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CNN Live Today

Domestic Wiretaps; Watching on the Web; Battling Wildfires in Oklahoma

Aired December 30, 2005 - 11:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
A new leak investigation in Washington. The Justice Department has launched an investigation into who revealed a secret domestic wiretap operation by the National Security Agency. That information comes to CNN from a Justice Department official. The story about the use of wiretaps without warrants was first reported in "The New York Times."

Firefighters battle the latest grass fire to flare up in Oklahoma. And a weekend forecast calling for warm, dry and windy conditions has officials concerned. Oklahoma and much of Texas have banned fireworks and outdoor burning. Wildfires have killed five people and destroyed more than 300 homes and businesses in two states.

From fires to the threat of floods and mudslides, new storms could dump up to six inches of rain on already soggy northern California. State officials have urged people living in hillside homes to prepare for possible mudslides. Storms are forecast to hit the region today and again on Sunday.

Two explosions ripped through central Baghdad today. Police say that five people were killed and more than 20 others were wounded. Authorities say a car bomb and a mortar round exploded along a busy commercial street. It's the latest in a surge of attacks following the mostly peaceful elections.

The Saints are marching home, at least for now. "The San Antonio Express-News" says team owner and NFL commissioner have reached an agreement to return the New Orleans Saints to their Louisiana training facility. The Saints had played part of the season in San Antonio, and that had folks concerned that the team just might relocate there.

Good morning. Welcome back to the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY.

Let's check some of the time around the world.

Just after 10:00 a.m. in Oklahoma City; just after 11:00 here in Atlanta, Georgia; and just after 8:00 a.m. in soggy Napa Valley, California.

From CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan.

First up, a developing story about a Washington pastime, the media leak. The government launched a criminal investigation today looking for the person who revealed President Bush's secret domestic spying program.

National Security Correspondent David Ensor checks in this morning from Washington with more on the probe.

David, good morning.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

The Justice Department leak investigation has been opened, officials are confirming to us, concerning this report in "The New York Times" December 16 which said that the National Security Agency has been monitoring phone calls and other communications between people inside the United States and others overseas since the president approved a top-secret program after the 9/11 attacks and has been doing that without warrants from a court.

The report raised a firestorm, with critics charging the president had exceeded his authority and the program was illegal. By law, intelligence agencies are required to refer to the Justice Department any possible leak of classified information. The investigation will be con conducted by FBI agents and Justice Department officials. Leak investigations, though, are difficult and often do not succeed.

"The New York Times" says it knew about the top secret NSA program a year ago but decided not to make it public after appeals from administration officials. The author of the report, James Risen, has a book scheduled to come out which should include this material and perhaps may have additional revelations in it in the coming weeks.

So, this story, with now a leak investigation having been launched by the Justice Department, hearings very likely on Capitol Hill, and a new book coming out with perhaps additional details, this story, as we say in the news business, has legs -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Yes, more stuff yet to come. You say it's difficult for these types of probes to be successful. But if they are, if you're caught, how serious can those charges be, David?

ENSOR: Well, a very small number of people in the U.S. government knew about this NSA wiretap program. Only eight people on Capitol Hill, for example, have been briefed about it, a very, very closely held program.

The first thing the investigators will do will be to narrow in on that small group of senior officials who knew about the program and try to figure out who might have leaked it. The penalties, I don't know what the -- what the jail time could be. But if someone were to be caught having leaked this, it could be a serious matter indeed.

KAGAN: Serious indeed. David Ensor, thank you.

Now a related story to the NSA. A question for you: have you ever checked out the Web site of the National Security Agency? If so, it's entirely possible the NSA may have been checking you out long after you left its site.

The agency now admits to placing tracking devices that are known as cookies on visitor's computers, even though that practice has been banned.

Here with details on the latest spy controversy involving NSA, our technology correspondent, Daniel Sieberg.

I guess the first place to start is with cookies, which for me is always a good place to start. But it's not the kind of cookies I enjoy.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Sure. No, no Oreo or Toll House involved with this story, unfortunately, Daryn.

Yes, cookies are a very small text file. They've been around for a long time. In fact, there's a good chance that your computer has got a lot of cookies on them right now.

The story, when it comes to the nsa.gov Web site, started a little earlier this week when a privacy advocate noticed when he was surfing nsa.gov that one of these small text files, a cookie, was being left on his computer even after he left the nsa.gov Web site. Now, this does violate deep government regulations or guidelines that say that no federal agency, with a few exceptions, can place a cookie on somebody's computer and have it follow them.

Now, what does a cookie do? Well, it can track certain things about you.

While you're on the Web site, it follows you as you go through the Web site where the cookies is from. I'm going to get a bit more into what cookies can do in just a second, but we wanted to read a statement from the NSA when it comes to the cookies that were on their Web site.

What they said was, "Apparently an upgrade in the software used to manage the site used default cookies which were considered persistent." That means that it would stay on your computer after you leave. "After being tipped to the issue, we immediately disabled the cookies."

So that's what the NSA is saying. And talking to a lot of tech experts about this, they're really saying that it probably was an accident in this case.

Cookies would be the least effective spying tool in the NSA's arsenal. They don't really remember a whole lot of information about you, Daryn. But we can at least give people a demonstration, if you want. We can walk people what they can do.

KAGAN: Please, go at it.

SIEBERG: The easiest way to think about this, if you know amazon.com as a shopping site...

KAGAN: I do. A little too well, I might say.

SIEBERG: ... if you can see here -- a little too well? Spent a few dollars there this holiday season?

KAGAN: Yes -- one click.

SIEBERG: So if you can see right up here -- one click, right. Too easy.

It says "Hello, Daniel Sieberg."

KAGAN: Right.

SIEBERG: Now, I just opened this browser window. I didn't have to type in my name or anything like that. That is the cookie in action. It's remembering me. It says, oh, you're back.

KAGAN: I knew you'd come back. They always do.

SIEBERG: We have some recommendations for you. Right, we keep coming back.

We want you to buy this. You bought this last time. Maybe you'd like to buy something else.

That's what cookies are intended to do on behalf of the corporate industry out there. They want you to come back and feel comfortable. And they remember certain things about you.

Now, privacy advocates are concerned because they can track you. Certain cookies called third-party cookies if they come from, say, an advertiser that's on a site that you're on, they can follow you if you go to a site that also has that advertiser.

So what can you do? OK. Well, if cookies make you a little uncomfortable, you can actually go into -- in this case, we're using the Firefox browser. If you can see here, we go up into tools -- that's up in the corner here -- we're going to drag down to options.

And in the options, you're going to see it says "Cookies, allow sites to set cookies."

KAGAN: No, no, no.

SIEBERG: You can say, no. I want to say, no, I don't want to have cookies on my commuter at all. Then can you view the cookies.

Now, a cookie, unfortunately, is just really not that exciting. If you look here, just a string of characters and text and stuff, because it's just a file. It's a text file. It's not a program.

KAGAN: So that's not going to tell me the NSA has a cookie or amazon.com.

SIEBERG: Well, it's going to tell me -- if I have an Amazon cookie on here, it's going to tell me that I have an Amazon cookie on my computer right here.

KAGAN: OK. American Express.

SIEBERG: American Express. My shopping habits are showing up here.

But basically, it's not going to be able to follow me when I leave a site, with a few exceptions, we should point out. There are certain companies and certain Web sites that can track you.

So if it makes you uncomfortable, you can definitely delete your cookies and take them out. We do have some tips for people on what cookies can and can't do, because I think there are some misconceptions out there.

Cookies can track your surfings and settings. Now, a first-party cookie, again, from an actual site like Amazon, but only on that site. So you'd have to go back to that site for it to know what you're doing.

They can be deleted without restricting your Web browsing with a lot of the newer browsers that are out there. In addition, they can be placed on your machine without your knowledge.

A lot of these computers that you've got out there have got these cookies, and they can stay for a short period of time or a long period of time. But they can concern privacy advocates for a number of reasons. And if you feel uncomfortable with them on there -- and they can't carry a virus or a malicious code, we should point out.

They're not a program. They cannot track you beyond the originating site. Again, with a caveat. Some of them can if they're from other companies that put them on your computer. And they can, in some cases, gather certain information, but generally not as you type. They're not keystroke logging or something like that.

So there's a lot to do with cookies here. They've been around for a long time. You either like them or you don't. And if you like the ones that you can eat or you don't, you've got other choices. You can just try and stop eating them.

KAGAN: I do. But those I'm not so happy about.

SIEBERG: Yes, all right.

KAGAN: I really appreciate it, especially the part how you can disable some of them. Thank you. I did not know that. I learned something today. Thank you.

SIEBERG: Right. Good. Good.

KAGAN: Daniel Sieberg, thank you.

SIEBERG: You're welcome.

KAGAN: And speaking of the NSA -- and we were telling you earlier that the Justice Department has opened up a probe into the leak of the information about the domestic wiretap and the domestic spying scandal. President Bush in an earlier news conference had called that leak "shameful," and he will have comments, the White House will have comments about this justice probe later today. We'll bring those to you as they become available.

Meanwhile, let's move on to difficult weather news. Not enough water in one part of the country, too much water in another part of the country. We're going to turn to the fires in Oklahoma and Texas and the threat of floods from new storms in California.

There is little relief in sight from the hot, dry weather that has fueled the fires. We'll get the latest from the Oklahoma City Fire Department. And we're also going live to northern California, where storms are expected to dump more heavy rain on already-saturated ground.

And Chad's here.

Hi, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Daryn.

KAGAN: Our severe weather expert. He completes the whole trifecta.

MYERS: I'm in -- I'm in the little box.

KAGAN: Yes. We'll get you a really big box in a couple minutes.

MYERS: I'm just waiting for "The Brady Bunch" box.

KAGAN: Yes, exactly. That kind of a thing. All right. We'll get to you in a moment.

MYERS: All right.

KAGAN: First, though, let's talk about Oklahoma. They do have a very difficult and serious situation there.

Tinder dry brush had already flared up before dawn today. Officials are concerned that the weather this weekend could fuel more fires.

Major Brian Stanaland with the Oklahoma City Fire Department joins us live.

Major, good morning.

MAJ. BRIAN STANALAND, OKLAHOMA CITY FIRE DEPT.: Good morning to you, too.

KAGAN: The weather conditions do not appear to be cooperating with what your department needs to get these fire in control.

STANALAND: No, unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating with us. This morning, where I'm standing right now, we had a fire that broke out yesterday about 1:00. This fire broke out again about 1:00 and burned about 1,500 acres.

And the winds have shifted out of the north now. They were blowing from the south yesterday. They're now blowing out of the north very, very strongly. And we're expecting conditions to worsen over the weekend.

I have lost my IFB feed. OK, I've got it back now.

KAGAN: All right. You're with us? You can hear me, Major?

STANALAND: Yes, I can.

KAGAN: OK. Let me ask you this: how strange is it to be dealing with a situation like this at this time of year? Shouldn't you be dealing with snow and ice right now?

STANALAND: Yes, you're exactly right. These warm conditions are extremely unusual for Oklahoma.

The dry conditions are actually unusual for this time of year, too. We normally have a very wet fall. We normally have lots of rainfall in the fall. But unfortunately, we've had zero rain, just a trace of rain around Thanksgiving and a little bit of snow.

It didn't help us out at all. We are tinder, bone dry here in Oklahoma. And the warm temperatures also heat up the fuels that are dead, dry and dormant, and really causes for a dangerous situation here in our state.

KAGAN: Well, you do have your work cut out for you on this New Year's weekend. We wish you well, Major.

STANALAND: Thank you. We appreciate it.

KAGAN: Major Brian Stanaland with the Oklahoma City Fire Department.

You know, usually when we're talking about the fires and all the dry weather and the winds, we're talking about California. But now with California we're talking about a soggy, wet, damp situation.

A look at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco there. And another Pacific soaker you can see is slamming the West Coast today.

A live look at the morning rush. Not much of a rush hour since it is basically a holiday for most folks.

A half-foot of rain could fall on saturated ground this weekend. And that could mean flooding and mudslides.

So we took our intrepid, good-natured, good sport reporter, Jen Rogers, we put her in one of those red CNN slickers and we stuck her out in Napa, about an hour's north -- an hour's drive north of San Francisco. Jen, good morning again.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, so far, it is not so bad here. We've had about three hours of rain, but nothing too heavy to speak of.

What I can show you right here is that we are on the banks the Napa River. And just to give you an idea of what we're dealing with, this river, the flood stage is 25 feet. They start monitoring it at 22 feet. And right now we're at nine feet.

And if you can see on the footings of the bridge, this water had been higher earlier in the week when we had another storm. Then it receded, and now it is expected to come back up this weekend.

That is just the pattern of how things usually work here. And we are stuck in that pattern.

I did just talk to the National Weather Service. They say they have a flood watch for the north bay, starting around 6:00 p.m. tonight and going into tomorrow. And that does affect this river as well.

So far, you just saw that picture of the Golden Gate Bridge. Earlier, what this few hours of rain has meant for people has to do with their commutes, snarling some traffic.

This also, of course, is a getaway day for people trying to get away, maybe up to the mountains for a ski weekend. Expecting a lot of traffic up there as well.

So what are people doing? Well, if you're not at work and not making a break for the mountains, some people might be trying to get their houses ready if you're in a flood-prone area.

Yesterday, we saw people here in Napa filling up sandbags. The city is giving those away for free. And let me tell you that people pretty much know what they're doing. They fill them up, they know where to put them to protect their homes. They have been through this before -- Daryn.

KAGAN: OK. Jen, stay dry. You probably don't appreciate that, but we appreciate you being out in it. Thank you, and to you and your crew as well.

Chad Myers -- Chad, you have plenty to talk about today, dry and wet.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: All right. You're welcome.

KAGAN: Much more ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY. Pasadena, it's in bloom. We're going to get the behind-the- scenes scoop on this year's Tournament of Roses Parade. Ooh, they are worrying about the rain there.

Plus, where there's news, someone is poking fun at the people in the headlines. And we are fortunate to have one of those comic minds with us today. Political cartoonist Mike Luckovich is with me. He took the long trip from across the street at the newspaper to us here at CNN.

We'll talk with Mike just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: A heartwarming story for you. An Iraqi baby is on her way to the U.S. this morning, and she'll have an operation that just might save her life.

Three-month-old Baby Noor is due in Atlanta tomorrow. Doctors will close a hole in her spine.

Noor stole the hearts of U.S. soldiers who searched her parents' home in Baghdad. They worked with friends at home and Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss to get the child here to the U.S. She's coming with her dad and her grandmother.

Then there's this story: a kid from the U.S. flies to Iraq -- to the United states -- well, he's coming home this weekend. He will be coming home to Florida. An incredible field trip, you might call it.

His name, Farris Hassan. He's 16 years old. He cut school and hopped a flight from Fort Lauderdale to the Middle East on December 11.

His journey took him to Kuwait, Lebanon, and finally Iraq, where his parents were born. Hassan wants to be a journalist. He when to Iraq, he says, to see what the job is about firsthand.

How about just a nice little internship at CNN? That's our suggestion.

Hassan didn't tell his parents what he was up to, though he did drop some hints. The boy's mother talked with Miles O'Brien earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SATHA ATIYA, MOTHER: Well, he asked me, we discussed the past four or five months. He was telling me that he has an interest to go there and to see firsthand how are thing things transpiring in Iraq. And he wanted to see the people's feeling about democracy and the war in Iraq.

And I told him, fine, you know, this -- not bad idea, but wait few months. Hopefully this summer if things are stabilized, I would be happy to accompany him. So when he -- when he heard my negative response, he decided to take things into his own hands, I guess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: How do you punish a kid for that? Well, you can wake up with "AMERICAN MORNING" every week day. Miles and Soledad get your day going with the morning's headlines and interviews. They start at 6:00 a.m. Eastern. And then we take over at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

So remember December 1, we were all so relieved because it was the end of hurricane season? Well, apparently there is another tropical storm forming. I find this very hard to believe.

And yet, Chad, you say it's true?

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Many of you will be spending the holiday weekend watching football. But before kickoff at the Rose Bowl, it's the parade that keeps everyone entertained in Pasadena. A sneak peak at the festivities and why there's some concern about the Rose Parade this year, something that hasn't happened in 50 years. We'll tell you in just a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: It is a huge weekend here in Atlanta, Georgia. Not one, but two bowls.

We have the Peach Bowl here tonight. And then on -- later in the weekend -- on Monday, actually, we have the Sugar Bowl. Sugar Bowl usually played in New Orleans. They moved it here this year because they're not ready to handle that because of Hurricane Katrina.

So that's what we're thinking about here New Year's weekend in Atlanta.

In Pasadena, California, the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl on the way. With the Rose Parade, it's not on Sunday this year, on New Year's Day. It's on Monday.

We have that information, plus some other facts you might not know about one of the most beautiful parades in the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN (voice over): The Rose Parade will not be held on January 1 this year. It might sound like a break from tradition, but the real tradition, established way back in 1893, is that the Rose Parade will never be held on a Sunday.

Officials made the decree to avoid being in conflict with churches in Pasadena. And some say that's why it's been blessed with only nine rainy days in its 117-year history.

The forecast this year says the chance for rain on Monday is pretty high. And officials are reportedly saying a few extra prayers for good weather.

Rain or shine, the grand marshal for this year's parade will be outgoing Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Just as with every other year, the 48 floats in the parade must be entirely covered with flowers, leaves and other all-natural decor. So at least if it does rain, it probably won't be too hard on the floats.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: So we decided we need a little bit of entertainment here for us on this New Year's Eve eve and invited an old friend, Mike Luckovich, the Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist from "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution."

Of course we could have just invited you for coffee. No, we say, can you come over and do some work?

MIKE LUCKOVICH, POLITICAL CARTOONIST: I found out this morning I had to draw something. Now, that's tough, because, you know, this week, as you know...

KAGAN: There's nothing going on.

LUCKOVICH: There's nothing going on. You know, when the Rose Bowl Parade is, you know, one of the major stories, it's a slow week. But I'm going to try and craft something. But If I can't come up with something...

KAGAN: Right?

LUCKOVICH: I promise I will draw Snoopy.

KAGAN: Snoopy?

LUCKOVICH: Well, at least it's something.

KAGAN: Something. You will draw something.

LUCKOVICH: It's something.

KAGAN: OK.

LUCKOVICH: Because I'm pretty good at Snoopy.

KAGAN: Hear that? It's a promise.

He's just good anyway.

And we will look back at some of your best cartoons...

LUCKOVICH: All right. Excellent.

KAGAN: ... of 2005.

LUCKOVICH: Perfect.

KAGAN: There are some classics. And we'll do that.

Come on, draw, draw, draw.

LUCKOVICH: Oh, all right. All right. All right.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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