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Massive Winter Storm; Cause of Target Hack Revealed?

Aired February 13, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: So, sit tight. We're going to try to help your evening commute. We're going to try make it better. And if you are at home, we're going to tell you when you can possibly leave the house.

But it won't be for a while, because 100 million people will be slammed by this catastrophic winter storm by the time it is all over, a storm that has already crippled the Southeast, is now pushing up the Eastern Seaboard. And it's already dumping more than a foot-and-a- half of snow in some places of the Northeast.

At least 11 deaths have been blamed on the storm so far, including a pregnant woman who was struck and killed by a snowplow in Brooklyn. Well, New York City now completely blanketed by blizzard conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL DE BLASIO (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: We want to constantly urge if you don't need to be in your car, don't use your car. I know this is a refrain a lot of people in this room have heard many times.

I ask you to keep telling people in the city how urgent it is to stay out of their cars to the maximum extent possible for their own safety and also to facilitate the ongoing cleanup work of the Sanitation Department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the forecast for the Northeast is really quite grim right now, but parts of Southeast are still seeing snow. Many roads are now skating rinks. Trees that are coated in heavy ice and falling and knocking out power.

More than 700,000 homes and businesses are still in the dark at this moment, and it may be near impossible to escape, because more than 6,000 flights are already canceled today. One of the hardest-hit areas, North Carolina, now being called the new Atlanta. That's after drivers who ignored warnings got stuck for hours on icy highways.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mission today is to try to get home. It's very -- it's a little cold outside, but the roads is real bad, so we are just trying to stay focused and get past where we want to get to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to be home right now. Hopefully, I can get there before dark.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I want to you look at this picture, almost apocalyptic. It looks like "The Walking Dead," which is actually shot in Atlanta.

But this is in the middle of traffic chaos in Raleigh. A car lost control on the ice and then burst into flames. We are covering the path of this storm, where it has been, where it is headed with our correspondents who are in place all the way from Atlanta to New York City.

I want to get started with our Alison Kosik first.

Alison, the blizzard is bearing down. Is this city prepared as you're driving around looking?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Driving around Brooklyn, it look like a lot of the main streets have been plowed really well. We're driving right now along a lot of the side streets. The side streets are the residential streets.

They have really not been plowed by well. This really has turned into the big dig-out at this point, people digging out their cars and trying to get out of the spot. It's really taking a while to do that. A big problem now is that, sure, there is a lull right now, but the rain starting to fall again and then more snow is expected.

As we get closer to the evening hours, the worry is that the temperatures are going to dip and a lot of this will turn to ice, very dangerous for rush hour traffic. You want some good news in this? I have got a little for you, though, Don. Tomorrow, it's supposed to be 40 degrees.

Obviously, not enough to melt a lot of this snow, but certainly a nice relief those of us who have been sitting in these brutally cold temperatures for so, so long -- Don.

LEMON: Well, 40 degrees, Alison, we will take it. You know who else will take it, I'm sure? New York City's mayor, because he is getting hit with a blizzard of criticism.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's decision to keep the schools open today was not a popular one. He did defend it, though, saying students' welfare was his priority. But not everyone sees it that way, including Al Roker, the NBC weatherman, who vented on Twitter, writing this.

He said: "I knew this a.m., the mayor's office would close schools. Talk about a bad decision" -- "a bad prediction." Excuse me. "Long- range de Blasio forecast, one term."

The mayor right fired back with this. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DE BLASIO: I respect Al Roker a lot, watched him on for many, many years. It's a different thing to run a city than to give the weather on TV. I am comfortable with our decision-making.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, CNN digital correspondent and editor at large is Kelly Wallace. She has been following this.

Do most New Yorkers do you think share Al Roker's anger on all of this?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I would say some of the most vocal New Yorkers share Al Roker's anger.

If you look at the Facebook comments on New York City Department of Education Facebook page, if you look at my own Facebook feed, friends, colleagues, most people agree with Al Roker that the schools should be closed. But again -- we have been talking about this all day. For those families who had to go to work, who would have no option to take care of the children if schools were closed, I would think those families may be probably a majority of school families in the city would support the decision.

They just might not be the most vocal going on Facebook and Twitter to talk about it.

LEMON: So glad you said, that, because we are hearing about Al Roker and we're hearing about the mayor. There are a lot of kids who live in my building and in my neighborhood. I didn't hear one family complaining about sending their kid to schools. They just got up this morning and had the shoes by the door in the hallway and they all put on their snow boots and they went to school.

WALLACE; Exactly. And then also at the news conference, I think, the mayor's office talking about this stat, schools -- 11 snow days in something like 38 years.

LEMON: Since 1978.

WALLACE: Exactly.

I remember when I was a kid, the only time we got a snow day is if we had about two feet of snow. I think that puts it in perspective and today did not seem like one of the days for a lot of the working families who had to get to school and work.

LEMON: As we look around, I think we have another camera that can show around here. We can see a lot of these people are tourists, but it's now starting to become rush hour. You can see as we get a little bit later on in the day, you can see people are getting around. You see the people over there shoveling the snow. You see taxis letting people out. I am seeing buses. This morning, I got up, I saw school buses with kids getting on.

I even sent a picture out on Instagram. I noticed. I was like, hey, listen, there are school buses in the background of my picture. This is New York City. We are a hearty bunch. What are the complaints about? WALLACE: Exactly.

Complaints, though, are real, right? The conditions early this morning were pretty severe and a lot of teachers and the administrators, Don, that's the issue. They don't live right near school. They might have to commute from other boroughs and from Westchester and from Long Island. Then that becomes an issue.

Are there enough teachers and administrators in the school to take care of the kids? Then also schools were let out early. They canceled after-school programs. You have a lot of parents saying, why did you do that? Now I have to hustle home early from work.

There are reasons for the complaints, but I think looking at the big picture, overall the majority of New Yorkers if they were all on Facebook and Twitter, I have a feeling more people would be supportive of the mayor than critical.

LEMON: I know. Usually adults don't want snow days. It's the kids.

Thank you, Kelly Wallace. Appreciate that.

We want to get now to Pennsylvania, where thousands are without power.

Margaret Conley is near Philadelphia right now.

A train has derailed in the ice and the snow. What are you learning about that, Margaret?

MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, the snow is turning to rain. We are expecting about 14 to 18 inches of snow in the area.

We just got off the phone with PECO, the big power company. They say they starting to see scattered power outages, so emergency workers they are standing by in case there are more blackouts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CONLEY (voice-over): Just days after Pennsylvania was hit with crippling power outages across the state, residents are bracing this morning for yet another storm.

Heavy snow fell overnight threatening blackouts in some counties here that were hit harder last week than during superstorm Sandy. Emergency workers from as far away as Canada have stayed in town to help residents face this storm.

ANITA CRAWFORD, ABINGTON TOWNSHIP RESIDENT: It was very eerie in the town last week. Every street was blocked off and there were trees laying everywhere.

CONLEY: Residents have had to restock or get new supplies from last week.

(On camera): Are you worried about this next storm coming up?

LAURA HEACOCK, ABINGTON TOWNSHIP RESIDENT: Yes. My husband is buying a generator right now. He tracked one down somewhere on the Internet.

CONLEY: And some residents just got their power turned back on. This restaurant owner was out of business for seven straight days.

WALTER MANTON, OWNER, CHICKEN TIME: A little hard. About $6,000 or $7,000 of business lost for the week.

CONLEY: His fear, along with many others here, is another round of outages too soon as they wait to see what this storm will bring.

MANTON: Getting up tomorrow morning. See what I got and get in my truck and drive here. That's all I can do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CONLEY: Now, we are in a lull right now. The commissioner of Montgomery County says that we are in the calm between two storms. Don, we are expecting more snow tonight.

LEMON: All right, thank you very much, Margaret Conley in the Philadelphia area.

Now we want to continue to move and go to CNN's Brian Todd. Brian has been driving around D.C.

What are you hearing? Now you are near Philadelphia, I'm hearing. What are you encountering there?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, we have been driving along the I-95 Corridor from the D.C. area up here to Philadelphia, encountering a lot of treacherous conditions on the road.

Downtown Philadelphia, where we are, is a slushy mess. We just pulled over on the corner of 15th Street and Market Street in downtown Philly. I'm going to get out of the vehicle and show you what we see. We have three-camera capability here in our vehicle. You got this camera and I then will get out and talk to the dashboard camera that looks right out our windshield.

You can pick it up here and you can the slushy mess here along 15th Street and then our standard cameras. Our photojournalist Oliver Janney is going to pick up this really slushy early rush hour commute. Look at 15th Street, these cars having a bit of a tough time navigating. Streets were plow, but again after a steady dump of snow and then freezing rain and rain, this is what they have encountered.

There are snowplows all over the place. Actually, I just talked to a snowplow operator, caught up to him. He said his job was to follow a city bus around so that if it got in a jam, he would be able to get him out. That's the kind of commute they are up against here in Philadelphia and, again, slush all over the place, ice underneath it in some areas.

It is a real commuter mess. Earlier today, we encountered two overturned semitrucks along the Beltway, 495 near D.C. Those are conditions that are repeated elsewhere too. Two overturned trucks also on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Don, not major injuries in those cases, but again very treacherous conditions all along this Mid- Atlantic area.

LEMON: All right, Brian Todd, thank you very much.

Coming up, this massive winter storm causing some travel nightmares for those of you who are out there on the roads, at the airports today. More than 6,000 flights have been canceled. We will go live to Reagan National Airport in D.C. How long can we expect this storm to stick around?

Also, new details about the Target hack -- how one little e-mail could have started all of that, an unbelievable story.

And a potential merger that has a lot of cable customers shaking their heads. Comcast wants to buy Time Warner Cable. How will that impact your cable bill? Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back to our extended snow coverage here on CNN.

We are up to more than 6,000 commercial airline flights canceled today alone, 6,000 flights. You do the math. That's a lot of people who are stranded.

Joe Johns is with us now from Reagan National Airport outside the nation's capital.

Joe, I was just there yesterday. I was lucky enough to get a flight out to get back to New York City. Have you talked to any of those weary travelers?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: I have, Don. I have talked to some of the travelers and it's a real tough row to hoe for them.

This is a view of the airport during the snowstorm that you really almost never get to see. It's the trucks, as you can see, out there on the runways and on the taxiways trying to clear away some of that thick heavy snow that fell last night.

But if you look over here, here are the planes. None of them have been flying. That has been that way basically since last night. How long will it take? Anybody's guess. They have been trying to get one runway open so that these planes can start moving out. And there is a concern about more snow.

So, talking to the travelers in the terminal, a great sense of frustration. People say they have been here for hours and hours. But others say that the most frustrating thing is communication, not being able to get on the phone and talk to the airlines because so many people are calling in, trying to find out about their flights. Let's listen now to what some of the travelers when we asked them their situations earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just got here from Dulles. They taxied me over here. Then the flight is canceled here as well. So, now I'm opting to rent a car and drive home

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are trying to get to Wilmington, North Carolina, to see our son and his family, grandchildren.

This is probably -- we have been bumped about -- this will be the second or third time. I'm trying to quit counting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: This is the problem right here, thick heavy snow and it's taking a long time to get it off the runways -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Joe Johns at Reagan Airport.

So, listen, our Ed Lavandera now driving the streets of Atlanta. The streets were pretty empty this morning, but as the sun comes up, things are changing. What are you seeing?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are back out on the streets of Atlanta, Don, as you say.

We are -- interesting thing is all the ice is -- from everything that we have been able to tell, has really cleared up off the roadways. As we show you the shot here, I want to warn people that they're about to see something that they haven't seen in a couple of days.

That glare that you see is something called sunlight. I know it's probably very jarring for people who spent the last three days holed up in their homes here in the Georgia area. But the roadways and now people starting to come out and something we haven't seen in quite a while in the last two-and-a-half days or so is people now starting to feel comfortable in driving the roads up -- now the real problem is a little bit of visibility issues.

As the ice has melted, the roadways are pretty wet. It kicks up a lot of the water on to your windshield, so people need to be careful with that. But that is a much more bearable thing than what we have seen here the last couple of days. There are still power outage issues throughout the region that people need to be aware of, some 230,000 people in the Georgia area without electricity and power at this point.

So, crews are still working to take care of that. But the good news is, is that temperatures are now in the 40s and low 40s. The sun is out. And it appears that I think a lot of this ice will start drying out and melting pretty quick -- Don.

LEMON: Ed, as you were talking there, I'm looking at the monitor and I asked the producers, I said, is that live? I'm looking at the interstate in Atlanta. What are you I-75 or I-85? My goodness, there's hardly a car on the road.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: That is really unbelievable. That is really unbelievable. Thank you very much, Ed Lavandera. Stay safe.

Listen. So how soon before the weather lets up and travelers can get back to where they are going? That's the big question.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

LEMON: Coming up: new details about the Target hack -- how one little e-mail could have started it all. And you won't believe that and this report coming up.

And a potential merger that has a lot of cable customers shaking their heads -- Comcast wants to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion. But that could mean higher costs for you. That is coming up as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A major winter storm bringing snow and ice not only to the Southeast, but all the way to the Northeast now. And it's not over yet.

Much more of our coverage up, but, first, I want to give you some other stories that are making headlines today.

Ever wonder why your bosses tell you to be careful opening e-mail? Well, here's why. A phishing e-mail is apparently the initial doorway that let hackers into Target's computer system, where they stole credit card numbers and other personal information on potentially up to 110 million customers.

Cyber-crime blogger Brian Krebs quotes sources close to the Target investigation as saying an e-mail containing malware was sent to employees of a contractor that did business with Target. Somebody opened the e-mail and, bam, the hackers were able to steal credentials that let them into Target's system.

Kevin Mitnick is a former computer hacker. He's in Las Vegas.

Kevin, hold on one second here. Our tent is falling over because of the wind. Are we good? If the tent blows over, Kevin, we will have to go to a commercial break.

KEVIN MITNICK, FORMER COMPUTER HACKER: We don't have wind here in Las Vegas. It's sunny.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: The wind is really picking up. Yes, I know. You're a lucky man.

How easy was this for the hackers to do this, Kevin?

MITNICK: Well, it's quite easy, because I do security testing all the time.

And when our clients allow us to use social engineering -- social engineering is when we can use deception to break into the client's network. What we will is we will send a booby-trapped PDF file in Excel Spreadsheet or Word Doc, and if the victim opens up that file, we take full control of their computer.

And it's not hard to find victims. You know where you can find them, is simply go to LinkedIn and you can search for company and titles and you can actually get a target list. These types of attacks are quite easy to carry out.

LEMON: So, Target was not exactly targeted. I'm not trying to make a joke there.

MITNICK: Good pun.

LEMON: But this could have happened to any company, really?

MITNICK: Oh, it happens all the time.

And what attackers use is a technique called spear phishing. So, they will look for somebody inside the company that might have privileges to access certain types of information. And then they will target that one individual or maybe two or three individuals. That way, it's really hard to detect because it would have to be one of those one, two or three individuals that knows something is wrong.

So, these social engineering attacks are very common and they're extremely effective and very difficult to defend against.

LEMON: So, you said very difficult to defend against, but how can companies stay one step ahead? Because you're going to have to, especially now, knowing this. How can you stay one step ahead of increasing, sophisticated hackers, Kevin?

MITNICK: Well, you need to test your security. Test your employees' susceptibility to these types of attacks.

And there's companies out there that will actually do this for you. Keeping the software on your employees' desktops up to date. And what I do personally and what consumers can do, when I receive a PDF file or Office document in my e-mail box, I use Google Docs to open it.

That way, it's not -- the hackers cannot exploit the software to gain access to the computer.

LEMON: All right, Kevin Mitnick, appreciate that good information.