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Top Business Stories of the Year; 'The Interview' Hits Theaters; ISIS Captures Jordanian Pilot

Aired December 25, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour now. I'm Pamela Brown. Great to have you along with us on this Christmas Day.

Well, it might be the only time going to see a comedy is considered fulfilling your patriotic duty. Right now, people all across the United States are packing into theaters to see "The Interview," the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy about an assassination plot against North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. It's screening in some 300 independent movie theaters right now.

Moviegoers say what it lacks in critical acclaim, it makes up for in patriotism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, this is a film I probably would not have come to see, but, because of the controversy, I thought I would come out tonight to stand up for freedom of speech.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here because I wanted to support filmmakers who were being censored by a foreign body because I don't believe that anybody should have a right to censor a work, whether it's satirical or not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's not enough marijuana in the world to explain that screenplay. It was hilarious. I laughed the whole time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was very funny. It was very funny. Yes, I laughed the whole time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that the world needs to see this. I think everybody in North Korea should be forced to watch this movie, and I think it should change the way everybody thinks about censorship and everything. I think we just need to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN: So even the film's star, Seth Rogen, and its co- director celebrated the film's release. Last night, as we see right here, they popped by a midnight screening at a West Hollywood, California, theater to thank their fans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SETH ROGEN, ACTOR: 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.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... so much.

ROGEN: We totally appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hope you like the movie.

ROGEN: And hope you like the movie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN: The comedy premiered online yesterday, available for download on YouTube, at the Google Play store and on Xbox.

And it's the first time a major motion picture has ever been made available online before its theatrical release.

Our Rosa Flores is right outside a movie house in New York.

We talked earlier, Rosa. You said there were big crowds and we know another screening has just begun. Is it the same kind of turnout?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Take a look behind me, Pamela, and you can see that there's already a long line of people that are waiting to get their tickets.

And take a look at their -- what they are paying with too. A lot of them -- I have been looking -- they are paying with cash, which is one of the things that people have been worried about of course because of the threat of hacking.

We have talked to people throughout the day because there's been earlier showings. The reaction has been mixed, Pamela. Some people say this is great. Yes, it was a great movie. I got what I paid for, which was laughs because at the end of the day it's a comedy. Others saying, you know, yes, it's a comedy. It's fun. But there's nothing funny about someone dying.

It's been interesting. Right now, you can see that there's a long line where people are going in and we will see what they have to say -- Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN: So, of course, there's the question, are moviegoers worried considering that the hackers released this threatening message last week and said they were going to release a surprise on Christmas Day? Are they worried at all about hacking or possible violence?

FLORES: You know, we did hear from the manager from this theater and he told us that they got an e-mail from the FBI, a call by the FBI, a visit by NYPD.

And it was more to let them know how to report suspicious activity. In fact, they have a flyer that they would probably be posting later that kind of explains that to moviegoers as well, so they can keep out an eye out for suspicious activity.

Now, from talking to a lot of people here, some of them, like I mentioned, they were a little worried about using their credit card. Here's what one had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Are you worried at all about hacking, about possible violence?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I'm not worried about violence in any way. I certainly came here because the chance of something happening here is much less than if I gave my credit card company online to buy the film.

FLORES: Did you pay cash?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.

FLORES: That's the safe way?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is. I always pay cash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: So, like you said, a lot of folks pulling out their cash, which we don't see a lot of Americans do anymore.

Pamela, I also want to show you this movie poster behind me, because this is new. Let's remember that until a few days ago, this movie was not going to be in any theaters around the country. We actually saw the guy come in, post the poster, and everybody was available to enjoy it. We have seen people take pictures with this one, just because, again, it's kind of a novelty.

And people -- some people can't even believe that they are actually going to be able to watch it in a theater, rather than in their living room because of the release yesterday.

PAMELA BROWN: Right. It's hard to believe that just a few days ago we didn't think we were going to be seeing the movie at all.

Rosa, we know that after it was released online yesterday that it became the number one seller on YouTube and Google Play. Do we know how many tickets have been sold? Obviously, we see the crowds and we see the long lines. But do we have an idea of how many tickets have been sold so far?

FLORES: We can only count bodies at this point. We know the capacity is about 150 per theater here. There are three theaters.

But, you know, one of our friends at CNN, some of our producers have been digging on that. And from what I understand, I don't know that Sony is going to be releasing those numbers at the moment. I don't know that we will know any time soon what the numbers look like. That's going to be something that I know that a lot of folks are going to be wondering and waiting to hear.

So did this help the movie or not? Because, Pamela, let's be honest. Some of the people I talked to today said I probably wouldn't have watched the movie if it wasn't for the controversy and because of all of the news about it. So it will be interesting to see what happens. But as of now, what we know is that those numbers might not be released any time soon.

PAMELA BROWN: Right. Yes. I have been hearing that from a lot of folks as well. Rosa Flores, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

So now that "The Interview" is hitting the big screen, will it bring in the big bucks, like we were just talking about, with fewer showings in theaters today and the new option of streaming it at home for less than the cost of a single ticket. Can Sony still make a profit?

CNN business correspondent Alison Kosik joins me now with more -- Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, the movie, "The Interview," definitely getting plenty of attention. It's the kind of publicity Sony can't buy, but when it comes to recouping what it spent to make and market the comedy, it's questionable if Sony will come out ahead.

The movie cost about $44 million to make. According to the Hollywood Web site The Wrap, marketing in the U.S. ran up the tab another $35 million. Add in another $10 million for overseas and we're talking about $90 million invested. The movie is hitting the big screen, but only at a limited number of independent theaters, 300 theaters, to be exact, fewer than the 2,000 to 3,000 screens the movie was supposed to premiere on.

And you will be able to stream the movie at home on Web sites, including Google Play and YouTube, for even less than the cost of a single ticket, $5.99 to rent, $14.99 to buy. So far, there's interest in seeing the film. Almost all of the Christmas Day screenings have sold out at 17 Alamo Drafthouse locations in Texas.

And showings here in New York City have also sold out. On Google and YouTube, "The Interview" is the number-one watched movie. But where does all this leave Sony? With all of the attention, will the company make any money off the movie? Many say it's doubtful.

Peter Kafka, a senior editor with Re/code, says he would be shocked if Sony gets back its investment. Kafka says you can work out how many people need to rent the movie to make it worthwhile. That number would be about 16.7 million rentals if the studio was getting 100 percent of the proceeds from each sale, but the Web sites, they are also going to getting a cut.

And then you have got some people kind of concerned that they could be hacked if they watched the movie at home. Cyber-security experts say, relax. That won't happen. The movie itself is not likely to be tainted with malicious software or malware. So grab your popcorn and feel free to see the movie you almost weren't allowed it see -- Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN: Alison Kosik, thank you so much.

And joining me now to discuss all this, one of the theater owners who is screening "The Interview" today, Paul Brown, owner of Terrace Theater.

Paul, thank you for being with us here on this Christmas Day.

The first question, how is it looking there today? I can imagine there are big crowds. In fact, I want to show this picture right now. here we are. This just shows how jampacked the lobby is. Are all these people going to see "The Interview" today?

PAUL BROWN, OWNER, TERRACE THEATER: Yes, we have opened our doors at quarter to 12:00 and there were people here from 10:00 on outside, which we never have that.

We don't open these type of movies, in the sense that we don't open the "Harry Potter"s or "The Hunger Games" or any of that kind of stuff. It was quite something. And we have sold out every screening, except our late show still has some seats left.

PAMELA BROWN: Really interesting, too, especially in light of the fact that people could have stayed home and watched it online, but they wanted to go to see the movie in theaters, and as a lot of people said, take a stand for free speech.

I'm wondering, what went into the decision-making here for you? Were you concerned at all about any threats? Are you taking any extra security precautions?

PAUL BROWN: Yes, I was -- they first approached us. We were going to show the movie when it was a wide release, because I thought the premise of the movie was quite interesting, and even though we're an art house film -- art house theater, a little crossover theater, that the premise of the movie would appeal in a way to some of our audience.

Sony had us in place to play the movie in the first place. So, when the movie was taken away, we weren't part of that decision-making. That was big box store chain theaters governed by sort of larger corporate interest, but that decided they were going to stop supporting the movie.

When they came back to us a couple days ago and said would you be interested in it, I was for sure. I knew there was a groundswell in the art house community to bring the movie to the theaters. And it just didn't seem right that some external force could censor our abilities to watch movies.

It just doesn't seem like the way to do it. We have got a lot more -- I think there's a lot of people gathering to watch the movie. It's a comedy. Watching a comedy by yourself in your house is a much different experience than watching it with a packed house. And people are loving it. The response has been great.

PAMELA BROWN: So let's talk about the swag here, Paul. Has Sony been doing a big promotion push for the movie? Because word on the street that is you received some swag.

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL BROWN: Yes, always. The staff is all dressed in "Interview" shirts and we have an "Interview" margarita shaker here.

(CROSSTALK)

PAMELA BROWN: Ooh, nice.

PAUL BROWN: And it better not appear on eBay from any of my staff shortly.

And then, of course, "The Interview" margarita mix, which they sent to us as well.

PAMELA BROWN: Wow, margarita mix too? You got it all, Paul.

PAUL BROWN: And we serve beer and wine, so you never know what can happen.

A lot of people have come up. My son Sam told me today that people were coming up and saying, I would not normally go to this movie, but I'm here to support independents and independent theaters. I'm here to support you guys standing up against censorship.

And a lady came up and bought a ticket and said, I'm not going to go to the movie. I just want to buy a ticket because nobody is going to tell me which movie to buy a ticket to. It's kind of interesting.

PAMELA BROWN: Wow. That's really interesting.

In light of that, Paul, I'm curious what your thoughts are on these major movie chains that pulled the plug on the movie? Do you think that they should follow suit and perhaps hop on the bandwagon now and show the movie?

PAUL BROWN: I wouldn't -- I would prefer if they didn't. Obviously, it's a struggle for independent cinemas to get the product from the studios sometimes vs. the box store cinemas, the ones that have thousands and thousands of screens across the country.

It's a constant battle. And i have other friends who own other theaters across the country and this is a celebration day for us in the ability to sort of win one against the big guys. I think that's a good spirit. I like that.

PAMELA BROWN: Yes. Interesting to hear your perspective.

Paul Brown, thank you so much for coming on the show. We appreciate it. Happy holidays.

PAUL BROWN: Thank you. It's a long holiday. Thank you.

PAMELA BROWN: Well, coming up, a coalition pilot captured by the terror group ISIS after his plane went down over Syria. His family now pleading for his release -- that story up next.

And then later, the markets here in the U.S. are doing pretty good. The Dow closed above 18000 for the first time. We're going to take a look back at the top business stories of the year. What made the list? That's coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. I'm Senior Airman Mica Thomas (ph) out here in Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

I want to give a shout-out to my family, my mom and dad, my brothers and sisters out in Richardson, Texas. Miss you guys. Love you. Happy holidays and merry Christmas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAMELA BROWN: The war against ISIS didn't pause for the Christmas holiday. Iraqi police say the terrorist-appointed governor of Mosul was killed by an airstrike today. He was the second ISIS governor of Mosul killed by an airstrike and had been in office for only 25 days.

At the same time, ISIS has a valuable bargaining chip, a Jordanian pilot. ISIS says militants shot the plane down over Syria. The U.S. military says that's not what happened. The pilot's family is begging the Islamic State to show him mercy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He's now in the hands of Islamic State fighters and I do not want to describe him as a hostage. I call him a guest. He's a guest among brothers of ours in Syria's Islamic State. I ask them in the name of God and I ask for dignity of the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, to receive him as a guest and treat him well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I appeal to my brothers in the Islamic State to have mercy upon my brother. If they search his clothes, they would find a white Koran on the right arm of his military uniform that he's been carrying since 2006.

I ask God to free him and to bring mercy to the hearts of our brothers in the Islamic State and for them to have mercy on his parents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN: Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins me now with more on this story. Barbara Starr, we know the Pentagon says the plane was not shot down.

Do we know what happened to it?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, at this point, the Pentagon, the U.S. military, the coalition are not saying anything, other than they are saying that evidence shows them it wasn't shot down.

But they're not saying what did happen to it or how it came down or what the evidence is that leads them to the conclusion it wasn't shot down. This is pretty much a mystery to the public at the moment. They are still investigating all of it.

And you have to ask yourself, what evidence could they have? Was there potentially a mayday call from the pilot before he ejected that he was having mechanical trouble? Could it have been something like that? We don't know, but they are adamant, unusually adamant, that they believe it was not shot down, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN: Unusually adamant. That's really interesting.

As we heard there, Barbara, the brother referred to ISIS as brothers. He said these are -- the Islamic State are our brothers. The father says he should be treated like a guest. Do you think he will fare any better than other ISIS hostages? We know that he's Sunni. And I'm just curious to know your perspective on this.

STARR: Well, you know, it's so hard to say at this point, ISIS known globally over the last many, many months of this year for its unending brutality against Shia, Sunni, Christian, Yazidi, anyone who they feel gets in their way.

So this will be a very difficult proposition. There is a good deal of talk that perhaps, you know, the Jordanians might be looking at some effort to get him out, the Jordanian government and the U.S. government saying they hold ISIS responsible for this man's safety.

And very interesting that U.S. military statement also saying yesterday, Pam, that the U.S. would support any effort to recover the pilot, so kind of a hint there that they are going to see what they can do obviously, look at all of the options to get him out -- Pam.

PAMELA BROWN: And do we have any idea, Barbara? I know they didn't really elaborate more on that, but do we have any idea of what those efforts might look like?

STARR: Well, there's all of the usual things I think everyone can think of, having seen similar incidents, sadly, over the years.

Could they stage some kind of military rescue mission? They have tried to rescue hostages in the past. Sometimes, it works. Sometimes, it goes very badly. You have to have very precise, very exact intelligence about where someone is being held. And now certainly ISIS has had time to secure this man in Raqqa, Syria, which is its self-declared capital, if you will, so they hold really all of the cards. They're on the ground. The coalition is not. It would be very difficult to get that kind of precise intelligence that would be needed in order to stage a rescue mission.

PAMELA BROWN: Yes, no doubt about it. Barbara Starr, thank you very much.

STARR: Sure.

PAMELA BROWN: And coming up on this Christmas Day, a huge year on Wall Street. We're counting down the top 10 business stories of 2014 up next.

And, later, President Obama celebrating Christmas in Hawaii. Find out how the first family spent the holiday. We will be right back after this break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.

I'm Specialist Steven Russell Rend (ph) down here in (INAUDIBLE) Cuba.

I just want to give a shout-out to my daughter, Aubrey (ph). I love you. And my mom and my dad, I miss you guys and I will see you soon. Merry Christmas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAMELA BROWN: Welcome back, everybody. Thanks for being here with us on this Christmas Day.

Well, the Dow surging past the 18000-point milestone of course is a great holiday present for investors, but the markets' strong showing was not the top money story of 2014.

CNN's Richard Quest and Christine Romans tells you what was in their top 10 countdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Number 10: Pressure from protesters. Fast food workers take to the streets in cities across America demanding higher pay and better rights. It's working. Four states have voted to raise the minimum wage in 2014, and in the heart of Hong Kong's financial district, pro-democracy activists shut down schools, banks and businesses. That sent the Hang Seng stock index down nearly 6 percent in only one week.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Number nine: U.S. companies turn in their passports for new headquarters overseas and a lower tax bill. The Treasury Department and President Obama fight back.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not fair. It's not right. We don't want to see this trend grow.

ROMANS: The administration issues new rules to stop these so- called inversions to stem the flood of U.S. companies cashing in on the tax loophole. The new regulation slowed some deals already in the works, but real tax reform is likely needed to close the loophole.

QUEST: Number eight, IPOs and mergers, they're back. The king of 2014 is China's Alibaba, going public on the New York Stock Exchange, and becoming the largest public offering in U.S. history. Nearly 300 other companies went public in 2014 and mergers and accusations came back roaring.

The two biggest deals for U.S. consumers, AT&T's agreement to buy DirecTV, and Comcast merging with Time Warner Cable.

ROMANS: Number seven: the taper is terminated. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen closes the fire hose that pumped billion into the economy through a bond-buying program. That Fed stimulus lasted six years with the final measures tapered down in 2014. The Fed says labor and housing markets have improved, risks of inflation have diminished. The big question now, when will the Fed start raising interest rates?

QUEST: Number six: Apple gets its oomph back. A new line of products including record breaking sales of the iPhone 6, new iPads, the Apple Watch and Apple Pay, they all refresh the company's product line. Its stock price hits a record high in 2014.

And Apple's chief exec Tim Cook becomes the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He wrote in an op-ed, "I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."

ROMANS: Number five: jobs are back. The labor market hit two milestones in 2014, first, the economy gained back all the jobs it lost during the recession, 8. 7 million jobs. It took four long years to do it. Second, 2014 marks the best year in job creation since 1999, averaging about 240,000 jobs each month. The jobless rate now below 6 percent.

QUEST: Number four: this is the age of the hack. An exclusive CNN Money report finds more than half American adults had their personal details hacked in 2014. Mostly through retailers including Home Depot, Michaels, Neiman Marcus and Target. Celebrities became victims as hackers exposed private nude photos.

The year ends with a giant hack in Hollywood. Sony Pictures is infiltrated. Movie screeners and embarrassing corporate e-mails -- they all hit the web.

ROMANS: Number three, an auto safety crisis. GM recalls 30 million vehicles in 2014, the largest issue, faulty ignition switches.

MARY BARRA, CEO, GENERAL MOTORS: I am deeply sorry.

ROMANS: GM is compensating victims as it tries to revamp its reputation. Another crisis later in the year, Japanese parts maker Takata ignores

calls for a nationwide recall following several incidents of exploding air bags. Initially, one million cars are recalled by five automakers. Federal regulators say that's not enough.

Two words tell this story: Record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average racked up more than 30 of them in 2014. It's even more for the S&P 500. A brief pullback in October couldn't stop the bull run. The market has now gone more than 1,100 days without a pullback of more than 10 percent. Investors will be looking for one of those in 2015.

QUEST: And number one: the top money story of the year, oil's dramatic drop. After holding steady for the first half of the year, global concerns pressure the oil market and prices plunge. They dropped more than 40 percent from June.