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"The Interview" Released Online and in Some Theaters; Crowds Gathering to Watch "The Interview" in Theaters; How Real Are Hacking Threats from North Korea?; CDC Workers Watched for Ebola after Mishandling Virus in Lab; Top Ten Tweets of 2014

Aired December 25, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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


RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: It is a bit of Hollywood history wrapping up - all wrapped up in a Christmas miracle. After nearly being derailed by a North Korea cyber-attack "The Interview" has finally made its debut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, North Korea!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The James Franco and Seth Rogen comedy premiered online yesterday. It's available for download on YouTube, at the Google play store, on Xbox and the Web. Now, this is the first time a major motion picture has ever been made available online before its theatrical release. The film dominated Twitter within minutes of hitting the Web with the #theinterview trending across the country. The reviews, though, I've got to tell you, they were pretty mixed. One watcher tweeted "two thumbs up for "The Interview" movie, brilliant." While another didn't like it very much. "35 minutes in, wondering if I'll ever laugh again." The president even took a break from the golf course to weigh in on this premier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) watched "The Interview?"

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm glad it's being released.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The film star Seth Rogen and its producer celebrated the film's release last night showing up at a midnight screening at a West Hollywood California theater to thank fans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SETH ROGEN, ACTOR, "THE INTERVIEW": We wanted to say thank you. If it wasn't for theaters like this and for people like you guys this literally would not be happening right now. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

ROGEN: Thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you like (INAUDIBLE).

ROGEN: Hope you like the movie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Rosa Flores is in lower Manhattan this morning at a theater that is going to be showing the film. Rosa, good morning to you. Are the crowds lining up already for tickets?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, good morning. Take a look around me. They definitely are. Crowds are coming in. You can take a look at the box office. There's been people walking up with their online confirmations getting their tickets this morning and anxious to watch this movie. I think probably what most people are saying is they just want a good laugh. After all, this is supposed to be a comedy, and they're hoping for that. Now, others are saying, you know, that it's more of a patriotic duty for them to come out and support this movie because of its symbolism. It has turned into a symbol of freedom and free speech. Here is what one movie goer had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I consider it my patriotic duty. It is a celebration of the Constitution. It is a celebration of the freedoms of this country. It's very important to show that any idea can be expressed freely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now, here is the back story to that. I also talked to that woman's husband. Now, he said that when they were trying to buy the ticket online, she made him use his credit card and not hers. So an interesting little twist. We talked to the manager here at the cinema. And he tells me that they are taking certain precautions. Of course, they've gotten a call from the FBI and an e-mail and also a visit from the NYPD giving them tips about what to do and what not to do and things to be looking for. Randi?

KAYE: And have they added some extra showings there today to make sure everybody gets in?

FLORES: Well, there's seven showings total. Some of them are completely sold out already. And so, people who want to watch this movie and have that theater experience, which everyone has been talking about, if you want to watch a comedy, you don't want to watch it by yourself in your living room. You have to go online and check it out quickly because these tickets are flying like hot cakes this morning.

KAYE: All right, Rosa Flores, I appreciate it. Thank you very much. The movie's release is also a major test for YouTube. This will be

the site's first attempt at offering a major movie release online.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a sound system in here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no, no. Don't. Don't touch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Katy Perry?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have never heard this before in my life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love Katy Perry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?

(LAUGHTER)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Brian Stelter is CNN's senior media correspondent and host of "Reliable Sources." Brian, I want to talk to you about the rollout. But, you know, the few clips that we've seen, they've been pretty funny. You actually saw the movie.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and, you know, for what it is, it was very funny. It's a raunchy comedy, you know, it's really targeting young men. My younger brothers loved it. You know, it's that kind of movie. Seth Rogen and James Franco are those kind of guys. So, for that audience it's doing pretty well. And what I wonder, Randi, is how many millions of people are going to be willing to pay $6.00 for it or as Rosa was just saying, go to the movies to see it. Sony is not going to release any data about how many people will rent it. So, we are not going to know. But I can tell you, on YouTube this morning it is the number one top seller. So, it is at least getting some traction.

KAYE: And it's not just going to be on YouTube, right? It's going to be on more online platforms?

STELTER: You know, we watched it last night on Xbox. And I think we're going to see the more platforms in the future. There are talks with Netflix going on. And, of course, on Netflix you can't rent a movie. You just pay your usual eight bucks a month and that's it. You get everything that's on that place. So, maybe it would go on Netflix later. Maybe the movie would show up a few weeks or months later. But that will be another way for Sony to make money off this movie. You know, they're trying to make money anyway they can - in theaters, in those independent theaters or online through this rental system or maybe in the future on Netflix.

KAYE: And we know certainly not everyone thinks that this movie should even be released. And that includes Dennis Rodman, is that right?

STELTER: Right. He put out a statement to CNN saying, you should go see my documentary about North Korea instead. You know, he was taking this as an opportunity to get PR, which was kind of clever of him. The people that really don't want this movie to be online are the big movie theater chains, as AMC, Regal, Cinemark - places like that. Because they do not want this precedent to be set of movies coming out on the internet at the same time they come out on theaters. It could, you know, cut into their business in the future if people just stay at home, where I am right now, and watching from the living room instead. But I don't think that's going to happen, at least not right now. This is an unprecedented sort of moment. There's no movie that's been like this and there probably won't be for a while.

KAYE: And is that big giant present behind you, is that from your mom? Are you going to open that?

STELTER: Actually, some of those are for my mom. This one is for my mom. So, I'm waiting for the rest of the family to wake up.

KAYE: Very nice. All right, Brian, and you're going to make them all breakfast, right, too?

STELTER: I think she might be making the breakfast actually.

(LAUGHTER)

STELTER: A little tradition.

KAYE: That's a good mom. All right, Brian Stelter, enjoy your holiday with your family.

STELTER: Thank you.

KAYE: If you are planning to curl up next to the Christmas tree to watch "The Interview" today from the comfort of your own home, you might be wondering how safe it is to watch the comedy given all the talk about cyber-hacking. Of course, the big question, could your computer become a target for

cyber-hackers. So, let's ask CNN's Alison Kosik.

So, should people be worried, do you think?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cyber security experts that we've talked to say relax, you are not going to be hacked if you watch this movie on Google play or on YouTube. You know, they say that - it was easy to go ahead and hack into Sony and get all those emails, all that information out. But they say that it doesn't mean that the movie itself is tainted with malicious software, also known as malware. Now, it doesn't mean that they won't try.

There are a couple of ways that hackers could try to block the viewing of this movie. For one, they could try flooding Google or Microsoft with a lot of Internet traffic. It's kind of like shoving a lot of garbage down a garbage chute. But cyber-security experts say good luck with that, Google and Microsoft have excellent defenses against those kinds of attacks, which are also known as denial of service attacks.

Also, hackers could go ahead and try to liaise online ads with malware, that's known as malvertising. That's known as very rare, Google and Microsoft and ad companies, they've got a way of detecting these kinds of things events, and especially now, they really are going to be on guard with this movie being streamed.

KAYE: So, but I think that would probably raise the question. I mean if it's so difficult to hack into someone's personal computer and we're being told not to worry, why was it so easy, I guess, to hack into Sony's?

KOSIK: You know, this is what's disconcerting. You know, pretty much as one cyber-security expert said, Sony actually kind of put out the welcome mat for these hackers. Leaked documents showed that Sony actually, its employees, kept spreadsheet lists of all that information, like, you know, their passwords or Social Security Numbers of some of those celebrities that got out. You know, the cybersecurity expert puts it this way saying companies are one click away or one misplaced password from being hacked.

And many actually questioned if this is enough to kind of get these companies to really recognize what's going on here. I mean you think about it, before Sony, there was Target, there was Home Depot ...

KAYE: Right.

KOSIK: They were hacked. And now we have Sony. It's almost like computers are sitting ducks. And it's not just the antivirus software that's put on the computers that helps keep those hackers away. These cybersecurity experts say, look, the employees, they are out on the forefront. They also have to be involved with keeping the hackers out by changing their passwords and not clicking on suspicious e-mails that enter your e-mail.

KAYE: Right. Right. That's sort of computer 101, right?

KOSIK: Yes.

KAYE: All right, Alison, thank you very much. For that good to know. We'll be right back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Right now, a lab worker from the CDC is being monitored for Ebola symptoms after a possible exposure. Officials are trying to figure out how the mistake happened, but believe the employee accidentally transferred live samples of the virus into the wrong lab on Monday. The mix-up was reported to authorities on Tuesday. Now about a dozen other employees who worked in the lab are also being assessed. Now, if this sounds familiar, that's because it's not the first time a mistake like this has happened. Last summer nearly 100 CDC workers were potentially exposed to anthrax after employees failed to inactivate the bacteria before transferring it to a lab. And last spring CDC workers in Atlanta sent a sample contaminated with the deadly bird flu to a lab about 60 miles away. So, let's talk more about this with Dr. Devi. She's an assistant professor at NYU School of Medicine. Good morning to you, Dr. Devi. So, what's your reaction first to this latest mistake?

DR. DEVI NAMPIAPARAMPIL, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Well, I mean it's concerning on a couple of different levels. So, for the CDC itself, like you mentioned, there have been a couple of errors in the past already this year. And it doesn't look good to have this happen, especially after the congressional hearing in July where they said they were going to revamp their safety protocols. I mean it's possible that because it's the holidays, that they were short staffed and they weren't able to follow all of those. But in that case, you know, they have to be particularly careful. And at least - to work.

Now, in terms of the larger context, I think the thing is, you know, we always get concerned about health care workers, you know, their risk of developing Ebola or getting exposed to Ebola. So, in this case now, you know, scientists, research scientists may also become more concerned about their risk. And, you know, we don't want people to get dissuaded from potentially doing research on this deadly disease.

KAYE: Right. But when you talk about the risk, I mean obviously we know the scientists who transferred the sample, that scientist is at risk. Maybe about a dozen workers or so who had contact with the lab now being looked at. I mean how big is the risk, I guess, for these employees?

NAMPIAPARAMPIL: I think the risk is still relatively low. Because if you think about the health care workers who developed Ebola here, I mean they were treating patients with Ebola. They basically were exposed to vomit, diarrhea, blood. You know, they're getting exposed to a lot of different bodily fluids. So, the way that you get Ebola is from bodily fluid to bodily fluid. In this case, you know, there are no bodily fluids. The virus is right there, but the thing is, you know, the technicians, the scientists are not actually trying to -- they're keeping it contained in a vial or maybe looking at it under a microscope, they are not necessarily trying to treat someone. So, they might be still much more cautious than a health care worker who's rushing to the aid of someone else who is sick.

KAYE: You know, we talked about the similar cases, you know, where others have been exposed, and the CDC is now saying that there's no risk to the public. But as we were saying, this is one of several mistakes that we've heard about recently. So how much should we trust, do you think, at this point, what the CDC is telling us - I mean - about not to worry?

NAMPIAPARAMPIL: Exactly. I mean it's a difficult situation. Because, of course, any time there's an exposure, there's a potential risk. I mean to those employees and then to the people that they come in contact with. So, you know, there is something -- I wouldn't say there's no risk. But at the same time we don't want to create a panic, because the fact is, you know, they seem to be relatively on top of this, at least compared to earlier this year. I mean the concern is more, if you think about it in terms of the U.S., you know, do we have to worry as much right now? Maybe not. But in terms of West Africa, I mean, those cases, the numbers are raging still. There are 20,000 cases almost, about 8,000 deaths or approaching that amount. So, you know, in terms of the danger of Ebola or the general risk or our concern, our level should be a little bit higher than it is right now, but maybe not at the level of fear that we had a few months ago.

KAYE: So, is there any way then to eliminate this human error or is it really just inevitable in this world?

NAMPIAPARAMPIL: Well, human error is inevitable. Everybody is going to make mistakes, no matter what, but we know about it. So, it's not an unexpected mistake. We know people make mistakes. So, for example, in the hospital we have different checklists like in the O.R., you know, when people travel in a plane, pilots have different checklists that they follow, too, to minimize that error. They have one person doing something, they have other people on their team checking them. So, there's always checks and balances. In this case I'm not sure why those processes - I mean they say they're in place, but there seem to be a lot of slipups in those areas. But, you know, human error again, it's inevitable, but you can do things to minimize that, and minimize that harm, especially if you are dealing with deadly viruses.

KAYE: Absolutely. Dr. Devi, appreciate your expertise. Thank you very much.

NAMPIAPARAMPIL: Thank you.

KAYE: Still to come, remember when the ice bucket challenge consumed your Facebook and Twitter feeds? It was one of the top trending hash tags of 2014. Which social issue takes the number one spot, next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Well, it might seem like "The Interview" was the only thing trending on Twitter lately. But this year perhaps more than any other has been defined by hash tags on Twitter from "bring back our girls" to "Yes, all women." Brooke Baldwin takes a look at the year in hash tags.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Social media's role in breaking news is undeniable. But sometimes it's the hash tags themselves that start a movement, whether serious or hilarious. So, here are the top ten trending hash tags for the year 2014.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alex from Target.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alex from Target.

BALDWIN: #alexfromtarget.

Number ten, #alexfromtarget. It was trending for days, no one could figure out why, including Alex ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My manager came up to me and she showed me the actual picture.

BALDWIN: There was a text startup from it trying to claim responsibility for how this picture went viral, no word yet as to whether or not this firm deserves the credit.

Number nine, remember that news conference where President Obama was serious when he was talking about Russia and ISIS. But really all anyone on Twitter could talk about was his tan suit. Thank goodness, the president didn't wear white after Labor Day.

Number eight. Do you remember back in May, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger went on this killing spree near the University of California, Santa Barbara blaming the cruelty of women? Well, women responded on Twitter saying not all men turn romantic rejection into murder. Women, yes, all women, experience discrimination and harassment.

Number seven, the pro-democracy protesters occupied Hong Kong's financial district for nearly two and a half months. Their hopes, being able to freely choose their leader in 2017. The cause known as the Umbrella Revolution, because all these demonstrators use umbrellas to try to protect themselves from all the teargas and the pepper spray from police. Number six, video of NFL star Ray Rice knocking his then fiancee unconscious in that elevator, which then prompted Beverly Gooden to start #whyistayed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The hashtag really showed not only that there are complex reasons why people stay, that there are people out there who have lived this.

BALDWIN: Number five, the 2014 World Cup generated some massive 3 billion Facebook interactions. And during that final match between Germany and Argentina, audiences tweeted more than 618,000 times per minute.

Number four, when Boco Haram militants kidnapped more than 200 teenage girls from Nigerian boarding school, many blamed the government for not doing enough to find them. Their cries spread all over social media with the #bringbackourgirls.

Number three, who would have guessed dumping buckets of ice water on people's heads would have raised more than $100 million over the summer for ALS Research. Number two, a white cop shooting and killing an unarmed black teen was a local story in Ferguson, Missouri, until social media elevated it to a national stage. Hashtags like iammikebrown and iftheygunmedown trended right around the grand jury hearing regarding Officer Daryn Wilson, sparking nationwide protests after no charges were filed.

And number one, after that Ferguson decision, another grand jury decided not to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the wake of Eric Garner's death. Brown and Garner's deaths inspired #blacklivesmatter. A recent incident pushed the message forward even more. After two police officers were assassinated by a gunman in New York City, people took to social media with #alllivesmatter.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KAYE: And you can catch the top ten of 2014 special with Brooke Baldwin on Sunday on CNN at 6:30 Eastern time.

Still to come, Christmas overseas. While pilgrims flocked to Bethlehem, the pope reaches out to refugees on the run from ISIS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Good morning everyone. And Merry Christmas, I'm Randi Kaye in for Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

Checking top stories now, against a backdrop of police protests and the killing of two officers, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan reached out to local leaders in his Christmas eve midnight mass sermon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARDINAL TIMOTHY DOLAN, ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK: Our savior came to bring us. I suppose that's why you're here, Governor Cuomo, as you ask God's grace as you begin your second term. I suppose that's why you're here, Mayor de Blasio, as we face tensions and divisions in our beloved city, as you and so many other leaders try your best to invite us to dialogue, to listen instead of shouting, to work together instead of accusing. I suppose that's why our fire commissioner and so many other civic leaders and so many of our beloved police officers are here this evening. That's sure why I'm here, to join with you in simply saying we want God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Also today, doctors are keeping George H.W. Bush in a Houston hospital at least through today as a precaution. The former president was admitted Tuesday night with shortness of breath. A Bush spokesman says his prognosis remains very positive.

President and Mrs. Obama are focusing their holiday message on supporting and honoring U.S. troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And today our family will join millions across the country in celebrating the birth of Jesus. The birth not just of a baby in a manger, but the message that has changed the world, to reach out to the sick, the hungry, the troubled and, above all else, to love one another as we would be loved ourselves.

MICHELLE OBAMA: And we hope that this holiday season will be a chance for us to live out that message, to bridge our differences and lift up our family, friends and neighbors and to reconnect with the values that bind us together. And as a country, that also means celebrating and honoring those who have served and sacrificed for all of us, our troops, veterans and their families.

BARACK OBAMA: In just a few days, our combat mission in Afghanistan will be over. Our longest war will come to a responsible end. That gives us an opportunity to step back and reflect upon all that these families have given us.