hospital, and apparently, he just broke in, found things he liked and stole them.

BALDWIN: I hope you get all of this back and then to think there's someone out there who bought it, but then turned the guy in. That's a whole other story.

Thank you very much for calling in.

Coming up next, a hospital takes extra steps to connect a family overseas with a dying victim.

What workers did to try to ease this woman's pain.

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BALDWIN: Imagine being separated by thousands of miles from a loved one who is dying. Then imagine watching their death over a laptop computer.

That's what happened with this family in Iran, had this excruciating experience watching their 27-year-old daughter die at a Michigan hospital.

She was the victim of a brutal beating at the hands of her new husband. This is according to police.

But as she died, the hospital staff did their best to ease her pain and her family's and Lynn Berry joins me now.

I read the story this morning and I was like, We have to do something on this, because the idea this family, they couldn't come back to the U.S., they're from Iran, yet somehow this hospital worked out a way for them to see her and almost participate as she passed away. LYNN BERRY, HLN ANCHOR: As you say, excruciating but in some ways heartwarming. The family got to say good-bye. You may wonder how they even got a hold of the family. It took 24 hours and ironically, it was just like her death, technology that linked them. She got there and was so beaten, there was no brain or no blood flow to her brain, so they Googled her name and there was an online resume posted and this was an incredible woman. She spoke three languages, volunteered with various charities, was studying engineering. In 24 hours they tracked down her family in Iran and were able to set up a Yahoo! Messenger connection so they were able to say good-bye from her hospital bed. And the hospital staff said they had never done anything like this before. It was just as heartwarming for them to be part of something like that.

BALDWIN: They were able to communicate to the nurses to touch her forehead, kiss her cheek for us.

BERRY: No one knows how to say goodbye to a family member, but you know you want to say I love you. You know you want to say I will always miss you and always be with you.

And they also were able to instruct as you say, the nurses, please kiss her forehead for us, stroke her forehead, tell her that we love her.

And there was a steady stream of family members that came in and out of this home in Iran, able to say good-bye to her.

How many times are we sitting here talking about terrible stories --

BALDWIN: I was about to say, we were just doing a hacking segment. But this is the example --

BERRY: Exactly -- of how it can be something that connects people. It actually ends even better.

The family had been praying for a miracle, hoping she would be able to stay alive. That sadly was not the case, but her organs were donated to seven different people and that prayer was answered. She will now live through those people.

Just all around, this is a story that you're torn in both ways but it's nevertheless beautiful.

BALDWIN: So generous of that family to do that. Lynn, thank you very much.

Before we go here, it is official. Crack-smoking Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto wants to keep his day job another four years.

Ford believes Toronto voters can overlook his admissions of smoking and drinking too much while mayor. He filed official paperwork today seeking re-election.

Got to love the dancing video. Got to roll that. According to "The Toronto Star," Ford said today he is the best mayor the city of Toronto has ever seen and he wants to be judged on his fiscal record.

The election will be held in October.

And woman gets a gift right from the first family, the Obama family. Only problem, it was meant for someone else.

Elaine Church received a package this week and inside, a note, "To Mama K and Papa Wellington from Barack, Michelle and the girls."

Church found the woman it was meant for, the Obama girls' godmother, and is putting it in the mail today.

Quick programming note for you, tonight, tune in to CNN at 9:00 Eastern for "March of the Penguins," Oscar-winning, heart-melting film. You will not want to miss it.

And now that does it for me here. I'm Brooke Baldwin at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Thank you for being with me.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.