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Family Anxious to See Obama During Africa Trip; Digital Car Hijacking Gets Congress's Attention; Americans Still Held Prisoner in Iran. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired July 22, 2015 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: So who might step in here real quick? We need to put a lid on this before we go.
(CROSSTALK)
PATRICK TUCKER, TECHNOLOGY EDITOR, DEFENSE ONE: Well, the FAA is one of the bodies in charge of regulating potentially reckless or careless use of commercial UAVs. And they offer exemptions to particular laws that govern how UAVs are used. They offer these exemptions very rarely. This drone was being flown within line of sight on private property so they probably don't a lot of leeway but by September they're supposed to come up with a broad law that governs what you can and can't do with a commercial drone. People say they won't make that deadline.
KEILAR: Well, we wish they would, but we'll see it come September.
Patrick Tucker, Rene Marsh, thanks to you both.
Still to come, returning to his father's homeland. A preview of President Obama's upcoming trip to Kenya. Plus, two family members speak to Brooke Baldwin about what the visit means to them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:35:00] KEILAR: President Obama leaves tomorrow on a trip that will take him to his father's homeland. The visit to Kenya will be Mr. Obama's first since he became president of the United States.
And CNN's Brooke Baldwin traveled to Kenya ahead of the president's visit. She sat down for an exclusive interview with his half-sister. Alma Obama talked about the pride she and others in Kenya have for what President Obama has accomplished.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's been in the White House for seven years, what's your most proud moment of your brother?
DR. ALMA OBAMA, HALF-SISTER OF BARACK OBAMA: Getting in the White House.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Getting in the White House. Getting in.
OBAMA: Just getting in. He got in twice. I'm proud of that, yes.
BALDWIN: Did you see him break out into "Amazing Grace"? Have you seen that video?
OBAMA: I did.
(SINGING)
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I'm surprised he sang so well.
(LAUGHTER)
It was amazing.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Brooke Baldwin joining us from New York.
Brooke, fascinating journey, fascinating interview.
You also talked with Alma Obama about their father. Tell us about that. What did she say?
BALDWIN: That's right. I've been working on this for months. Dr. Alma Obama is fiercely protective of her brother, her nieces, her sister-in-law, and rightfully so. And so when she extended this invitation to me to profile her foundation for all these young people in this community in their ancestral village in western Kenya, I jumped on it. And the notion then, being invited, Brianna, to her family homestead, to meet their 93-year-old grandmother where, I should mention, there were fresh plants and flowers, perhaps in anticipation of a side visit from the president, although that's not on schedule, I stood with Alma over Barack Obama, Sr's grave, a place where the president went stand there. A man he didn't know very well.
Let me share the moment between Alma and myself over this grave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Your father passed away when he was 43. You at least got some years with him. Your brother didn't.
OBAMA: Not at all.
BALDWIN: So when your brother reached out to you with a letter in the early '80s and you visited with him in Chicago and then you returned the favor and had him come to Kenya, what were questions he wanted to know about his ancestral family and specifically about his dad?
OBAMA: It was really easy talking to my brother. We kind of hit it off. And all the questions he asked I anticipated them. He wanted to know everything. He wanted to know everything about us, everything about my father, everything about our family. I took him to so many relatives. My brother wanted to know everything. I can't answer that question any other way. I think it's normal because he was part of finding about his own identity.
BALDWIN: When you got the letter to first meet Barack Obama you thought it was your father's handwriting?
OBAMA: It was like my father's handwriting, definitely. Definitely.
BALDWIN: What do you think the one thing your father would say to his son?
OBAMA: He'd be extremely proud and say well done. But then he'd add, "But obviously, you're an Obama." He was very proud.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Brooke, there are serious security concerns when it comes to President Obama visiting Kenya. That's why we're told he's not going to the town. But owe said there are flowers planted there. They've rolled out the red carpet for President Obama. How disappointed will they be if he doesn't show up?
BALDWIN: Well, listen you know firsthand about security. You covered the president. And so even the notion of him going from Nairobi to his hometown would be a flight and a chopper ride, which I imagine would be difficult. I talked to a source who said it's not impossible but, on the books, as far as the public schedule is concerned, he's only supposed to be in Nairobi for 48 hours. But, yes, this is a place where -- I can't underscore this enough -- extraordinarily rural western Kenya where you run into little boys named Barack Obama, you see schools named Barack Obama, street names named Obama or after Mama Sarah, who's a rock star in this world. Of course, they'd love to have him. They see it as coming home, which is really just where his people are from, the Luo tribe. They'd love to have him but they're thrilled to have him, this the first visit for the president as commander-in-chief back to Kenya in his seven years now. So I think bottom line, it's pride whether he just remains in Nairobi or ventures westward.
KEILAR: They certainly are proud.
Brooke Baldwin, great interview. Thanks for sharing it with us.
BALDWIN: Thank you. Much more at 2:00.
[13:39:48] KEILAR: Yes, we'll check it out in about 20 minutes or so.
For our domestic viewers, you can hear more of Alma's interview. Again, that's at 2:00 p.m. in the CNN "Newsroom" with Brooke Baldwin. Still ahead, though, the digital carjacking that you really just have
to see to believe. Hackers hit a car, controlling everything from the engine to the air conditioning to the music. How did they pull it off? Plus, whether your car could be at risk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: A new risk to nearly a half a million Chryslers and those driving them. A huge unprecedented danger. The flaw in the car's computer system that allows hackers from miles away to remotely control the vehicle, cut the breaks, control the steering, even cut the engine. It sounds unbelievable. To prove it, the researchers who uncovered the flaw demonstrated the hack to "Wired" magazine, and they recorded the entire thing. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY GREENBERG, SENIOR WRITER, WIRED MAGAZINE: All right, something just turned on, all the fans and A.C. and stuff. I didn't do that. The trick started small. Oh, my god. There's a picture of Charlie and Chris in track suits that just appeared on the dashboard.
(on camera): But as I drove down the interstate, things started getting unpleasant and very loud.
(MUSIC)
[13:45:20] GREENBERG: I can't turn it down.
(MUSIC)
GREENBERG: The air conditioning is blasting, the music is blasting, and I can't see anything because of the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) windshield wiper fluid.
UNIDENTIFIED RESEARCHER: Do it! Kill the engine!
We're killing the engine right now.
(EXPLETIVE DELETED), actually can't accelerate.
GREENBERG: I stomped on the gas but the Jeep slowed to a crawl. It says I'm going a few miles an hour.
(MUSIC)
GREENBERG: I turned on my hazard lights but I was stuck in the right lane with no shoulder to escape to.
Guys, I'm stuck on the highway.
UNIDENTIFIED RESEARCHER: I think he's panicking. He's not going to be able to hear with us that radio. So loud.
GREENBERG: Guys. I need to accelerate. The accelerator won't work.
UNIDENTIFIED RESEARCHER: It won't work.
(LAUGHTER)
You're doomed.
GREENBERG: Seriously, this is (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dangerous. I need to move.
UNIDENTIFIED RESEARCHER: You have to turn the car off.
OK. Now you should be good to go.
(HONKING)
GREENBERG: A semi drove by.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: That is so scary, right? This video has the attention of Congress.
And joining me now to discuss this is Senator Richard Blumenthal.
Senator, thanks for being with us.
The same date that this video was released, you introduced a bill that would establish national safety and privacy standards. It's not just safety. This is an issue of privacy as well as a rating system that tells you how safe a car is from cyber attacks.
But first, I just want to ask you, you've seen this video, what was your reaction?
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, (D), CONNECTICUT: It is a truly frightening video and it illustrates very graphically the reasons that Senator Markey and I introduced this legislation to establish basic standards for protection. As cars become more connected to the internet consumers need to be more protected. It's as basic as putting a car lock on the door of a car. No manufacturer would produce a door without a car lock. Nor should a consider manufacturer today produce a vehicle connected to the internet without basic protections and we would establish them through NHTSA, which is the agency that does recall notices and sets standards for brakes and safety bags and other kinds of basic safety measures. And this one is as important not only for safety but also privacy. But because hackers can take control of the car but auto manufacturer cans seize information and then market it, invading privacy.
KEILAR: So there's an issue here that we understand from the hackers who did this, it's this u-connect system in these vehicles that then goes -- it's in tandem with the sprint network and that's the loophole. So you have manufacturers who are sort of supposed to be addressing this but they're not calling it a recall and further more this was just a test of some vehicles. Ford, general motors, other makers, the researchers didn't test this. How big could this vulnerability be stretching beyond the models that were tested? BLUMENTHAL: This vulnerability could be huge and growing bigger as
technology advances and more cars become more connected. And so my hope is really that the car manufacturers themselves will recognize the grave peril along with the promise that comes from connected cars and do the right thing. Offer consumers as a standard feature the kinds of basic protections that will prevent hackers from taking control of cars and prevent manufacturers from taking information without consent from the consumers or here's another potential danger, a domestic abuser surveil ago car through the internet and then tracking down an estranged spouse. This kind of danger comes with the great promise of internet connection.
KEILAR: A wide range of vulnerabilities here. I think we should note that Chrysler has a software update to fix the flaw. But if you're driving in one of these cars, you have to go to the dealer to get it. How urgent this and do you think car dealers are doing enough?
BLUMENTHAL: Extremely urgent, Brianna. And I commend Chrysler for offering this manual fix, but it is only a fix, it's not a standard feature, and the driver has to go for that kind of fix. But the point here is the vulnerability is great and the urgency is also huge because cars will become more connected. That's a great potential boon, but it also is a very direct bane of peril to consumers if they fail to understand the consequences and take precautions against them. It really is as basic as a car lock that prevents people from intruding or invading a car, that kind of door lock, intrusion and invasion.
[13:50:40] KEILAR: Senator Blumenthal, thanks so much for talking to us about this. Really appreciate it.
BLUMENTHAL: Thank you, Brianna.
KEILAR: Now, still to come, an Iran nuclear deal has been reached, but this U.S. journalist still sits in jail overseas. What his family has to say on the one-year anniversary of his arrest, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:55:11] KEILAR: He was a "Washington Post" bureau chief working in Tehran when Iranians authorities suddenly swarmed into his home and took him away. Jason Rezaian was taken into custody exactly one year ago and was later charged on espionage and other serious crime charges. Two other Americans being held in Iran, another went missing in 2007. Their ordeal continues as Iran signs a nuclear deal with world powers. Yesterday, President Obama speaking to veterans promoted the deal and he also called for Iran to release the Americans.
Ali Rezaian, the brother of Jason, joining us now.
Ali, I know this is tough one year after the detention of your brother. How are you doing? How is your family doing, and what do you want people to know on this anniversary?
ALI REZAIAN, BROTHER OF JASON REZAIAN: It's been a tough year, obviously. The family is doing as best we can. What I need people to know is Jason still locked up in Iran. We've done this deal with them and still hasn't had a trial. He hasn't done anything. He's innocent and needs ton released.
KEILAR: Where do things stand? What are you hearing from U.S. Officials and Iranian officials?
REZAIAN: The Iranians don't really talk to us. What we've heard from them most recently is the next trial date will probably be the last session, although we don't know when that will be. As far as the U.S. Government, they have said that they are stilling with the Iranians and talking with them about Jason and the other Americans being held, and we always hold out hope that the Iranians will do the right thing, look at the evidence and decide that Jason should be released immediately.
KEILAR: This deal struck between the U.S. and other countries, do you think the U.S. should have fought harder to link the release of your brother, of other Americans to this agreement?
REZAIAN: I think that's a really hard question. Our situation has always been that we thought that Jason should stand on his own. Jason should be looked at for what he's done and not any other outside influences, and the fact is the deal might not have happened, in which case Jason would be in a bad place. Am I sorry that they didn't push that, no, but I'm certainly unhappy that he's still there.
KEILAR: His wife has been allowed to see him. What has she said about that?
REZAIAN: You know, she said he's had troubles with his health. He's lost a tremendous amount of weight. His food is not nutritious. He's having lots of emotional problems. He's been locked up for a year. Right now he gets very little human interaction. He's with one person so he's in the technically in solitary confinement.
KEILAR: Who is he with?
REZAIAN: Another prisoner.
KEILAR: Another prisoner.
REZAIAN: Another prisoner.
KEILAR: And that's it. So he's with one other person in a cell?
REZAIAN: That's correct. And other-wise, he sees interrogators and he sees the guards and that's it. He's not able to interact with anybody else. They have taken away certain things that he's had in the past because they want him to confess to something that he hasn't done. They have no evidence that he's committed any crimes so they want him to confess to something that -- that he's never done.
KEILAR: Was he able to tell his wife what he's being asked, what he's being accused of, what he's trying to be coerced into admitting. REZAIAN: I know what the charges are. Don't know specifically what
they are trying to get him to say. Other folks held in Iran, others come at him and ask him to confess things. Some people have done it, if they haven't commit the crimes. Jason is steadfast, wants everyone to know he didn't do anything wrong and that really gives me hope for him is that he's committed to showing he's innocent, and getting out and clearing his name.
KEILAR: Ali, we're thinking of you, certainly thinking of your brother as you continue with this ordeal and will continue to follow this story.
Ali Rezaian, thanks so much for talking with us.
REZAIAN: Thanks for having me, Brianna.
KEILAR: Really appreciate it.
Two other Americans are being detained in Iran. Another went missing eight years ago. Amir Hekmati is a U.S. Marine veteran and has been in prison for almost four years, charged with cooperating and coordinating with the U.S. government, and sentenced to 10 years. And American pastor, Saeed Abedini, has spent nearly three years in an Iranian prison. His charges stemming from converting to Christianity. And Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent and contractor for the CIA. He disappeared in 2007. U.S. officials believe, quote, "The Iranians control his fate." Again, that's a quote.
That's it for me. I'll be right back here at 5:00 eastern on "The Situation Room."
For international viewers, "Amanpour" is next.
And for the viewers in North America, "Newsroom" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.
