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Live Coverage Of Officer Wenjian Liu's Funeral

Aired January 04, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick in New York.

This is special edition of CNN NEWSROOM. For those expecting to see Fareed Zakaria's noon moon shots for 21st century, we are live at this hour as thousands say goodbye to fallen New York police officer Wenjian Liu.

You are looking at live picture right there. That is the honor guards waiting for the casket to be brought from inside the funeral home where it will ultimately take a drive and be laid to rest. The service finished a short time ago.

Officer Liu's family, his relatives, his friends, packed the funeral home along with dignitaries to fellow officers and scores of others from around the country, lined in the street to pay tribute to this man who his wife praised as a caring son, loyal husband and an amazing friend.

We did hear from Officer Liu's wife. She thanked all of those people who came out today. She also paid tribute to the man she called her soul mate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEI XIA CHEN, OFFICER LIU'S WIDOW: He was always there when anyone needed something. When Wenjian was still walking, Wenjian cared a lot for the Chinese community. He wanted to always do his best to help and support. The very community that he is part. Wenjian can part it and well loved by his friends, colleagues, and our extended family that is here today.

The caring son, a loving husband and loyal friend. You are an amazing man even though you left us early. But I believe that he is still with us. His spirit will continue to look after us. He will keep an eye on our family. We Wenjian is my hero. We can always count on him.

Again, I thank you my extended family, my family of Liu, by attending today's services. Thank you.

Wenjian will always live in our hearts, my heart. We love you. I love you. Forever, I love you. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FEYERICK: And you can see the grief of the widow. And the couple was married just three months. They lived at home with his parents. He was the supporter of both the parents and the wife. You can see the honor guard there and the flags have been raised and the casket we believe is coming out. Let's take to a listen.

(VIDEO OF OFFICER LIU'S FUNERAL PLAYING)

FEYERICK: And you are seeing live pictures of the hearse carrying the body of detective Wenjian Liu known as Joe as it makes its way through the sea of police officers standing shoulder to shoulder as far as the eye can see.

His wife follows behind along with his family in a car, just there. This is one of the largest assemblies that we have seen really.

I want to bring in Tom Verni who was with the NYPD.

Tom, you were saying with the all of the motorcycles, this is among the largest contingent that you have ever witnessed?

TOM VERNI, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Yes. I think without a doubt, between last week with Detective Ramos' funeral and today with Detective Liu's funeral, this is the largest. I have to four police funerals that I can remember. And this is definitely one of the largest, if not the largest I have ever seen.

FEYERICK: You know, it is incredible because when you see all of those officers standing shoulder to shoulder, and all ranks, officers who just joined the force, officers who have been there for decades, this kind of the show of strength is really honoring this young man who had so much promise and potential. But it is also a statement on behalf of all police officers that are out there.

VERNI: Yes, I mean, without a doubt. I'm very happy that a number of officers have come and not only from the United States, from other countries as well. It is because this could happen. What happened to these two detectives could have happened to anyone in any city, any state in any part of the country, and any country for that matter.

When you have people out there who just have an unbelievable, you know, feeling against the police that they need to act out in that way, you know, it is, it could have been me. You know, I went through almost 22 years in the NYPD, and every funeral I went to immediately following the assassination of an officer, it goes through your mind. I mean, you can't help but not think about that. And you are constantly looking over your shoulder for an undetermined period of time until finally, you kind of reintegrated into some new sense of normal. But it is just it is almost like an automatic PTSD that happens continuously when someone is shot and killed, especially in this manner that they could not defend themselves.

FEYERICK: Let's watch this a little. Again, the silence also is remarkable of that many people.

VERNI: Yes. (VIDEO OF OFFICER LIU'S FUNERAL PLAYING)

FEYERICK: And you are watching live pictures of thousands who have come to pay their respect to the officer detective Wenjian Liu. The color guard, the honor guard the ceremonial division of the NYPD walking in a slow and steady rhythm as heirs and the family and members as well of the NYPD command where detective Liu served also follow behind in a very slow and methodical procession.

I want to bring in Tom Verni who was with the NYPD for two decades. And this is really almost remarkable. And you see these images that when you think about the contrast between these officers and the protesters that we saw, the protesters who according to the crazed gunman, you know, the reasons why he sort of sought retribution kill or assassinate a officer, these officers are sending a very powerful message that they are not going anywhere. And that whatever happens, they will be there to enforce the law. Is that fair?

VERNI: Yes. I mean, the NYPD is not going any place. Any time an officer is killed in the line of duty, that should really ring a bell in everyone's head that that is a problem. If people are willing to go up to assassinate police officers, and in this case, particularly police officers that were not even taking any enforcement action, there is no controversy, there is no council-like (ph), they were just sitting in their patrol car trying to have some lunch, clearly this person was disturbed, but also her was inspired. He was inspired by what he was seeing, I mean, he wrote so much in the social media about that, that he felt the need to exact revenge for, you know, for what was happening in the protests. Protesters and some of them were calling for the death and chanting for the death of police officers.

FEYERICK: Right. I was there.

VERNI: Yes. And I was there in some of that as well. And then. you know, on top of that, and that is why you have a lot of the animosity between the police department and the mayor, because he, unfortunately, did not come out against that. And one of the things that as a politician, but as someone who is heading up New York city, and he should be supportive of the police department, you can't just have anarchy in the middle of the city and not say anything about it. You have to come out strongly from to get-go, and say, this is unacceptable.

Everyone has a right to protest. The police don't have a problem with that. They do it all of the time in New York city. It is like second nature.

FEYERICK: It was very interest because I was out there on some of the protests, covering them. And the police officers gave the demonstrators a relatively wide berth to sort of voice their opinions, but that was a lot of anger on behalf of the demonstrator. And it is interesting, because the demonstrators were calling them cop killers or calling them killers or calling them all manner of names, but they stood there very quietly and made sure that it happened without incident which was rather remarkable. Commissioner Bratton at the funeral just earlier said that there are

people who need us. We will not abandon them. To do so would be to dishonor the memories of detectives Ramos and Liu. Do you think that policing will return to normal, or will we see the cycle that we have seen for the last couple of months?

VERNI: Well, I mean, for anyone who is a bad guy in New York City, if you think that this is going to be the time to, you know, to have a free for all, then, you know, think again. Because the NYPD is not going anyplace, and they will continue the police the city, and this is for those who want to commit terrorist attacks as well.

The NYPD is not taking their eye off of the ball. So for anyone thinks that there is a gap of security in the city, and that the NYPD is are taking a nap because they have this, because of the current climate that exists with the mayor, that is not happening. The officers are out there. There are acts that have been committed right now across the five boroughs of New York city by police officers . They are out there saving lives . They are out there tending to those who need them. They are responding to the 911 calls as they would 24 hours a day, seven days a week, like they have for 365 days a year . That is not changing. You know, how they are going to react or follow up on squall or follow a black crimes like what happened Staten Island which started this whole process. That remains to be seen.

FEYERICK: Right, with Eric Garner --

I want to bring in also Tom Fuentes who is with us in our Washington bureau.

And Tom, you look at this, how is this reflect, not only on law enforcement in New York city, but across the nation?

THOMAS FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well I think, Deb, that you know, it is indicative of, you know, the way police officers feel all over the country and many of the countries of the world. You know, it is a paternity and a sisterhood that, you know, that are out there trying to protect the public, as Tom Verni just mentioned, everyday of the week and right this minute as we speak.

And you know, here, they are showing the respect for the fallen officer, but also sending a message to everyone far and wide who are not going anywhere. They are not going to go anywhere. They are not going to shirk from their duty especially if it comes to stopping violent crime. They will be there to do that, to stop terrorism. They will be there.

And some of the lesser crimes that turn out into, you know, wrestling matches with a subject over minor crimes, they may slow that down and keep it slowed down for a while to remind people that bad things no matter what you are trying to do when you are encountering a member of the public and telling that person that you are under arrest.

And lately, that has turned into where, you know, where expecting the police officers to be Harvard debaters or Olympic wrestlers and that cannot stand. That is not correct for society. It is not good at all.

FEYERICK: And it is interesting, you talk about effectively the smaller crimes which is the broken window theory of the policing which is that the people who commit the smaller crimes are likely to commit the larger crimes.

But do you think, and Tom, I will ask you, there is a re-evaluation of what crimes you go after. And let's be clear, Eric Garner was allegedly selling loose cigarettes. There are very tough laws against the selling of loose cigarettes. Cigarettes account for a very high percentage of the taxes that come into the city. The stores who sell the cigarettes legally, they don't want freelance vendors on the sidewalks doing that. So this sentiment occurring in a vacuum. Should -- are these crimes, Tom Verni, are these crimes going to be overlooked in the future, do you think?

VERNI: Well, what is interesting is that the week of the grand jury verdict of the return of the no true bill against the officer in the Eric Garner incident, and a couple of the media outlets picked up on this, the mayor had actually had the legal department of the city file a class action lawsuit against those vendors who were bringing those untaxed cigarettes into the city. And you know, the press release was squashed because, you know, I think that the mayor and his people felt that it was embarrassing, because now, you know, he came out to say, well, Eric Garner committed -- you know, the crime that he committed was really nothing. But yet now, he is filing this lawsuit to further crack down on it.

So, you know, he is talking on both sides of his mouth. And you know, so of course, in light of what has happened since then, he of course is now back pedaling to say, well. And during the after the grand jury verdict, you know, he came out and said, that Eric Garner is a good man and -- but he just also called, you know, Detective Ramos and Detective Liu good men.

So you know, you have two people assassinated that were police officers. You have, you know, Eric Garner, you know, and let me preface this that I am sorry that he died as a result of the interaction with the police, OK?

FEYERICK: Of course.

VERNI: And -- also, yes, he was not selling cocaine, he was selling untaxed cigarettes. So in the hierarchy of crimes, it was not the greatest crime of the century. However, Mr. Garner was, for all intents and purposes, was a career criminal had 30-some-odd arrests.

FEYERICK: And it happened within the continue of law and that is part of the problem. You can't pick and choose which laws are you going to follow. Either you follow the laws or you don't follow the laws.

I just -- I want to talk about the wife just a little bit because she was powerful. For those of you who did not see her tribute to her husband, she clearly was distraught, but she, very poised as she spoke about him being a caring son, a loving husband, a loyal friend and an amazing man. She called him her soul mate and she drew on his strength saying that he supported both of the parents, supported her. You really got a sense of the Chinese culture that is involved and that is wrapped in. And there had been -- there has been a growth of the Asian of officers especially within the NYPD over the last couple of decades because they are recruitment efforts have sought to stretch out to a broader sort of population.

Tom Fuentes, how do you see that in terms of how you diversify a police department? New York is so unique in that regard.

FUENTES: Well, I don't think that New York is that unique. I think when it comes to diversification, if you are looking at, you know, Chicago PD, LAPD, San Francisco PD, you know, I think most of the police departments represent the demographics of the community, and they try to get that. They try to impress even on the youngest people in the community that being a police officer is a great profession. And they use the police officers from the community as role models as was the case with Officers Ramos and Liu. I don't see it as really that part of it as being unique.

FEYERICK: Yes, there is no question. I guess I was thinking of the smaller police departments.

And again, police Commissioner Bratton has his work cut out for him, because he is trying to reset the culture of the NYPD which has been seen within the last decades as being more aggressive towards the broken window crimes. But we will see whether that happens.

We are going to take a quick break and we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: And you are looking at live pictures of the streets of Brooklyn where the body of officer, detective, I should say, Wenjian Liu is now on its way to Cypress Hill cemetery where it will be laid to rest. The officers have not moved in the last couple of hours. They have been standing at attention. They saluted the casket as it came down the steps of the funeral home, either in somber, painful, sad procession as his wife followed the casket. She was holding his photo as with well as what appeared to be a yellow stick of incense.

When the casket was put into the hearse, the flag was folded and the flag hat you are seeing there covering the coffin is the flag of the NYPD and she was then presented with that flag. And you can see her behind as she walks down those steps, very painful as she mourns the death of the man she calls her soul mate.

I want to go to Miguel Marquez who has been there all morning who has been watching what is going on.

And Miguel, obviously, an incredibly sad day, but the officers that you are seeing there, tell me about the mood and what you are experiencing.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is one, it is equally, it is hard not to be equally awed and inspired by seeing the massive turnout, and just the brotherhood and the sisterhood of the, not only the NYPD, but police agencies across the country.

I'm looking down about at a half mile, just at the end of the funeral cortege where you can still see the police cars, and that still that solid bit of blue. And here in front of the funeral home, it has been gone now for 20 minutes, and still they are at attention. They are waiting for the final orders for the go to rest, and they can allow the brother to have his final, his final ride and his final rest.

Outside of the funeral home is a painting of Officer Liu. We learned several things about him during this ceremony. This series of speeches really. The mayor speaking touchingly about how he loved to fish, and when he caught a big fish he like share it with the family. That this is the guy who also spent an inordinate amount of time with individuals who were in need or in distressed.

There was an elderly man who had fallen down, couldn't get up. They called him in because he spoke Chinese and he spent hours with this man trying to get him up, want to help him out. Turns out he was just somebody elderly who wanted a friend nearby. And officer Liu -- then officer Liu, now detective Liu, was that guy.

And perhaps, most importantly of all, we learned from his cousin that, you know, we call him Wenjian Liu, they call him Joe. This was a family that had become Americans. It is a story that has been told a thousand times. To see it play out here in the streets of Brooklyn is special to be a part of and very inspiring to see -- Deborah.

FEYERICK: Yes, no question about that. And interestingly, Miguel, the police commissioner had effectively guided or warned on some levels the officers. That this was the time of grieving and not grievances. And he asked them to respect and honor the uniform and the badge. Only a handful of officers turned around when the mayor began speaking. So effectively, they did listen to the commissioner.

MARQUEZ: Well, I am hearing different stories from people who are farther down the way who we could see what was here. Immediately in front of the funeral home, nobody turned around. A little farther down, there were a few. There was a handful.

I spoke to a retired detective a short time ago who said that he was but two to three blocks that way, and two blocks that way, and there were thousands of officers who turned around. I have not seen pictures of that, but he was down there and said that that is what he saw.

The emotions is real. The anger is real. The frustration is real among the police officers who feel that the mayor sided too heavily with the protesters, and created some of the conditions for what we are seeing today. So there is great frustration.

The fact that we have had the mayor and the police commissioner meet with the five heads of unions for the police here, the fact that you had the mayor spent so much time with both the Ramos family and Liu family and that they seem to be speaking, and the unions themselves seem to be pulling back a little bit. Although, I did speak to another union representative earlier today who said, look, they are concerned that city hall is in some ways directing or helping to shape these protests, because they clearly are allowing them to take over the streets and to do these things, you know, police don't like it. They don't like them taking over the streets. They don't want publicly protesting and they don't like the extent to what it has gotten and how angry it has gotten directly at the police -- Deborah.

FEYERICK: Yes, very, very bitter and angry. OK, Miguel Marquez, thank you.

Sarah Ganim, also the parade route. I want to bring in as well. What did you with witness? What did you experience during this somber ceremony? This procession that is taking place right now?

SARAH GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Deb.

Yes, I am along the processional route and I just want to tell you that I stepped away from the camera just to be respectful, because I felt like we would be disruptive if we were talking to you along with this massive crowd of police officers here. Tens of thousands of them.

They are all silent. They are all standing at attention. We stepped away for a minute. You know, they have been standing here paying their respects and watching the ceremony in the streets. It is not the loveliest of days here in Brooklyn. It is drizzling at times, and may have come out in just as many numbers as they did last week for the funeral for Officer Rafael Ramos who was officer Liu's partner.

They stood in the streets, and listened silently, and very captivated I would say by Joe's father who spoke in Cantonese, by his wife who talked about how proud he was of being part of the NYPD. We heard from the mayor, from Bill de Blasio that his family was incredibly scared of him being a police officer, of risking his life, but that officer Liu felt that there was a calling. And he joined the NYPD, and at the end of every shift he would call his parents. He would his father who he knew was worried and let his father know that he was safe. I saw many officers who were, you know, just absolutely captivated by that.

Now, as Miguel mentioned, there was some question about whether the officers would honor the request from their commissioner not to do what they did last week, not to turn their backs on the mayor as he spoke. I was in a crowd of about a block away from the funeral home, maybe amongst 450 people or so that I could see, 450 officers. I would guess that I saw maybe a couple dozen, maybe 50, maybe probably less than that. Certainly not the whole crowd. Certainly not even half of the crowd where I was standing. But there were some who did turn their backs on the mayor, only as he spoke. They turned around when their commissioner, William Bratton, began to speak.

And I want to point out that it wasn't just the NYPD. There were some officers here from out of town who also turned around.

Now, just to give you an idea of how many people are here. This line, this sea of blue, stretches so many blocks. It's nearly a mile, I'm told, by the NYPD. That's how much space they needed to fit in all of the people that wanted to be here. And it is not just NYPD officers. It's also members of the community, and many officers from other departments across the country.

I've seen and talked to officers from California, from Cincinnati who drove in on their motorcycles so they can have a presence here. I talked this morning to a group of officers from New Orleans who came in on JetBlue, the service that JetBlue provided to officers for free. They said they felt it was incredibly important for them to be here. Not just to show support for a fellow fallen officer, but to show support for the NYPD during the trying time.

One of the officers from the New Orleans area told me he felt that he did still feel that the nation as a whole supports police officers. And so, he wanted to be here during this very trying time, during this very political climate for the NYPD.

Another officer who I talked to who is from the California area now but used to be a part of the NYPD, said he wasn't going to get into the politics of this. He didn't want to make any kind of statements or judgments on the mayor because he felt like this funeral shouldn't be about that. that that is a conversation that's worth having, but this wasn't the right time.

And many officer said that to me. And many members of the community as well. They felt like the turning of their backs -- they made for some powerful pictures last week at Rafael Ramos' funeral. And as a result, the narrative was really taken away in many ways from the funeral, from the celebration of Ramos' life. And they didn't want to see that happen here again today.

FEYERICK: Yes. There's no question about that. It became -- it became a political statement, and that is what a lot of the conversation was focused on. It was -- it's interesting also, you talk about a mile for anybody who has walked the streets of New York City, that's roughly 20 blocks.

So, it is a very long stretch for those officers to come. The motorcycle brigade that we saw also, according to our expert detective here, Tom Verni, he said that was one of the largest that he ever saw coming out in terms of paying their respects.

Tom, let me ask you this question. When it comes to the issue of trust, do you think that these police officers can trust the mayor enough to move forward to heal, especially since some of them do believe that the protest, the demonstration are quietly being, if not organized, but certainly sanctioned by city hall?

VERNI: Yes. I mean, the mayor has going to have to work -- he has already back-peddle a lot in the last couple of weeks because of the tragedy that unfolded in New York City. And he is going to have to work double time to really gain any ounce of respect from the police department.

The police department at this point discriminate giving him a no confidence vote of what -- by the actions that you have seen happened at the Ramos funeral and by some here today at the Liu funeral. And this is the, really, the only venue they have to show some level of protest against the mayor. They can't come out and protest openly in uniform. They're restricted by media internally. They can't come out and speak with the press.

FEYERICK: Right.

VERNI: So the silent protest that they're showing is to show the unbelievably high level of disrespect shown to them on behalf of the mayor thus far. And really, the only way that they can do this collectively as group, you will never see this group again, hopefully, certainly not as in venue. So yes, so some people don't understand -- I have been going back and forth to the twitter with a bunch of people who arguing, it is disrespectful to the family.

You know, if Officer Ramos and also Liu were alive and they were attending the funeral of someone else, it is very likely that they probably would participated in something like this as well.

FEYERICK: That's interesting.

VERNI: I don't think -- speculations, of course. But I think (INAUDIBLE) differently, And I think they are looking down in appreciation on this. And there was only towards the mayor on.

FEYERICK: Yes. I do want to say that the police commissioner has supported the mayor. And the mayor did say, you know, about detective Liu quote "he walked the path of courage, a path of sacrifice, a path of kindness." It appears that he is trying to at least fill some bridges. He has met with the unions, but again, those may be seeing perhaps a somewhat empty gesture. We're seeing these police officers. They have been there since 10:00 this morning. They lined up and came to stand at attention to pay their respects, to say goodbye. The sense of, not only honor, but vulnerability that many of them likely feel.

Tom Verni, you suggested that there was some PTSD because it can happen to anyone of those officers. And yet, every day those officers show up to do the job that they are devoted to doing, that they are paid for doing. There's a lot of work ahead it seems that still needs to be done to repair this. And it will be interesting to see where the demonstrations go as well, so.

VERNI: I mean, you know, this is a significant number of officers that are standing out there right now. That they are standing out there for hours. The very inclement climate that we have here today.

FEYERICK: It's a testament to who they are.

VERNI: And they have to go to work right after this.

FEYERICK: It's a testament to who they are. And as you say the policing through all of this has continued. They came on their time off.

That will do it. I want to thank Miguel Marquez at the funeral homes, Sarah Ganim along with the procession route, Tom Verni, and Tom Fuentes for us in Washington D.C.

I'm Deborah Feyerick. That will do it for me today. Thank you so much for watching.

There's a lot more ahead on the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM and that's coming up just after a break.

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