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Are Americans Really Safer Now?; 2014's Heroes and Villains; 2014 Business Winners and Losers

Aired December 26, 2014 - 10:30   ET

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

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RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Randi Kaye in for Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me this morning.

Checking top stories now, Rafael Ramos, one of two NYPD officers shot to death at point blank range last Saturday is being remembered at a public wake today. His funeral is scheduled for tomorrow. The family of his partner, Wenjian Liu, is holding a news conference at the top of the hour.

An Oregon woman is offering few details on her four-month long nightmare. Stacy Addison says that she was detained in East Timor because she unknowingly shared a taxi with a stranger carrying methamphetamine. Well, she's now out of jail and a guest of a former leader of the small Southeast Asian nation. Details on her release are not known.

Iraqi police say the ISIS appointed governor of Mosul has been killed in a coalition air strike. That governor had been in office for less than a month. U.S. air strikes had killed one of his predecessors as well.

The President may be on vacation in Hawaii but America's conflict overseas against terror groups like ISIS and the Taliban are never far from mind. While visiting with troops at the Kanoehe Bay Marine Base, the President reflected on the impending end to the combat mission in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Afghanistan has a chance to rebuild its own country. We are safer. It's not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: To discuss, let me bring in Ben Ferguson, CNN political commentator and host of "The Ben Ferguson Show"; and Maria Cardona, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist. Good morning to you both.

Maria, let me start with you here.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning -- Randi. KAYE: Does it seem a bit too soon, Maria, to make a comment like that? That we have 1,750 troops in Iraq, Defense Secretary Hagel says that we're now sending 1,300 more. Is the President speaking out too soon on this?

CARDONA: Well, I suppose it is always a risk to make that kind of absolute statement but I think the president was speaking to, I think, the talent and the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform who have spent more than ten years focused on making America safer. And so I think in that context he has a right to be applauding the troops that have been essentially putting in blood and treasure and Americans are a war-weary country.

It was something that he promised to do during his campaign and it's something that he has now accomplished, that frankly our troops have accomplished. So I think the focus is on turning over a country to the Afghans, who are the ones who now have to have responsibility for that. And the troops that were having stay behind are to ensure that that kind of training continues so that what the President says continues to be true.

KAYE: Let me let Ben weigh in here. Ben, are we really safer now? What do you make of the President's comments?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I would say look at the blueprints of what happened in Iraq when you pull out too early for the sake of a bucket list. And that's the biggest concerning issue I have here and really main reason why the President has had such a terrible relationship with the Pentagon or men and women in uniform. They don't think that he is doing this right. And you can see the writing on the wall here for his agenda.

He wants to say I ended Iraq, I ended Afghanistan -- that's my legacy. I closed Guantanamo Bay as well is one of the big things on his bucket list. But just because you say we're safer, just because you say now is the time to leave, that's not what the men and women on the ground are saying. That's not what the commanders are saying. That's not what the Secretary of Defense has been saying.

And so, you know, are we picking an ideological view point? A political idea more than we are national security issue? And I think Iraq is a great example of, hey, you leave too early, it doesn't matter what your speech says, on the ground if things aren't prepared and they're not ready to take care of themselves, look at what has happened with ISIS, look at what has happened with Iraq. We now have more people going back there and the world is not safer in Iraq and, because of ISIS, all over the world there are real credible threats now. .

KAYE: Let me ask you about -- go on, Maria.

CARDONA: I just want to say -- I just want to say one thing, Randi. There's a "Washington Post" story today about how the ISIS quote/unquote caliphate is crumbling. And so I think the long-term --

FERGUSON: I hope you're right. CARDONA: -- focus of this president, the long-term focus of this

president I think has been right on. We have sent people back to Iraq then exactly to make sure that the kind of work and the kind of sacrifice that our men and women in uniform have made there for more than ten years isn't for naught.

FERGUSON: But Maria, did we leave too early? Did we leave to early?

CARDONA: Well, you know what -- all of those judgments, Ben, I think will come with time and I think that's why I said what I said at the beginning.

FERGUSON: Well, ISIS would say and the people of Iraq would say we left too early.

KAYE: Hold on Ben -- let her finish.

(CROSSTALK)

CARDON: But the kind of parameters -- the kind of parameters that we are seeing on the ground from our intelligence officers and, yes, from many of our military men and women, Ben, they do think that it's time to leave. They do think that they have sacrificed a lot and they do think that they are handing the countries over to the people who ultimately have to have responsibility for them.

KAYE: Ben, it sounds like you're saying that ISIS would never even be where they are today and have such a stronghold there if we had stayed?

FERGUSON: Absolutely. That's what the last three secretaries of defense have said and that's what many of the commanders have said about the criticism of this administration. Just because you want to end a war doesn't mean you just do it just because it's on your list of things to do. You have to --

KAYE: But do you really think a president would do that?

CARDONA: And that's certainly not what President Obama did, Ben, come on.

FERGUSON: Maria, let me finish. Maria, you had the people at the Pentagon and the secretaries of defense telling the President now is not the time to leave Iraq and he did it anyway. You cannot dispute that fact. Go look at what Leon Panetta and others have said about the situation on the ground. That is why the President's has had such a rocky relationship with the Pentagon and the military because when he walks in the room, sometimes he doesn't like to deal with the reality of what the situation is on the ground.

And the reality of the situation on the ground right now in Afghanistan is you may want to leave but it doesn't mean you should leave. I would love to leave but it doesn't mean you should leave.

KAYE: All right -- guys. CARDONA: There were many commanders who actually supported the President's moves to make sure that these countries are handed over to the hands and to the responsibility of the people who actually live there. That's what should be happening and he's doing it in the safest way possible.

KAYE: I was hoping we were going to find a little Christmas cheer between the two of you but I should have known better.

CARDONA: Always Randi. Always.

KAYE: I certainly should have known better. Ben Ferguson, Maria Cardona -- thank you both very much.

CARDONA: Merry Christmas to everyone. Thank you.

FERGUSON: Thanks. Merry Christmas.

KAYE: Thank you.

New York City getting a Christmas gift with highs in the 50s but expect those temperatures to crash back down at the ball drop next week. Jennifer Gray is tracking a return of a cold snap which I guess a lot of folks heading to Times Square certainly don't want to hear.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. They will need to bundle up. In fact, much of the country will need to bundle up as we get into the New Year. We did have a mild Christmas day and temperatures today in the East yet again feeling very nice -- 58 degrees in Atlanta, 54 in D.C., a lot of sunshine.

The cold air is back here in the upper Midwest, Northern Plains, the Rockies -- highs today in Denver 19 degrees. This cold air is going to push east into next week and it is going to bring much of the country below normal right in time to ring in the New Year.

So we're talking about highs 20 to 30 degrees below average in the Northern Plains, around the Rockies, even in portions of Texas. Highs 10 to 20 degrees below average around portions of Louisiana, all the way up into the Great Lakes Region and even into northern portions of New England. So highs today, 47 degrees in New York; Tuesday's highs will be 36. So we're talking about a ten-degree drop. Temperatures hovering right above freezing in time for that ball drop. Highs today in Detroit 45, highs on Tuesday will be 28. So quite a change.

And so over the next couple of days -- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday -- you can see highs in Minneapolis in the teens on Monday, ten degrees on Tuesday, warming up just a couple of degrees by Wednesday and Thursday. Here's a look at New York City -- Wednesday 32 for your high temperature, 33 on Thursday.

And so here's a look at New Year's Eve, a general look. New York City we could be running in the 30 to 40 degree range and then temperatures in the Northern Plains 10 to 20 degrees to ring in the New Year, Randi.

KAYE: Yet another reason to stay inside and watch Anderson Cooper's special on New Year's Eve -- right?

GRAY: Exactly. There you go.

KAYE: There you go. All right. Jennifer Gray, thank you very much.

Still to come: bad guys and good guys. This man is the best. The year's heroes and villains, next.

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KAYE: Welcome back. The year 2014 offered stories that warmed our hearts and others that made our blood boil. CNN's Rachel Crane counts down the "Top Ten Heroes and Villains".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the year comes to a close, it's time to count down the top ten heroes and villains of 2014.

Let's start with the villains. Number 10, hackers -- Apple, Snapchat, Michael's, Sony -- CNN money calls 2014 the year of the hack. More than half of American adults have had their personal information exposed by data breaches.

Number nine, Vladimir Putin. Russian president Vladimir Putin invaded and annexed Crimea in March. He's accused of fuelling a bitter conflict in eastern Ukraine and then providing the weapons that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, killing all 298 people on board.

Number eight, Boko Haram. In April, Boko Haram militants kidnapped more than 200 teenaged girls from a boarding school in Nigeria. Despite hope this fall that the girls would be returned, Boko Haram now says the girls have converted to Islam and have been married off. And the groups' attacks on villages in Nigeria continue.

Number seven, ISIS. That terror hit close to home this year when ISIS released five horrific videos of both British and American hostages being beheaded. The group took control of large areas of land in both Iraq and Syria, prompting President Obama to authorize air strikes in September.

OBAMA: To degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIS.

CRANE: Number six, the Ebola virus. The symptoms of Ebola are scary enough. The death toll is even scarier. Ebola has killed more than 6,000 people this year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to take the risk or else our country will be wiped away.

CRANE: As we hit the halfway mark, time to turn to the heroes. Number five is a sports hero, Derek Jeter. After a stellar 20-year career, Derek Jeter's last game at Yankees Stadium ended with a game- winning hit. On his way off the field, Jeter wished his opponents luck in the post-season, showing the humility that makes the Yankees captain a fan favorite.

Number four, Tyler Doohan. Eight-year-old Tyler Doohan managed to rescue six people including two children from a burning mobile home in upstate New York in January. But a last-ditch effort to save his disabled grandfather from the flames cost the boy his life.

Number three, this cat. Four-year-old Jeremy was riding his bike near his Bakersfield, California home, when his neighbor's dog attacked. The family's cat Tara intervened risking one of her nine lives to save Jeremy's.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She saved the day, chased him away and then came back to him after the dog was gone.

CRANE: Number two, Lauryn Hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ball goes down to Lauryn Hill.

CRANE: When Lauryn Hill hit a layup in her first college basketball game, fans erupted. Hill is dying from a rare form of brain cancer and the game was moved up two weeks so she could play.

Number one is our final hero Kevin Vickers. The sergeant at arms was hailed a hero when he stopped an armed man at Canada's House of Commons. Vickers shot and killed Michael Zehaf-Bibeau after he stormed the Parliament Building in October. Members of parliament saluted Vickers with a standing ovation as he ushered in the start of a new session the next day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And you can catch the "TOP TEN OF 2014" special with Brooke Baldwin on CNN, Sunday evening, 6:30 eastern time.

Still to come, in life there are winners and there are losers -- a look at 2014's biggest money flops and rising stars in the business world, next.

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KAYE: It's not just money that's deciding this year's winners and losers in the business world. To talk about the highlights and lowlights, who better to turn to than CNN business correspondent Alison Kosik and Ryan Mack, he's the President of the Mid-Atlantic Region for Operation HOPE and a self-proclaimed fighter of financial empowerment. Love that.

Thanks so much for joining us both you guys. Alison, ladies first and let's start with you. Who are the tops on your 2014 list?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Ok. So let's start with the winners. I think the U.S. Economy for one. You look at GDP, jobs, stocks, beating out the planet. Second winner, Apple -- certainly getting its mojo back. And Alibaba, the biggest IPO in history. So I can kind of roll back and give you why. If you look at the U.S. economy; yes, I know, we're more than five

years out of the recession so it's about time that we are seeing the economy actually gain momentum and kind of hold it consistently. You look at GDP in the first quarter of this year it was negative so you look at over the summer it was 5 percent. So the pace of growth in the U.S. is really picking up.

Also you look at stocks once again beating out the rest of the planet. The S&P up 12.6 percent for the year; the Dow up 8.8 percent for the year as well -- not bad if you're invested in the stock market for sure. You know, you look at the economy, it's creating jobs. Since -- for the 11 months of the year, 2.6 million jobs have been created and the good news about that is they're not just low-paying jobs, they're the higher paying ones, professional services jobs are also being added as well.

KAYE: Those are three pretty good ones.

Ryan, how about your take on the winners?

RYAN MACK, OPERATION HOPE: Absolutely. My winner this is year are -- well, one is Facebook. I essentially think that Facebook had a very strong year. Mark Zuckerberg increased his net worth to about $10 billion. A lot of people laughed at me then they looked at Facebook at $19 share a share, now it's trading an all time high. Strong acquisitions this year with What's App as well as other virtual technology type components.

Another winner this year is essentially the airline industry. Companies -- I mean if you're flying this year, people who fly a lot they might recognize that the name on their ticket is different than the name of the flag that they're actually getting on. Essentially that means there's a lot of consolidation going on in the industry. Southwest Airlines has benefited from that. We've got lower oil prices -- that is making sure we have lower gas prices for the industry. That has not passed on to the consumers as of yet so the bottom line is looking good for the airline industry.

And look, I'm in Detroit right now, my third winner is Detroit. I mean 2014 is a great year, strong leadership from Mayor Mike Duggan, strong leadership from -- negotiating skills from Judge Jerry Rosen and making sure that we can get that bankruptcy behind us. Strong leadership and excellent vision from investors like Dan Gilbert in Rock Ventures and Quicken Loan. By not only investing in the downtown area but the rural areas but also proving that they're going to invest in the people.

I mean Detroit, look at the lions are 11-4. I mean it's a reason we're highlighting Operation HOPE at our global forum in January. I think this is a great year for Detroit and this is a model for how cities are going to be recovering in the future in Detroit.

KAYE: I'm glad you're giving a shout out to Detroit -- Ryan.

Alison, what about the losers? KOSIK: Ok. So we think about Detroit and we think about some of the

losers. Actually GM -- GM is one of the losers on my list. It really is all about the fallout of its recalls. GM's ignition switch crisis -- its recall happened 11 years after GM learned of these complaints that ignitions could switch off. You saw more than a dozen deaths because of this. You saw its new CEO Mary Barra really taken to task in front of Congress, having to explain this corporate culture that really didn't change and apologize for these deaths and injuries.

Takata air bags part of it as well. This really was the year of the recall. 60 million recalled cars, by the way, and then you're seeing these recalls because of these Takata air bags. This is the Japanese supplier of air bags. This situation is more complicated. Takata supplied air bags to ten manufacturers and recalled more than ten million vehicles in the U.S. These recalls, still going on.

My second loser of the year, oil, oil prices falling 50 percent from its high this year. Of course, consumers winning on this one -- we're getting lower gas prices.

KAYE: Right.

KOSIK: My third loser of the year, Sony; although Sony having its rollout of "The Interview" seems to be successful. I think you're going to see Sony deal with the fallout of this hack for a long time.

KAYE: All right. Ryan, very quickly -- your losers.

MACK: Well, essentially Sony. Sony proved the importance of making sure that your data is protected at your company.

Then we also have Sheldon Anderson is another loser. Las Vegas Sands lost 30 percent of economic value in its stock losing $10.8 billion of net worth because high investigation in the illegal activities, trading activities in the casinos over in China.

And then lastly I have to say violent protests were the loser of 2014. Our chairman John Hope Bryant really has stated that the second victim of Ferguson was the economic base. I mean listen, we all have a right to protest, we have a right to express our voice but we must make sure that we're accountable and we're building our economic base and not destroying it. Not all were violent but too many were violent so a lot of folks have to suffer because of that.

KAYE: All right guys, great picks. Ryan Mack, Alison Kosik -- thank you both very much. I'm looking forward to 2015's debate already.

Checking some top stories now. Today marks ten years since a tsunami devastated coastlines along the Indian Ocean. It's hard to forget images like the ones that you saw just there -- 100-foot waves swallowed entire communities and left city streets littered with debris for month. These images here, we should say. Today people across the record are pausing to remember that disaster. In Thailand, visitors placed flowers at a remembrance wall. That tsunami killed more than 226,000 people. Former President George H.W. Bush is in great spirits but will remain in the hospital for now. According to a spokesperson Bush was rushed to the hospital Wednesday after complaining of shortness of breath. His wife Barbara and other family members visited him in the hospital on Christmas day. His chief of staff says he's expected to go home, soon.

Missing a sock? Maybe your kids' favorite toy? Any dog owner can tell you Fido might be to blame.

Jeanne Moos has a look at the weirdest and wackiest stuff our pets ate this year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: You never know where their nose has been, what they're guilty of eating until you see the x-ray and learn what hooked them. From Marley the pooch who grabbed a shish kebab skewer loaded with meat to Yoda the chihuahua who somehow swallowed nine sewing needles we present the winners of the 2014 x-ray contest organized by veterinary practice news.

Maybe you've already seen the Great Dane that gulped down 43.5 socks. The vet had to slice open his stomach.

DR. ASHLEY MAGEE, VETERINARIAN: Removing sock after sock f all different shapes, colors, and sizes.

MOOS: Try finding a matching pair. Maybe this goes with this. Or is it this? For some reason, first prize went to a frog who had the munchies and ate 30 ornamental stones in his cage. Then there was the light bulb Cody the golden retriever swallowed and managed to pass intact.

It could have been worse. I'd like to see Cody pass this intact.

Talk about swallowing alien objects. Mitchell the cat actually ingested a toy alien. Its outstretched arms made it impossible to pull out so they had to operate.

All of the pets you see here recovered from their meals. Take Stella the pug. She downed 104 pennies and a quarter -- $1.29. It's ok, doc, you can keep the change.

Nora, the rat terrier won honorable mention thanks to this nondescript metal clip the x-ray revealed. Attached to it was his owner's bra. Nora says cup runneth over no longer he's been banned from the laundry room.

Even a lizard received honorable mention for swallowing a tiny banana from Barbie's dream house where he occasionally lounges.

Then there's Wolf observed by his owner wolfing down a rubber ducky straight out of the tub. It turns there was a flock of five in there that the vet had to remove.

(MUSIC)

MOOS: Or if not fun, at least filling.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Amazing what they manage to eat. Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Randi Kaye in for Carol Costello.

"@THIS HOUR" starts after a break. Have a great day.

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