Return to Transcripts main page

NEW DAY

President Obama Calls for Justice; Senator McCain Calls for Leadership; Searching for Clues in Sotloff Video; Home Depot Investigating Huge Data Breach

Aired September 3, 2014 - 07:30   ET

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


JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Let's start with the president. He was traveling as this happened, heading to Estonia for some meetings then to the NATO summit. The timing seems to be not a coincidence, released as the president is on the global stage. The barbaric act, the ISIS killer of Steven Sotloff, taunting the President of the United States, saying he's responsible for this because of the military actions in Iraq against ISIS targets.

Listen this morning as the president responds in Estonia, saying justice will be served.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will not be intimidated and their horrific acts only unite us as a country and stiffen our resolve to take the fight against these terrorists, and those who make the mistake of harming Americans will learn that we will not forget and that our reach is long and that justice will be served.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: There are many layers to this debate. Let's start with what I'll call a style question. We'll have a lot to talk about the substance what the president should do.

There was some criticism yesterday that the president didn't say anything, he knew about this, hadn't analyzed the video completely to authenticate it, but he knew about this before he got on the plane.

He didn't say anything. He got on a long flight to Europe. There's statements from other leaders, world leaders commented. Is there anything to that? The president taking time. He could have issued a paper statement from Air Force One? Is that a big deal?

MANU RAJU, "POLITICO": The criticism is that he needs to take a tougher tone. I think you started to see that today. You'll probably see that in the coming days going forward, but part of the president's appeal initially has been how he's been calm, cool and collected in the face of these foreign policy crises.

He didn't want to rush into war the way that previous administrations have, but when you're facing a threat like ISIS, when you have all of these crises overseas, the risk for him is that if he does not come out strong he looks wobbly and ineffective, and that's what he has to deal with now at home.

PETER HAMBY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: On this and many other things throughout his presidency, his default gear has always been sort of calmly gather the facts, you know, despite media pressure and frenzy and criticism from Republicans and then deliver a statement, you know, whether he gets criticism in the interim be damned so this is sort of in keeping with, you know, his usual posture.

KING: And I think part of the political volume here, including some criticism from some Democrats who say he on occasion seems to be too cautious and wants to have more analysis before he acts is because of something the president said last week where he was quoted saying, we have no strategy.

And the president went through pains, he was asked a specific question about is he prepared to launch strikes against ISIS targets, leadership targets, inside Syria, across the border from Iraq, inside Syria? That was the president's point when he said I have no strategy yet.

This morning he tried to clarify that and, again, making clear that they he will act, but not necessarily right away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It is very important from my perspective that when we send our pilots in to do a job that we know that this is a mission that's going to work, that we're very clear on what our objectives are, what our targets are. We've made the case to Congress and we've made the case to the American people and we've got allies behind us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: This is where you see the tension between caution on policy, caution in politics. The president is making the case if you have sustained air strikes and sending American pilots into a sovereignty country in the middle of a civil war you better make sure you have your targets clearly identified.

That you have safety for those air routes going through, that hopefully you have international allies helping you with that. From a strategic sense, a military point of sense, a lot of people say that caution makes sense because this is so dicey. Politically it sometimes tends to hurt the president because people think he's just debating, debating, debating.

RAJU: People want to see reaction to the gruesome videos online. People want to see this and how the president is responding. When he says something we don't have a strategy and he's spent days trying to clean up, it does feed that perception that the president and the United States is not acting and responding to these threats.

So that's a challenge for him going forward and dealing with Congress, which is coming back to session next week and is going to ramp up its calls for the president to take a tougher line.

HAMBY: As dispiriting as these images are and as sharp as the Republican criticism is, I mean, you have to sympathize with the president. I mean, defeating ISIS is not something that's going to happen overnight and not something that will happen in a week.

This is a multi-month, multi-year project that includes foreign partners. It includes, you know, Syria. It includes Iran, like, there are so many different layers to this that the president is taking this sober approach,

And you have to kind of sympathize with him on that on the policy perspective. The politics, of course, are extremely dicey and confronting Congress and asking for funds for these things is going to be problematic.

KING: So he has a number of questions. Does he ask for permission for certain strikes? It appears if they cross into Syria the president indicated he might do that.

To your point, Peter, this will not be done in a week or month. Some people say it won't be done in ten years. They view the ISIS threat as big as the al Qaeda threat, which took at least a decade to decimate.

Listen to John McCain, who has been very critical of the president, saying there should be strikes in Syria immediately, not only does the president need a more robust military strategy, he needs to take some time and explain his long-term strategy to the American people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: What is his goal? Right now he says his goal is humanitarian protection and humanitarian crises handling them and protecting American troops. That's not a reason to build a coalition, and also you have to lead coalitions. America must lead, not just -- we're not all equals. We lead, they follow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Does -- McCain is a frequent critic of the president, but does he have a point on this one in the sense that when the air strikes in Iraq were first launched, the president did say they would be limited. It would for humanitarian purposes, to protect, you know, the mountain in there, to protect Americans.

And now we've had these two executions of American journalists, and it does seem to become a bigger mission, maybe the president does need to give a new explanation.

RAJU: He may need to take it to Congress, too, which is going to be the challenge because under the war powers resolution, the president has 60 days to go to Congress, you know, if he doesn't -- if he's beginning to wage war. That clock has already started in August.

So if he wants to continue this campaign past October, he's going to face growing pressure to lay out a comprehensive strategy and take that to Congress and have a vote and it's clearly a roll of the dice.

HAMBY: Led by the Democrats and Tim Kaine and his party saying he needs to come to Congress and also explain. The White House keep saying these are not in a combat troops and that's true until they are in a combat role and he has to go out and say what these troops are doing because it's not just 350 to Baghdad yesterday. It's over 1,000 now since June.

KING: It may seem a bit crass in the wake of the horrific act we saw yesterday, the second time in a few weeks we've seen the beheading of an American journalist. This is playing out in a campaign year.

And Scott Brown is trying to win a Senate seat in New Hampshire, the former Massachusetts senator. He has been pushing the president for weeks on this issue. His Democratic opponent was one of the earliest statements yesterday, Jeanne Shaheen, I raise it for this point.

She said very quickly after this happened we must use every tool at our disposal, short of introducing ground forces in combat roles, to put an end to the threat they pose to our national security.

Scott Brown in a statement later that ISIS continues to demonstrate their inhumanity. President Obama must define a strategy to stop their murderous rampage. Is this going to be a flashpoint?

Yesterday the statements from liberals and conservatives were almost unanimity saying do something, do something quickly. No combat boots on the ground and, Mr. President, you need to further explain this to the American people. Will this be a campaign issue?

RAJU: Well, you know, the economy is still going to drive the election, but what -- of course, what also impacts the election is the president's standing in the polls and how the country views the direction it's heading, and right now it appears there's a battleground poll out today that shows about 70 percent of the country views the country going in the wrong direction.

And when you see these crises happen overseas, it continues to feed that perception, and that hurts the president's party at the polls, so, yes, in that sense this could certainly feed into that larger narrative.

HAMBY: When Scott Brown was in the Senate, he was never viewed as a foreign policy thinker or policy thinker, rather, but foreign policy and armed services is something that did motivate him when he was in the Senate, and he's been hitting foreign policy a lot on the campaign. John McCain was up there a few weeks ago with him, so this is sort of playing right into his hands.

RAJU: And of course, the polls are tightening up in that state as well as Scott Brown also has a primary next week, September 9th.

KING: Manu, Peter, thanks for coming in. As we get back to you guys in New York, I think that's one of the fascinating political questions here as we watch the president. He has obviously urgent policy concerns, but they are playing out. He can't change it in the middle of an election year, final stretch.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's exactly right. After Labor Day is that big final stretch. John, thank you so much.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We've got the politics of it and the practicality of it. If the U.S. is going to let ISIS feel the reach and power of justice, you have to figure out who you're reaching out to, so what are the clues in these ISIS executions?

They may be right under our nose. Investigators are going over the video frame by frame, line by line, and we're going to tell you about the credible technology that could help catch a killer. Did ISIS give us the tools to take them down?

BOLDUAN: And Apple denies hackers breached its iCloud storage service to get a-Listers' private pictures. So they didn't hack the Cloud. What really happened?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: A second innocent American has been decapitated by cowards fighting for ISIS. Overnight intelligence officials determined the video of Steven Sotloff's murder is authentic. That video is also their biggest clue.

Investigators are now scouring the tape frame by frame, comparing the landscape to known locations in Syria, analyzing the voice print of the executioner and much more.

Karl Penhaul has more on what could be learned from this new video. The hope is, Karl, that what they used to brag about their horrible actions may be used to take them down, right?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Chris, and you'll remember about ten days ago now the British ambassador to the United States said the British intelligence services were very close to identifying James Foley's executioner, the same man appears once again on this video showing the brutal killing of Steven Sotloff.

This morning Britain's foreign minister saying, yes, they do believe the executioner is one in the same. Let's take a look at see what we can look by comparing both those videos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVEN SOTLOFF: I'm sure you know exactly who I am by now.

PENHAUL: Time ran out for American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and ISIS knife man warned he'd be next to die in a propaganda video two weeks ago that showed the beheading of fellow reporter, James Foley.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision.

PENHAUL: Intelligence experts in Britain and the U.S. are analyzing the images. Several clues the two videos were shot several days apart. In the first, Sotloff's shaven-headed and in Tuesday's release he has stubbly hair and beard.

Another sign post, the black-clad Jihadi refers to U.S. air strikes on ISIS positions around the Iraqi town of Amerli. Bombing raids near Amerli took late Saturday, early Sunday indicating Sotloff was executed within the last three days.

Unmistakable similarities in the apparent executioner. In both videos, the same black uniform, ski mask, similar height and build. Same double-edged combat knife brandished in his left hand, and then that accent.

A forensic linguist consulted by CNN says the voice sounds the same in both videos, probably from a multi-cultural neighborhood of London. In the first video released on August 19 --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any attempt by you, Obama, to deny the Muslims their rights of living in safety under the Islamic caliphate, will result in the blood shed of your people.

PENHAUL: An excerpt from the second video released Tuesday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You, Obama, have yet again for your actions convicts another American citizen. As your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ask you to please release my child.

PENHAUL: Words of hate that bear no comparison to a mother's love, her last-ditch plea to the kidnappers, testimony of a life cut short.

SHIRLEY SOTLOFF, MOTHER OF STEVEN SOTLOFF: Steven is a loyal and generous son, brother and grandson. We miss him very much. We want to see him home safe and sound and to hug him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PENHAUL: Now at the end of that latest ISIS video that shows the execution of Steven Sotloff, the ISIS knife man also shows another hostage, this time believed to be a Britain. Britain's foreign minister this morning has said all options are on the table if Britain wants to try to get that man back alive -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Karl, thanks for taking us through it. We're awaiting more detail from President Obama about exactly what actions the U.S. will take. The president is set to speak again about that sickening beheading video and the conflict in Ukraine as well.

We're going to bring in Fareed Zakaria. He is going to drill down on what is said and what can actually be done.

BOLDUAN: And Apple is denying allegations that hackers breached its iCloud's storage service to access the private pictures of a-List stars. So what really happened then and what should you do to protect your personal information from these same hackers?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, Home Depot is investigating a potential data breach that may have exposed its customers' credit or debit card information. The retailer says it's looking into quote/unquote, "unusual activity."

This all comes amid an investigation into how private photos of Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities were leaked this weekend. Apple denies that hackers breached its iCloud storage service claiming the stars' personal accounts were individually targeted.

Attack on usernames and passwords. How safe is our personal information? Let's explore it with chief business correspondent, Christine Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's not, Michaela.

PEREIRA: Divide and conquer here, Home Depot, shouldn't this company be learning from all the recent hacks that we've seen and is it as bad as the target one?

ROMANS: It looks like it could be as bad. Brian Krebz, the cyber expert journalist who broke this says it could be bigger than target and it shows you once again that the retailers are behind in the game. We're talking about the information on the magnetic strip, debit card, credit card information --

PEREIRA: We are swipe happy in this country.

ROMANS: Home Depot is potentially millions of debit card and credit card information and out there on the black market and it's labeled American sanctions and European sanctions, which Brian Krebz say Russian speaking hackers against the United States.

PEREIRA: What do we do? Because we are shoppers, consumers, we swipe, we like the convenience. What do we do to protect ourselves?

ROMANS: The thing about these retail hacks that makes me so crazy is there is nothing you can really do for the retail hacks. We need to move quicker to the pin and chip technology so that's what we have to do. There might be a real push among the retailers to try to get a hold of this.

PEREIRA: And push retailers to step it up.

ROMANS: They're investigating all of this, but hackers are smart and they are able to find any kind of flaw and weakness and exploit it. This information is out there for sale right this minute. It's for sale.

PEREIRA: When you hear "we're investigating" is very little comfort to most people.

ROMANS: The banks have about the best security. We talked about JPMorgan last week, spending $250 million a year to protect your bank information. This is a weak spot of the global economy if they can't keep it safe.

PEREIRA: So now let's turn to the celebrity phone hacking, some nude pictures of several starlets. Pointed focus on this Cloud.

ROMANS: Right.

PEREIRA: The iCloud in particular. Cloud technology is popular but there are concerns about vulnerabilities.

ROMAN: It's not just from Apple but everybody using you are phone you take a picture on your phone and off goes to the Cloud so you can go to work and look at the same pictures at work on your phone and your personal laptop. Look what happened here is what Apple is saying these were hackers who went after someone in particular.

PEREIRA: They targeted them individually.

ROMANS: Not like Home Depot where all the stuff got taken. This was probing trying to guess passwords. There's software that guesses passwords and user names. The question is could Apple have done better to make sure that a computer program or a bad guy couldn't get in there and hack Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton.

PEREIRA: Do the companies not have responsibility? Do the companies not bear some responsibility as well?

ROMANS: The brute force attacks are pretty ruthless. You can make sure you have two-step verification. I've gone through my accounts now and trying to do the two-step verification. You login and it sends you a text message with the code and you log the code in, much more difficult.

PEREIRA: Take the extra steps.

ROMANS: Most people's passwords are 12345678. In these cases they can do something about that.

PEREIRA: Christine Romans, the brutal truth. We live in a brutal world where it requires us to step it up as well. Appreciate it, thank you so much.

President Obama is lashing out at the latest ISIS beheading of an American journalist. Did he go far enough? We'll put that question to our Fareed Zakaria as he joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We will not be intimidated. Justice will be served.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Breaking overnight, "justice will be served." President Obama speaking out on the execution of Steven Sotloff, and vowing to degrade and destroy ISIS, this as hundreds more U.S. troops head into Iraq. Is there a new strategy to combat the terror group?

BOLDUAN: Also breaking the video of the execution authenticated by U.S. officials. The search now for clues in the video and who is the executioner?

PEREIRA: Is there a cease-fire? Confusion on the ground in Ukraine as that country's president says he and Vladimir Putin have struck a deal. Russia says that's not so. This as President Obama speaks from Estonia, Russia's neighbor, at this hour.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.