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New Day

New Threats Being Tracked Against NYPD; North Korea Threatening Action Against U.S.; Interview with Howard Schmidt, Former Cybersecurity Czar

Aired December 22, 2014 - 07:00   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone, welcome back to NEW DAY. I'm Alisyn Camerota with Chris Cuomo, and we start with breaking news this morning.

The NYPD is taking no chances after two police officers were shot and killed over the weekend. Police at this hour are on the hunt for a gang member who posted a threat on Facebook. We've learned the man in question lived in Brooklyn at the same borough where officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were gunned down Saturday.

This is escalating a budding crisis between police and the people of America's biggest city. The police officers' union literally turning their backs on the city's mayor, accusing Bill de Blasio of having blood on his hands for backing protesters over police in the wake of the Eric Garner grand jury decision.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We're also learning more this morning about the man who executed those two officers as they sat defenseless in their patrol car. He had a long history of violence, mental instability. His own family was reportedly afraid of him.

Now on Saturday, he told two bystanders, "Watch what I'm going to do" before he opened fire.

Let's bring in Alexandra Field, live from Brooklyn, New York. Alexandra, what do we know this morning?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

The gunman had ranted about the government. He railed against police online yet made very explicit threats against officers on social media, moments before he executed two of New York's finest right on this street corner.

This city is in mourning. The officers sworn to protect it are on alert. We know that a team has been dedicated to working around the clock. They are trying at some other specific threats that have been made online, and they're trying to determine if any of those threats could be credible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): Breaking overnight, officers on heightened alert, following a few online threat. In Brooklyn, police are searching for an alleged gang member who posted a threatening message toward officers on Facebook with the photo of a police vehicle. And in Memphis, police questioned a 26-year-old man after he posted on Instagram "#shootthepolice, two more going down tomorrow."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't mean it like that. It got mixed up.

FIELD: Investigators scour social media on the lookout for copycats after 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley shot and killed two NYPD officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, execution-style Saturday afternoon.

Police looking into more than 15 online threats according to a law enforcement official.

Family and loved ones mourning the loss of officers Ramos and Liu at an evening vigil in Brooklyn.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope and pray that we can reflect on this tragic loss of lives that has occurred.

FIELD: Earlier Sunday, New York's commissioner and mayor attending mass at New York's historic St. Patrick's Cathedral, where the congregation stood in applause for the slain policemen.

This, a stark contrast today from the NYPD turning their backs on Mayor Bill De Blasio at a news conference Saturday, angered about his support of the protests for Eric Garner, the unarmed Staten Island man who died after an apparent chokehold by NYPD officers.

The shooter's onslaught began Saturday morning. He posted this ominous warning on Instagram, "I'm putting wings on pigs today." Accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore, the 28-year-old then traveled to New York, murdering Ramos and Liu with his semiautomatic gun before taking his own life.

The scene horrific.

(on camera): When you walked up and you saw that patrol car, what was going through your mind?

TANTANIA ALEXANDER, FIRST EMS RESPONDER ON THE SCENE: He has a family and you don't know if you're going to make it to your family. I mean, this job, you put your life on the line every day for people. FIELD (voice-over): Brinsley also posting before his rampage, "They take one of ours, let's take two of theirs." His postings make references to Michael Brown and Eric Garner, according to police.

Garner's mother heartbroken all over again.

GWEN CARR, ERIC GARNER'S MOTHER: We want to not use Eric Garner's name for violence. We are not about that. These two police officers lost their lives senselessly.

FIELD: Officer Ramos' son posted this message on Facebook: "This is the worst day of my life. Everyone says they hate cops, but they are the people they call for help." He writes, "I will never forget you. Rest in peace, Dad."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Joining us now to talk about all this is Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams. He is a former captain in the New York City Police Department and a former New York state senator.

Mr. Adams, thanks so much for being with us this morning.

ERIC ADAMS, BROOKLYN BOROUGH PRESIDENT: Thank you. Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Good morning. You are the perfect person for us to talk to, because you are in the political arena and you come from the police arena. So you have both perspectives. And we do -- I do want to get your take on what happened Saturday night where the police officers literally turned their backs on the mayor as he went to the hospital where the two -- the bodies of the two police officers were.

What -- that is a staggering message from the police officers. Do you understand why they did that?

ADAMS: Yes, I do. And I believe that it's a moment of pain, a moment of anger, and now the question becomes how do we turn pain into purpose? Police unions and police officers are representatives of public safety. The mayor is a representative of the people of the city of New York. We can't turn our backs on each other. We must come together and resolve some of these issues around policing. And the mayor has clearly attempted to do that and has continued to do that.

CAMEROTA: Has the mayor sided too much with the protesters in the wake of the Eric Garner grand jury decisions and not been sympathetic enough to the police?

ADAMS: No, not at all. I believe the mayor has made it clear, "I'm going to give my police officers the resources they need to carry out their jobs. I'm going to give them body cameras that clearly show an overwhelming number of times police officer act accordingly. I'm going to give them what they need to do their jobs."

But he ran with the understanding that under previous administration there was an over-proliferation of abuse of young people in the city of New York, and many of the young people look like his son and look like my son. And he understood that.

CAMEROTA: And yet, many people, many of the police officers feel that he has not cracked down on the protesters enough. In wanting to give them a voice, he has let them get too close to the police officers. Police officers have been assaulted. He hasn't arrested enough of the protesters who may have done something threatening. Is that fair?

ADAMS: No, it's not fair. And I don't think it's overwhelming number of police officers.

We have over 30,000 police officers in the city of New York. You have some who believe the mayor has been too lenient. And you have many who believe that the mayor has shown a great level of restraint.

This police department is one of the greatest police departments on the globe. They understand restraint. We understand the right of protesters having the right. And that is how we do things in the city of New York.

The protesters have been constructive, not destructive. This is not what has happened in other parts of the country. This has been peaceful demonstrations. And this is what we represent.

CAMEROTA: Yes, and yet, as you know, there have been police officers who were assaulted during these protests. We have it on video. And in fact, there have been arrests made. There were -- were a crowd of people taking punches at these two police officers and afterwards, the mayor said that the officers were allegedly assaulted. And that didn't sit well with police officers.

ADAMS: No, he made that comment at an appropriate fashion. When you conducting a criminal investigations the mayor was clearly trying to get information out to the public as soon as possible. The term "alleged" was dealing with gathering all the facts. It would be -- it would be inappropriate for a mayor of the city of New York to give clear definitions of what happened at an incident without getting all the facts.

Those individuals who were assaulted, those two lieutenants who were assaulted, the people arrested and the marches participated in the investigation to apprehend the people who were involved.

You don't have a long list of assaults of police officers dealing with these protests. They have been arrested when appropriate. We have shown a great level of restraint. This is how it should be done in a professional police department.

CAMEROTA: So, Mr. Adams, what is the answer? What's the answer for the mayor to regain or just to begin to gain the police's trust now? You've been a police officer. What do your fellow former officers want to hear from the mayor?

ADAMS: And you're right. I have been a police officer, a retired captain, 22 years, and understanding the men and women who are police officers. I know their ups and downs.

There were many complaints under the Giuliani administration of not having the backing. There was complaints under the Bloomberg administration of not having the backing. This is a part of the police culture, that oftentimes, there are conflicts between the mayors and the police commissioners and police officers.

However, we're dealing with professionals. No matter what happens, when that radio comes on, if there's a job to respond to a police emergency, these officers are going to do that. This is a professional department. There's a human element of two officers who were slain. All of us are mourning. The entire city.

But we have a professional police department, and the issues between the mayor and the police union head, that's political. It will resolve itself and we will continue to have a safe -- one of the safest cities in the country.

CAMEROTA: We sure hope that's true. Brooklyn borough president, Mr. Eric Adams, thanks for joining us this morning.

ADAMS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Over to Chris.

CUOMO: North Korea insisting it did not hack Sony, all the while warning the second round of attacks will be even worse. President Obama is weighing a response from vacation in Hawaii. That's where we find CNN's Michelle Kosinski.

Not an effective denial when you threaten future action.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Chris. Right. And it seems like it wasn't so long ago North Korea was announcing to the world things like it had found a unicorn lair. Remember that one?

Well, today this angry back and forth with the U.S. over hacking is starting to, itself, seem like some kind of a movie, only stranger than fiction.

And this morning, the White House says that the U.S. response to the hacking isn't going to be driven by these outrageous statements North Korea keeps making. In fact, it may not even be visible or announced when it does happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI (voice-over): North Korea now openly threatening U.S. security, vowing, "Nothing is a more serious miscalculation than guessing that just a single movie production company is the target. Our toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon and the whole U.S. mainland, the cesspool of terrorism."

And even while denying responsibility for the Sony hacking, North Korea now promises escalation, saying the hackers are, quote, "sharpening bayonets" to do damage "thousands of times greater."

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think this was an act of war by North Korea?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I don't think it was an act of war. I think it was an act of cyber vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. We take it very seriously.

CROWLEY: But that characterization, not as cyber war or even terror but vandalism, has launched the president's critics here at home.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: This is a manifestation of a new form of warfare. When you destroy economies, when you are able to impose censorship on the world and especially the United States of America, it's more than vandalism. And we need to react and react vigorously.

KOSINSKI: What America can do and when is the question. Possibly sanctions against the already strapped regime's economy, its banks or military.

The U.S. has now reached out to China and asked for cooperation. But what exactly that would look like, U.S. officials declined to say. What has been stated in no uncertain terms at the highest levels is that options against North Korea are being weighed as we speak.

OBAMA: They caused a lot of damage, and we will respond. We will respond proportionally, and we will respond in a place and time and manner that we choose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI: So while this is going on, today in an unprecedented move, the U.N. Security Council will take on North Korea's dismal human rights records. They'll be looking at possible referral to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Michelle, thank you very much for the reporting. Appreciate it. Let's get to Christine Romans. She's in for Michaela, has the top stories.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A lot going on this morning, guys. Let's take a look at this.

A veteran Florida cop is dead after a fugitive trying to evade an arrest warrant allegedly shot and ran him over. Officer Charles Kondek was called to an apartment building where Marco Antonio Parilla Jr. was banging on doors. The 23-year-old, who now faces first degree murder charges, is said to have admitted he killed Officer Kondek because he didn't want to go back to jail.

A man who mowed down pedestrians with his car in Dijon, France, is in police custody this morning. At least 12 people were injured Sunday. The suspect was heard yelling "Allah Akbar," Arabic for "God is great," as he plowed through that crowd. A day earlier, French police shot and killed a man who stabbed and wounded three officers while also shouting the same phrase.

If you're among the millions of people braving the Christmas travel rush, prepare for a holiday headache. Starting tomorrow, a huge storm packing heavy rain, thunderstorms and strong winds is expected to cause traffic tie-ups, as well as flight cancellation and delays from the Great Lakes to the mid-Atlantic and New England.

And Sir Elton John is now a married man. He tied the knot with his long-time partner, David Furnish, Sunday marking the ninth anniversary of their civil partnership. New laws implemented in English -- England this year made a same-sex marriage legal. The pair met back in 1993. They have raised two sons, Zachary and Elijah.

What do you get the couple who has everything?

CUOMO: More. You get them more. Not that the marriage won't be civil. Just because it's not called a civil union.

ROMANS: Exactly. Exactly.

CAMEROTA: I thought they were married. They're such an established couple at this point. But that must have been quite the wedding.

ROMANS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: All right. Thanks so much, Christine.

Well, the U.S. is trying to enlist China's help as it tackles cybersecurity threats from North Korea. What will China do? We'll ask the former cybersecurity czar.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY. North Korea has an honesty problem. Surprise, surprise. The regime says it didn't do the Sony hack, but then says the next attack will be even worse. How would they know if they didn't do the first attack? Odd.

Big questions this morning. Will President Obama respond? He says proportionately. What will that mean? And should it be proportionate or should it be more than that? And can we defend ourselves from more of the same?

Let's bring in Howard Schmidt. He was a cybersecurity czar for the Obama administration, also a former chief security strategist at eBay, and chief security officer at Microsoft, now partner at Ridge, Schmidt, Cyber LLC.

Thank you for joining us again, sir. Appreciate it.

HOWARD SCHMIDT, FORMER CYBERSECURITY CZAR: My pleasure, Chris.

CUOMO: The president says this is not an act of cyber warfare by the "North Koreans." I guess we'll put them in quotes until they own up to it. But cyber vandalism. Is that a political hedge to back off a position so that he doesn't have to treat it as seriously as it is?

SCHMIDT: No, I think quite honestly, it puts it in a framework where, you know, it's not in the war on terrorism. People use that term pretty freely all the time when we talk about these sort of attacks, whether it's a Home Depot or Target or even this event, as large as it is. So I'd say it's somewhere between cyber vandalism and cyber sabotage.

CUOMO: But are we just playing with words here? I mean, you know, if a sponsor, a state sponsor -- let's say North Korea -- had people drive with a truck...

SCHMIDT: Right.

CUOMO: ... into Sony studios, broke through the door, stole a bunch of their stuff and left, wouldn't we be saying that this was a terroristic act and it was an act of war and we'd be dealing with it on that level? Or would we say, "Oh, it's vandalism"?

SCHMIDT: Well, I wouldn't say it's vandalism. In this case it's a crime. It's a theft and everything else which, when you look at the cybercrime laws, and that's one of the reasons the FBI has a great lead on this, when you break it down step by step by step, this is a crime. Everything that's taken place is a crime.

It may elevate to -- particularly the threats about movie-goers and theaters and stuff might rise to the levels about terrorism. But it's still -- it's still a crime out there. And that's one of the things we have to be very, very careful of. Because in this case, particularly the way the world is poised on this cyber-malware environment, we have to be very careful because world, words do matter in this case.

CUOMO: All right. So let's talk about the -- let's talk about our proportionate response. What does that mean? What's a proportionate response? And should you respond to a situation like this being proportionate, or should you, like, go big and heavy so it doesn't happen again?

SCHMIDT: Well, I think the traditional path is if somebody does something to you, particularly in a law enforcement context, you take it to the next level but not all the way to the end. I think that's what he means by this.

I would imagine there's a lot of conversation going on in the government right now, as when I was there, about what does that really mean? What does it mean to countries that are tremendously dependent on the Internet, upon technology, upon their economy, tied to those things, relative to a country that pretty much must be compartmentalized now, where they don't have a lot of access; they don't have a lot of resources. But there's got to be something more that they're looking for to do something.

I think, as was mentioned, that China may be a key to this, because they have a better control over North Korea than anybody else does.

CUOMO: So what could it mean? So let's say we go the China route. Do you think they would be amenable to working with us on something like this? And what do you think they might be able to do to North Korea, best-case scenario?

SCHMIDT: Yes. And I think they would be amenable, because we've been looking for a long time, ever since earlier this year, where we indicted the five PLA members for hacking against the United States. Things have been pretty well chilled. So right now, I think everybody is sort of ready. Let's get back to the table. Let's see what common ground we can find, because it's in nobody's best interests to elevate this -- cyberattacks that we've been seeing going on all around the world.

So I would think they would be open to that. What they could do is basically, effectively start not giving them the resources they need to conduct cyber activities. There's long-held belief that China has helped training these people, whether it's directly in North Korea or whether it's in some other Asian country. But that would be one thing, is to turn that off so they don't have the ability to create sort of the environment they've created in this case.

CUOMO: All right. Howard, let's look at it on the micro level of other companies being vulnerable. Was Sony an outlier here? Were they not ready for this? They'd been hacked earlier, didn't seem to make the appropriate fixes. The CEO, Michael Lynton, says that's not true. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL LYNTON, CEO, SONY ENTERTAINMENT: Look, the FBI and Mandiant, the experts we brought in, basically said that the malware was so sophisticated that 90 percent of American businesses would have fallen prey to what happened to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Do you buy that? Or do you think Sony wasn't ready, didn't do what it needed to do to protect itself?

SCHMIDT: Well, it's two sides to this. There's one, there's the malware itself. There's many place out there where you get unique software.

Malware is shared by the criminal elements every day, you know, ten times a day to modify it to make them successful.

But the part that worries me is the delivery mechanism. Delivery mechanism of malware is traditionally an old school. They send a phishing, a spear-phishing e-mail with an attachment that says, "Here's your 2015 pay raise" or something more relevant to something you're liable to click on. That's where the 90 percent is likely to come in, because whether it's real sophisticated or not, the delivery mechanism is what gets it inside the corporation.

CUOMO: Last quick take: Do you think North Korea is behind this? We were unsure the first time.

SCHMIDT: Yes, and I'm still not sure. I think the investigators, the FBI folks, which are so talented at this, will take this step by step by step until they find out who really did it, who supported it.

You know, when you look at some of the facts where it sort of started out just stealing of e-mails and threatening and extortion and stuff like that, then all of a sudden it made the leap into the movie. That's questionable. That causes, you know, my law enforcement background to say, "Yes, I'm not sure I want to see this to the end and see what really people can come up with."

CUOMO: They sure know a lot about it, for having nothing to do with it. That's for sure. Howard Schmidt, thank you very much. Have a very good set of holidays.

SCHMIDT: Thank you. Same to you. CAMEROTA: Chris, listen to this. A human rights groups wants to make

sure that North Koreans get a chance to see the threatened movie, "The I Interview." We'll tell you their plan to get the movie into people's hands.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back. There is a lot of news going on this morning, so let's get to Christine Romans, in for Michaela, with the headlines.

ROMANS: Good Monday morning to both of you.

The tragic shooting death of two police officers has the NYPD on high alert this morning. The police union pointing fingers at Mayor Bill de Blasio. They believe his backing of protestors over police in the wake of the Eric Garner grand jury decision is causing an anti-cop climate. The suspected gunman, Ishmael Brinsley, had a long history of violence. He reportedly told two bystanders, quote, "Watch what I'm going to do" before opening fire.

Peshmerga forces in Northern Iraq, today they've reclaimed the town of Sinjar from ISIS militants with the help of U.S. airstrikes. Thousands of minority Yazidis and other Iraqis have been trapped on Mt. Sinjar since August when ISIS took over. The flight convoys should now be able help them, after air drops provided temporary relief.

CNN has learned the Pentagon may soon announce whether Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl will face a military court-martial. The 28-year-old's release was -- was freed by the Taliban earlier this year in a controversial swap for five Taliban prisoners. Many of his colleagues say he deserted his post, risking and even costing American lives in the attempt to save him.

Boxing great Mohammad Ali is in the hospital. He's recovering from a case of pneumonia. Ali's spokesman says the illness was discovered early and that the former world heavyweight champion should be out of the hospital soon. Ali, who is 72 now, retired from boxing back in 1981. He has been battling Parkinson's disease for more than 30 years.

They say they caught it early. Let's hope he gets home and can rest comfortably soon.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: He's a tough guy.

ROMANS: Yes, he is.

CUOMO: And a special guy. Only one like him in the whole world.

ROMANS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Supposedly, it's a minor episode of it, we hope. All right. Thanks so much. Well, North Korea openly threatening the U.S., saying the Sony attack was just the beginning all the while denying that they had any involvement in that breach. The U.S. now considering adding North Korea back to its terror list, and all this unfolding as human rights activists vow to make sure that the film that sparked it all, called "The Interview", finds an audience in North Korea.

Kyung Lah joins us live from South Korea with the latest. Kyung.