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Republicans Test Waters in New Hampshire; Torrential Rains Tear Through Circus Big Top; Passengers Outraged Over Tarmac Delay; ISIS Attacks on Afghanistan; Crisis in Yemen; Ohio Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in Terror Case; Training for First Triathlon; Fake Oliver Stone E-Mail May Have Caused Sony Hack; The Medical Marijuana Revolution; Troops Called Ferguson Protesters "Enemy Forces." Aired 1:00-2p ET

Aired April 18, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Happening right now in the Newsroom, terror under the big top -- torrential rain tears thru a roof as circus goers scrambles for safety.

(OFF-MIKE)

[13:00:08] WHITFIELD: FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, presidential hopefuls converging on New Hampshire. All the GOP heavy hitters, 19 to be exact, are in town for the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit.

And North Korea's hackers, Kim Jong Un's secret cyberattack unit is widely blamed for the devastating assault on Sony Pictures in the States. Now there's new information on how a weaponized document triggered all the damage.

The NEWSROOM starts now.

Hello, again, thanks for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Right now all eyes fixed squarely on the state of New Hampshire. That's where the entire Republican presidential field is gathering to win voters who will cast ballots in the nation's first primary.

The declared and the potential candidates are all attending a major GOP summit. And several contenders have wasted no time trying to grab the spotlight, putting their stump speeches to the test already.

Athena Jones is live for us now in Nashua, New Hampshire.

So we know Rand Paul has already spoken. Who else is on tap today?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, Carly Fiorina has been speaking and she's really been bashing Hillary Clinton. She just said, just a few minutes ago, like Hillary, I have traveled all around the world to -- referring to her time, of course, as CEO of Hewlett- Packard and her activities since then.

Carly Fiorina said I have traveled all around the world just like Hillary but I know that flying is an activity not an accomplishment. So that's a poke at Hillary Clinton talking about all of her travels while secretary of state. And she also said Hillary Clinton must not be president. That's the kind of language that folks in this crowd really respond to. So she's gotten a very warm reception.

As has everyone else, Fredricka. This is about appealing to the kinds of activists, the kind of people who are already engaged at this early stage here in New Hampshire. These are the folks that could really help one of these candidates or all of these candidates organize here on the ground, get ready to do well in that first primary which will be held, of course, in this state in New Hampshire, next year.

We also heard earlier from Rand Paul. Let's play a little bit of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The one thing I'd like to leave you with is I'd like you to think about how we're going to move forward and how we're going to win. And I think we need to stay true to principle. I don't think we need to delude our message but I do think that our message needs to be carried to new people.

We need to talk to business owners. We need to talk to the workers. We need to talk to rich, poor, white, black, brown. We've got to get out there and go places we haven't been going. We have a decision now. We need to find someone who is going to represent us, someone who is going to be the leader of the Republican Party and make the country a better place.

How are we going to get that? Some in the party say let's just dilute the message. Let's become Democrat-like and we'll get more votes. I couldn't disagree more. I think what we need to do is be boldly for what we are for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So there you heard from Senator Paul a little bit of vision about where he wants to see the Republican Party go and how it can be most successful. But we're also hearing -- from him and from others, of course, talking up conservative principles, like cutting government, cutting taxes. So a lot of red meat and a little bit of vision as well from these potential candidates. Some declared, as you mentioned, some not declared -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: That's interesting. So, Athena, is that kind of the -- I guess, you know, the main strategy among many of the Republicans there that they're not necessarily trying to distinguish themselves amongst each other, but really distinguishing themselves between, you know, the GOP candidates and the only Democrat who is officially in the race now?

JONES: That's pretty much the case here. We're hearing a lot of bashing of President Obama and his policies, and some also of Hillary Clinton, certainly Rand Paul criticized her role or her handling of the Benghazi attacks in Libya. But we have heard at least one potential candidate, this is Governor Rick Perry of Texas, who talked about -- he warned basically the crowd that maybe it's not a good idea to go with another first-term senator, which is a not so availed dig at Senator Rand Paul, Senator Ted Cruz, and Senator Lindsey Graham and others who want to be president.

So they're mostly keeping the fire on the other side, but trying to kind of show that maybe, for instance, governors are going to be better than senators for the next Republican nominee -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Interesting, distinguishing factors. All right, Athena Jones, appreciate it. We'll check back with you there in Nashua, New Hampshire.

All right. Meantime, a severe storm put a pretty frightening end to a circus performance in Brazoria County, Texas. Dramatic video captures the terrifying moments when a performer cuts her act short and then people start running.

CNN's Polo Sandoval breaks it all down for us.

[13:05:17]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wild weather wreaking havoc across parts of the Midwest and the south.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The storm here is bad.

SANDOVAL: In southeast Texas, a show-stopping storm as lightning, rain and hail ripped through the area causing scary moments at a circus. No injuries were reported and the tent did not collapse, according to county officials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been on out here for three hours.

SANDOVAL: That was only the beginning for a Denver-bound United Express flight. It was diverted to Colorado Springs due to a lightning advisory, passengers were stuck on the tarmac for six hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, the operation is required to formulate a plan to start getting people off the airplane.

SANDOVAL: According to CNN affiliate KRDO passengers were left without air-conditioning, and only had crackers to snack on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was probably our last vacation together and this is the memory we'll have.

SANDOVAL: Airline officials say the wait for passengers was, quote, "exaggerated," and the passengers were offered the opportunity to deplane in Colorado Springs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man.

SANDOVAL: Driver in Wyoming dealing with a different problem. A blizzard cost a massive vehicle pileup that sent dozen of people to area hospitals according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. The weather doesn't look like it may be letting up. Meteorologist warning the threat of severe weather is likely to last through the weekend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Now with images like those, it's easy to understand why up to 18 million people will not be very pleased with this latest predictions. Again, got another wave of severe weather is expected parts of the southeast. Again, folks there dealing with rain and also with hail and then you have people in Wyoming, Fred, winter-like weather in mid-April?

WHITFIELD: My god.

SANDOVAL: I can tell you, us in the northeast, we are happy to accept this much-needed relief -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. All right. Thanks so much, Polo Sandoval appreciate that in New York.

SANDOVAL: You bet.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk more now about stranded passengers with CNN safety analyst David Soucie.

So, David, so in a case like this, we hear, you know, there was lightning, and that's why the plane had to stay parked, remain parked on that tarmac. But at the same time, is it safer for the plane to be in the middle of a tarmac or does it usually go to a jetway? What's customary? What should, you know, most passengers expect when weather hampers their flight like that or grounds them?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: In this situation, Fred, it wasn't really the lightning that kept them in the airplane because what happened was they diverted to Colorado Springs. They avoided the lightning that was in Denver. So they landed in Colorado Springs, they retained them on the airplane. Now in 2009 this was a big problem and the DOT, Department of Transportation, responded strongly by putting regulations in place for fines up to $27,500 per passenger.

WHITFIELD: Right.

SOUCIE: So they could be looking at $1 million fine if they're found to have kept these people on here without a reasonable safety risk. So there's much more to this story for sure. This could be a very big thing for this airlines.

WHITFIELD: And those changes -- yes, and those changes you talk about, it was as a result, in large part there was a flight that was sitting on the tarmac for hours, people, you know, ran out of refreshments, the bathrooms were backed up, all that. So these changes came about. But then what is -- is there a standard for these airlines in which to respect? Is it, you know, when it appears as though the flight might be on the tarmac for two hours? Is there a minimum?

SOUCIE: Yes. There is a minimum, it's three hours. And anything above -- well, actually yes, so three hours is when the fines can kick in. But they -- remember, before that even, at two hours they have to provide reasonable food, water, air-conditioning, everything that they need for human survival so it is not a burden on the passenger. But there's something more important in this one, too.

They said that they allowed the passengers to leave but they would lose their seats. Now that could fall under Subsection F, this is FAR-DOT regulation 259, under F it says deceptive practices. Now if they did deceptive practices and used this as a leverage to say, well, don't lose the plane or you're going to get -- lose your money, that's a deceptive practicing.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: And why would you lose your seat?

SOUCIE: They could be facing serious --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SOUCIE: What's that?

WHITFIELD: Why would -- sorry to interrupt you. Why would you lose your seat if you were given some permission to deplane because of this temporary inconvenience or safety problem or weather problem? Why would you not be guaranteed your seat? It's not like there are other people, you know, in the concourse who are just happen to be awaiting your plane.

SOUCIE: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: And want a seat on instead?

SOUCIE: So it's a blatant effort to keep people on the airplane. You know, to be able to get off the airplane, get the food that you're needed, get the water that you need, the care that you need to get off of the airplane and re-board, it's a hassle for the airline. And it could create further delays. They obviously thought, at any moment they'd get released but they didn't. So it was up to them to make a decision, it's up to the captain actually to make that decision to say, let's let these guys off, let's let them go get some food because all we have are crackers on board. We're not set up for this.

So you're looking at 39 people, at $27,000 fine per person. So this could be a big deal. Over $1 million.

[13:10:08] WHITFIELD: Wow. My goodness. All right. David Soucie, thanks so much for breaking it down for us. Appreciate it.

SOUCIE: All right.

WHITFIELD: All right. ISIS expanding its reach. The terror group is claiming responsibility for what looks to be its first attack in Afghanistan. We go live to Kabul, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: ISIS is extending its reach into Afghanistan. A suicide bomber on a motor bike blew himself up today in front of a bank. ISIS is taking responsibility for the attack, which looks to be its first in Afghanistan. At least 33 people have been killed and more than 100 injured.

The driver of this ambulance struggles to maneuver through the rubble, desperate to get just some of the wounded off the street and into the hospital. The chaos shown here is but a small window of what happened in the early morning hours in Jalalabad. A bustling city that borders Pakistan, some 100 miles from the Afghan capital of Kabul. The blast was set off by a man on a motor bike, who apparently was targeting government workers lining up to collect their salaries. Children were among the victims.

The brazen attack was quickly denounced. A statement from the U.S. embassy read, quote, "The U.S. embassy strongly condemns today's barbaric attack in Jalalabad which resulted in numerous casualties. We offer sincere condolences to the victims and their families. And we wish for a speedy recovery of those injured."

The Taliban which the U.S. and Afghan forces battled for years was quick to condemn the attack also. However, a group calling itself ISIS Wilayat Khorasan has claimed responsibility saying the motorcyclist was a member in its ranks. It's believed to be the first time ISIS has taken claim for a terrorist incident inside Afghanistan. Back in March CNN had reported on ISIS' efforts to recruit there.

[13:15:02] For his part, Afghanistan's new president, Ashraf Ghani, issued a statement in which he said, quote, "Terrorists are using Afghan blood and soil for their proxy war. It is not our war. This nation does not bow to threats and dangers, we will fight them to the end.

All right. So how entrenched is ISIS in Afghanistan?

Right now joining me is Nathan Hodge he's a reporter for the "Wall Street Journal." And he is in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

So, Nathan, we know recruiting has taken place involving ISIS there. Is it kind of the new Taliban in Afghanistan?

NATHAN HODGE, WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTER: Well, there's been some debate among analysts and experts about the extent to which ISIS established their foothold in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We had seen evidence of some recruitment, we've seen evidence of some propaganda. We'd also seen some militant commanders essentially rebranding themselves as ISIS. Partially it's believed as a way of drumming up funding and some new support.

But what we now see seems to be a shift to actual operations, actual planning and execution of attacks. In addition to this attack, we also saw an attack in Karachi, a shooting attack where leaflets were left, also claiming responsibility by ISIS. We've also seen evidence from the U.S. coalition side that they're deeply concerned about this, that they're watching this closely. The top U.S. military commander here has said that he's very concerned about it, and they're keeping an eye on it.

As we said before, the main threat at this point to the Afghan government is still the Taliban, they are the main opposition here, the main armed opposition here. But there's a lot of concern that, as this sort of new ISIS brand appears here, with this particularly violent ideology and very sophisticated use of the media, that they could attract followers in ways. So there's a potential for competition. There's a potential for a rift.

And so there's a lot of questions here about which direction things could take, because the Afghan government is right now in the process of trying to reach out to the Taliban to kick start peace talks. Those peace talks have not materialized yet. And it's hard to say which way the appearance of ISIS here could shift that dynamic. Whether it could persuade militants that they need to match them in terms of violence or whether they can show themselves to be more ready to govern.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nathan Hodge, thank you so much, joining us from Kabul.

All right. Back in the U.S. here, a man from Ohio will go to trial in June for planning a terror attack. Next, what federal prosecutors say he was planning to do right here on U.S. soil and his attorney's response to the charges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:21:30] WHITFIELD: Iran's president had some sharp words for Saudi Arabia today over the fighting in Yemen. Hassan Rouhani warned that the Saudi royal family is sowing seeds of hatred with its airstrike campaign. The Saudi-led coalition has been attacking Houthi rebels in Yemen who are aligned with Iran.

CNN senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir was the first outside reporter to get inside the port city of Aden, Yemen, in weeks. Nima joins us now live from the Horn of Africa in Djibouti.

So, Nima, your mission into Aden took a lot of planning and coordination, two weeks' worth in fact, in order to actually get there. Explain how it all happened.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are, of course, here in Djibouti, across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, from Aden's -- the port city of Aden itself but we couldn't take a direct route and that's why it took so long to even be able to just leave Djibouti itself. That's in addition to finding anyone with a ship willing to head back in that direction.

That's really been the problem for those trapped by this fighting in Yemen. So few ships are willing to travel there. It is just too dangerous, even for the aid organizations themselves. And the Saudi Arabians have frankly not been very good at coordinating those ships, those efforts to get anyone in, let alone journalists. It then took us between 30 to 40 hours to dock in Aden because we had to hug the coastline between the two countries. It is just too unsafe to be in that main deep sea area because of all

the naval ships that are patrolling there, U.S. ships amongst them and the Iranians. Iran, of course, is not an independent arbitrator in this so that calls for negotiations, are really being taken with the seriousness that calls for negotiations in this kind of conference really deserve to be taken, Fredricka, because the situation that we found there on the ground was absolutely heartbreaking.

The city is essentially under siege. They are running out of everything you can think of. Electricity only runs for a few hours a day. Flour, basic essentials like bread, have been reduced -- in most neighborhoods, most bakeries aren't even open. That's in addition, of course, to the medical supplies, the hospitals are overwhelmed, they're faltering and they're running out of what they need to save patients' lives.

The United Nations has today revised up their figures, Fredricka, for those caught in this conflict. They say now 150,000 people have been displaced, 7.5 million people are in the midst of what they're calling a humanitarian disaster and until those warring parties are willing to sit down in that negotiating table, that's not going to be resolved -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And where are all of those people being displaced? Are they ending up in huge camps, you know, along kind of border, you know, no man's land type of configurations, or what?

ELBAGIR: They are just trapped in different neighborhoods so they move -- sorry, it's a bit windy here. They move between neighborhoods to find shelters. So some of them are just coming into host families and communities that are perhaps slightly less badly affected by the fighting. So when you go into the front lines it's completely empty, it's absolutely eerie, it's very scary. So many of the areas are targeted by snipers so you can't even really move down the road.

[13:25:02] You can't walk between houses. So they move where they can, where there are communities that are able to host them. And where there aren't, they just sleep on the ground. Down at the port we ended up coming back with 60 people, 60 refugees, about 15 Yemeni- Americans amongst them, and they told us that they've been sleeping down at the port for two weeks, waiting for any ship that was willing to dock there and take them out to safety -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Incredible.

Nima Elbagir, thank you so much. Courageous reporting. And of course we look forward to even more. You really taking us there. Appreciate it, from Djibouti today.

And we'll have much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Mortgage rates down a bit. Have a look at today's numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, again, and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

An Ohio man accused of plotting a terrorist attack on American soil is pleading not guilty. Federal prosecutors say Abdirahman Sheikh Mohamud travelled to Syria just two months after becoming a U.S. citizen. They say Mohamud began training with terrorists and was quickly instructed to return to the U.S. on a mission to kill Americans.

We get more now from Atika Shubert.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back from Syria, radicalized, and according to authorities, with intent to kill. This man, a 23-year-old American, is in custody. The FBI says he was hoping to do something big in the U.S.

[13:30:01] DOUG SQUIRES, U.S. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: His intent for the United States was to kill Americans. That included U.S. military, police, and anyone in uniform.

SHUBERT: Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud left his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, in April of last year, according to an indictment, on a one-way ticket to Athens, Greece. But Mohamud never boarded his connecting flight after stopping in Istanbul, Turkey. Instead, authorities say, an accomplice picked him up and drove him to Reyhanli, a border town where he crossed over into Syria.

Mohamud allegedly trained with terrorists in shooting weapons, breaking into houses, using explosives, and hand-to-hand combat. Officials did not say which group he trained with. Two months into the military-type camp, a cleric told Mohamud to, quote, "return to the United States and carry out an act of terrorism," according to the indictment.

In June, now back in Ohio, the 23-year-old allegedly told others that he wanted to, quote, "kill American soldiers execution-style," at a military base in Texas and his backup plan was to attack a prison, specifically wanting to target armed forces, including police officers. It's not clear how far along any such plans were.

Mohamud expressed his support for ISIS on social media a full year prior to leaving for Syria, officials say, uploading images of the terrorist group to his Facebook page. On Friday Mohamud pleaded not guilty to two charges of providing support to terrorist individuals and a terrorist organization as well as one charge of giving false information to the FBI.

Atika Shubert, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Joining us right now from New York, Jonathan Gilliam, a former Navy SEAL, who was also a special agent for the FBI.

So, Jonathan, good to see you again. So this indictment says Mohamud's brother, in fact, died fighting al Qaeda's largest affiliate in Syria, and it also says that he made terror-related Facebook posts in 2013. So wouldn't those raise red flags before Mohamud would actually get his citizenship or at least during the reviewing phase of his citizenship application?

JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER NAVY SEAL: You know, Fred, you always ask the obvious questions. It should, you would think that that would raise --

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Hope they're obvious, good questions.

GILLIAM: They are. But, I mean, you would think that other people would be asking these questions as well. I mean, that is something that anybody that, you know, thinks ahead and tries to foresee -- you know, somebody that would go out and get trained and come back or somebody trying to come in here to attack this country, that is an obvious question. Do you look at their social media and do you take that into account?

You know, the important thing to remember here is that you don't have to go through boot camp or sign up with a recruiter to become an ISIS member. You know you can swear an allegiance to them in your heart. I mean, that's what these people do.

This individual actually went over and got training and came back but we really need to start looking at the whole picture of who this person is because once they swear allegiance, they are basically an operative of this ideology.

WHITFIELD: And you know, and I think it was just last weekend when you also -- in a conversation that we had, you also talk about counterterrorism agents, investigators wanting to get more, that sometimes there's a willingness to allow a potential suspect to go a little bit deeper so that perhaps they can glean more information when an arrest is to take place.

GILLIAM: Sure.

WHITFIELD: So in this case, he actually allegedly traveled abroad and came back. So as he is apprehended, perhaps, what kind of efforts are made to get more information about who are the organizers, who are the recruiters, who's at the bottom of getting him allegedly involved?

GILLIAM: Exactly. You know, sometimes, you know, when you look at what law enforcement officers do on the street every day that we term a cop or a police officer on the street, a sworn officer, they have to react quickly because of the imminent threat to loss of life or serious bodily injury. But when you have -- when you're doing an investigation for somebody like a terrorist that somebody that's gone over, is going back and try to commit terrorism, sometimes it's best not to immediately arrest them but not to lose sight of them so that you can track who they are talking to, you know, who they're coordinating with, and what this spider web is.

And that's why when people -- you know, attorneys talk about entrapment this is clearly not entrapment. This individual had intent, he went over, he trained, he came back with the purpose of committing a terrorist act, and it doesn't really matter if you wait just a little bit so you can collect more information. I think the FBI got it right on this one.

And I think that this is something that we're going to see more of in the future, specially originating from that area, because in and around Ohio and Detroit, and those areas, that is the largest population of Muslim -- of Muslims outside of the Middle East. So you're going to see people that are going to naturally gravitate back and forth from there, not because there's problems with Islam up there, but because that's where they can go and come back and milk into the society. And that's something that people should very, very closely look at.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jonathan Gilliam, always good to see you. Thanks so much.

GILLIAM: You got it, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Next, a foreign enemy's plan to break into an American movie giant, how they used the name of an Oscar-winning movie director, one e-mail and some luck to get inside.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready, stand.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Fit Nation athlete, Erica Moore, her size was never a concern.

ERICA MOORE, FIT NATION ATHLETE: I have a lot of self-confidence. I have never been ashamed of my body or I'm not ashamed of my -- of my weight.

GUPTA: But it was her first experience with swing dancing, which left her out of breath after just one song. She says that was a wakeup call.

MOORE: It was the first time I felt that like this body was preventing me from doing something and I didn't like that feeling.

[13:40:05] GUPTA: Determined to get in shape, Moore joined our Fit Nation team back in January, ready to make a permanent change.

(On camera): You're here. This is new. You meet your teammates. You're starting this incredible journey. Dark moments at all? Are you worried? Are you concerned?

MOORE: I'm not. I feel so positive and hopeful. Honestly. I think like coming here has helped me realize that it's not some big dark unknown. It's a lot of little logical steps that add up to make big change.

GUPTA (voice-over): Since that day, Moore has taken to water like a fish.

MOORE: I just learned to swim in July.

GUPTA: Biking and running, even competing in several big races. In just a few weeks, we'll be back together again in sunny Southern California to put the team's new skills to the test.

MOORE: Like it's going to be really exciting.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Can't wait to meet her and the rest of the team.

And we want to wish a speedy recovery to our friend, basketball hall of famer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He has been quite the regular on our show. Right now he's recovering today after quadruple bypass surgery. His doctor says the surgery was successful and he expects Jabbar to make a full recovery. We wish him the best, of course.

And remember that infamous cyberattack on Sony Pictures? We're learning now that it started with something called a weaponized document. And experts are warning that type of attack could be just the beginning.

Here now is Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mid-October, 2014. An e- mail appearing to be from director, Oliver Stone, lands in the inbox of Amy Pascal, the co-chair of Sony Pictures Movie Division. Stone is making a film about NSA leaker Edward Snowden. The e-mail says it's an important message with a secure document. Turns out the e-mail's not from Stone, who later sends out a warning that his account was compromised.

This is what cyber sleuths call a weaponized document.

ANUP GHOSH, FOUNDER/CEO, INVINCEA INC.: We don't ultimately know if this was the e-mail that led to the breach but we know that it could have.

TODD: The purported message from Oliver Stone came more than a month before the wider Sony hack, which the FBI says was orchestrated by North Korea. These new revelations come from more than 170,000 internal e-mails from Sony Pictures Entertainment, posted by the controversial media group WikiLeaks.

It appears Amy Pascal was the victim of a so-called spear phishing attack when hackers send e-mails disguised as legitimate messages. Then, as this simulation shows, when the recipient clicks on them, hackers invade their computers and move around.

GHOSH: All kinds of bad stuff is happening. Potential spear phish. Files are being written to disc. Listeners are being set up. All kinds of bad stuff is happening right now.

TODD (on camera): But a nation state hacking team, sophisticated, you may not see it all this stuff, right?

GHOSH: You're not going to see all this.

TODD (voice-over): The WikiLeaks release shows Sony was concerned as early as June of last year about North Korean retaliation for their movie "The Interview."

JAMES FRANCO, "THE INTERVIEW": President Kim Jong-Un.

TODD: Kim Jong-Un has a sophisticated cyber attack team called Bureau 121 and a larger cyber branch called the Reconnaissance General Bureau commanded by General Kim Yong-Cho, a former bodyguard for Kim's father and grandfather.

FRANK JANUZZI, THE MANSFELD FOUNDATION: They've been investing in their own cyber capabilities for the last four, five years very heavily. And they've had a couple of trial runs with attacks on South Korean media and banks two years ago.

TODD: Tonight, cyber security experts are warning the threat is far from over. North Korea, Iran, any U.S. adversary can strike even the most powerful American companies at will.

GHOSH: This happens every day. Every day corporations are being targeted by advanced adversaries using e-mails just like this.

TODD: Contacted by CNN, the FBI wouldn't comment on the WikiLeaks postings citing an ongoing investigation into the Sony hack.

(On camera): Representatives for Amy Pascal and Oliver Stone said they wouldn't comment. But Sony has publicly complained about WikiLeaks postings those exchanges saying WikiLeaks is helping the hackers harm Sony employees.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And more NEWSROOM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:47:57] WHITFIELD: Georgia has become the most recent state to legalize pot for medical use, and as CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta found out in "WEED 3" one hospital in California is using the drug in some surprising ways.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's unique. It's different. I never thought I would be smoking weed in the hospital.

GUPTA (voice-over): This is San Francisco General, an academic teaching hospital that because of Dr. Abrams has a stash of marijuana in their pharmacy. It is stored next to all the other medications. And Abrams is using it to see if it can relieve chronic pain in patients with a rare blood disorder.

Janellea Shows (ph) is a painter. She was also born with sickle cell anemia, and has been in pain for as long as she can remember. She says marijuana makes her nearly pain free.

(On camera): How long after you smoke do you start to have some sort of relief of your pain?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Instantly. It's, like, instantly.

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: A couple of minutes?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, a couple of minutes, afterwards you feel the relief of pain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Sanjay Gupta with me now in the NEWSROOM.

So, because medicinal marijuana is acceptable in California, does that explain why this hospital is using this method? Is it unique to California?

GUPTA: Well, this is still a federally approved study, so even though it's in California, even though it's at San Francisco General, an academic hospital, they still obtain their marijuana from a farm in Mississippi, which you have to do for federally approved studies. So it's being done there but you can do this sort of study anywhere as long as it's federally approved.

WHITFIELD: OK. And so this movement, you know, of medicinal marijuana, recreational marijuana, you write a very strong opinion on CNN.com. And you say we are in the midst of a marijuana revolution.

GUPTA: I think -- I think we are. I mean, if you look at the polling numbers alone and start going back in time, right now for the first time there's a majority of people who believe that marijuana should be legalized across the board. I've been very focused on the medicinal aspects of it and three-quarters of Americans believe it should be legalized for medicinal purposes.

[13:50:19] Just for context, Fred, back in 1969 the first time they asked this question, just 12 percent believed in this so there's been a significant movement. But I think more importantly, there just hasn't been much research done in this country. People say well, where's the studies, where's the data? Very important questions.

It hasn't been done because the studies were not getting approved. Most of the studies that were getting approved were designed to look for harm, not for benefit. It was only when you start traveling outside this country and you start looking at other labs that a different picture starts to emerge.

WHITFIELD: And is it because marijuana, come to find out, has diverse uses as it pertains to the medicinal uses?

GUPTA: Yes, I think -- I think there's a concern about malingerers just wanting to get high. I think that's the real thing. Is this going to be a drug of abuse and people are just using the medicinal part as an excuse. And I think that -- there's going to be part of that, for sure. By the way, just like there is with other medications. I mean, take pain killers, for example.

Do you know we consume 80 percent of the world's pain medications in the United States? We are 5 percent of the world's population. We consume 80 percent --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: So we're very overmedicated?

GUPTA: I mean, really overmedicated.

WHITFIELD: Who's fault is that? Is it that --

GUPTA: No, I mean --

WHITFIELD: The patient who demands, you know, medicinal fix?

GUPTA: All sorts of different meetings, you know, for a long time we would always gave pain medications for anything. There were people who would walk out of a simple dental procedure and get a prescription for 30 Vicodin. So we became a country that really became dependent on our medications and there was probably abuse as well on the patient's part. So would that happen with marijuana?

I'm sure there's going to be a component of that. But what's at stake is there are people out there for whom this seems to work when nothing else has worked. So are you going to deny those people the treatment because of this concern about abuse? We don't want abuse, but I think denying people treatment, especially when they're in some of the situations that I've seen, I don't think that's right either. It's almost immoral.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. Of course we'll be watching this series as will the entire nation because we know the first series really did promote conversations and dialogue.

GUPTA: I think so.

WHITFIELD: They need to change.

GUPTA: That's a lot. Yes. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta's special investigation into medical marijuana, "WEED 3" airs tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. And immediately following that the premiere of CNN's new series, "HIGH PROFITS," Sunday night 10:00 p.m.

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[13:56:24] WHITFIELD: Civilian protesters referred to as enemy forces as adversaries. That's the language used by the Missouri National Guard in Ferguson last year after Governor Jay Nixon deployed them to keep the peace.

Here's CNN's Sara Sidner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): CNN has obtained new documents revealing how the National Guard planned for the situation in Ferguson, Missouri. In internal documents that used words like "enemy forces" and "adversaries" to refer to protesters after protests erupted in sporadic violence, looting and burning in the wake of Michael Brown's death.

The document outlined the Guard's mission in Ferguson and the enemy forces to watch out for, putting general protesters in the same category as known hate groups, like the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers, saying, "Protesters have historically used molotov cocktails, rocks, and other debris to throw at police. Several small arms fire incident have occurred, and some they use militant tactics taught by that rebel group.

PAUL MUHAMMAD, PROTESTER: We are looked at as the enemy any time we're vocal, any time we're expressing ourselves, any time we're disenfranchised, particularly in the black community.

CATHERINE JACKSON, PROTESTER: How am I an enemy? All I am is a 62- year-old grandmother who is worried that I'm going to leave my grandchildren in a world where I can't protect them anymore. I want to see change. I want to see real change.

SIDNER: The National Guard itself worried about the perception of the words "enemy" and "adversary." In the document one colonel warned the language could be construed as potentially inflammatory. A National Guard spokesman told CNN these were only drafts taken from an army form letter and the language was changed and never appeared in the final order.

The head of Missouri's National Guard telling CNN in an e-mail the documents used in the Ferguson, Missouri, case were a generic military planning format utilized in a wide range of military mission, so the term enemy forces would be better understood as potential threats.

In November when a grand jury decided not to indict the officer who killed Brown, the governor and National Guard were criticized for the Guard's lack of response as two streets in Ferguson went up in flames.

Back then I asked the city's mayor about the guard's reaction to the riot. (On camera): Did the governor do the wrong thing when it comes to how

quickly the National Guard was actually deployed on the streets?

MAYOR JAMES KNOWLES, FERGUSON, MISSOURI: I don't know who made that call. But I do believe the National Guard should have been out there much sooner.

SIDNER: Whether this is the final document or just a draft, what we did notice is that the changes taking the word "enemy" out didn't actually happen until November 18th, long after the National Guard had already been deployed back in August. So that language, around for quite some time.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we have so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, and it all starts right now.

Happening right now in the NEWSROOM, all of the Republican presidential hopefuls gathering in Nashua, New Hampshire. We're live on the ground with a look at what the candidates are saying.

Then, terror under the big top. Torrential rain tears through the roof as circus goers scramble for safety.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No pushing, no shoving. Watch the children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: But the severe weather threat is still not over. Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel good about your job? So I could be a college dropout and do the same thing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The towing company at the center of that ESPN reporter's rant weighing in now on her future in TV. The surprising statement it's making about Britt McHenry.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.