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New Day Sunday

Gunman "Assassinates" Two NYPD Officers; What Motivated NYC Cop Killer?; Tensions High Between NYC Mayor, Police Force; Could Murder of New York Police Officers Have Been Prevented?; More Hacking Threats for FBI; Focus of Hacking Scandal Shifts to China

Aired December 21, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, for the first time, we are seeing the faces of two New York Police Department officers who were assassinated inside their police car.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Plus we are learning more about the gunman, his social media pages threatening officers and his lengthy criminal past.

BLACKWELL: And New York City police officers showing their anger turning their backs on Mayor Bill De Blasio over previous comments about the death of Eric Garner.

We're getting first look at two New York City police officers ambushed inside their patrol car.

MALVEAUX: The gunman sent a warning on social media saying he was going to kill police in retaliation for the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. Good morning. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in for Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 6:00 here on the east coast. Here's the latest on what we know. Right now, the gunman who killed two New York City police officers in cold blood, he is now dead.

NDSK3: But the investigation into why he did what he did, that is just beginning. It's focusing on threats that remain online. Now police say suspect, Ismael Brinsley, shot himself at a subway station after cops chased him there.

BLACKWELL: Minutes earlier, he ambushed police officers, Wenjin Liu and Rafael Ramos as they sat in their squad car in Brooklyn yesterday shooting both men in the head.

MALVEAUX: Brinsley came to New York from Baltimore and he had a long rap sheet. Baltimore Police sent a warning to New York that Brinsley had made threatening comments about the officers.

Well, that warning came right when the ambush happened. That is according to New York Police Commissioner William Bratton. Now visibly shaken, he laid out the chilling details of the moments when the officers were gunned down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM BRATTON, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: They are two of New York's finest. They were shot and killed. No warning. No provocation. They were quite simply assassinated. Targeted for their uniform and for the responsibility they embraced to keep the people of this city safe.

Approximately 2:47 p.m. today, Police Officer Wenjin Liu and Police Officer Rafael Ramos were assigned to a critical response vehicle, CRVs as we refer to them, in the confines of the 79 precinct.

While sitting in a marked NYPD police car in full uniform, both were ambushed and murdered in front of 98 Tarpons Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City.

Both officers were assigned to the 84 Precinct, but were posted at this location as part of the department crime reduction strategy to address complaints of violence in the area of the housing developments in that area.

Officer Ramos was in the driver seat and Officer Liu was in the front passenger seat beside him. According to witness statements, the suspect was identified as 28-year-old Ismael Brinsley walked up to the car.

He took a shooting stance on the passenger side and fired his weapon several times through the front passenger window striking both officers in the head. Officer Liu and Officer Ramos never had the opportunity to draw their weapons. They may never have actually even seen their assailant, their murderer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: New York Mayor Bill De Blasio was emotional. He praised the officers, the 32-year-old Wenjin Liu who just got married two months ago and 40-year-old Rafael Ramos, for making the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK: Although we're still learning the details, it's clear this was an assassination. These officers were shot exhaustion style particularly despicable act, which goes at the very heart of our society and our democracy when a police officer is murdered. It tears at the foundation of our society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now before the mayor spoke, New York City police officers showed their anger by turning their backs on the mayor over previous comments about the death of Eric Garner. We're going to have much more on that part of the story in just a couple of minutes.

BLACKWELL: Well, this New York shooting suspect certainly had a record. He had earlier shot and seriously wounded a woman believed to have been his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore. He had been arrested several times in Georgia where he had a home.

Those charges included shoplifting, illegal weapon possessions and property damage, obstructing a police officer. Brinsley had also suggested on social media he planned to kill police officers.

CNN's Laurie Segall has more. Lori, good morning.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there. As we piece together this tragedy, we're also piecing together the digital footprint of the shooter behind this horrific event. He had an extensive social media profile.

I want to give you a little sample of that. The last post the shooter posted on Facebook. Let me read this to you. He said I always wanted to be known for doing something right, but my past is stalking me. My present is haunting me.

An hour before that he said, why live if you don't love to live. He also said when we heard from the NYPD and heard from Commissioner Bratton, he spoke quite a bit about the digital clues and Instagram and how the shooter has posted on Instagram and they were piecing together the motivation behind this tragedy.

I want to get to one of the suspicious posts allegedly posted by the shooter. He said I'm putting leans on picks today. They take one of ours, let's take two of theirs.

He also goes on to say this may be my final post with a picture of a gun and a bullet. So you really begin to wrap your head around the clues and the motivation behind this horrific attack. Back to you.

BLACKWELL: All right. Getting some answer there. Laurie Segall, thank you.

MALVEAUX: We want to bring in our CNN law enforcement analyst, Tom Fuentes to talk about this, this morning. Tom, you know, we see the police, they're just starting their investigation and they are looking into motive.

Certainly when you take a look at the social media posts, particularly on Instagram, it gives you a pretty good sense that at least he was hinting that this was in retaliation for the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

When you see those posts, does that look like that is the, you know, the right direction here or was that possibly an excuse he was using?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning, Suzanne. No, it looks like take it at face value. He posted that out, you know, the intention, but not just that but the disrespect of police, calling them pigs. I was a street cop for six years before I became an FBI agent in the '70s and we were pigs.

People on the street, white and black, there's a lot of disrespect for law enforcement. It was at the height of the protest of the Vietnam War. And that was common.

We haven't seen that for decades and now we're seeing a return to this level of, you know, people calling the police names, people in the New York protests walking down the street in the last week or so, calling for the death of pigs, death of police.

You know, this reached a strong point of rhetoric where people on the borderline like this guy probably mentally deranged, absolutely has a criminal record. He shoots his girlfriend who has nothing to do with the police.

So, you know, obviously, he's deranged already. But does the public discourse put him over the edge and give him an excuse to go ahead and go out and at least in his terms killing police officers?

MALVEAUX: Tom, one thing that we noticed, too, so he made these posts on Instagram and then the Baltimore police sent this warning to New York police saying, look this guy is dangerous. He might want to do something. Unfortunately, that was too late.

What I was reading is that was a warning that was faxed to the New York police, when you're dealing in an age of Instagram and tweets, when you have the facts, the facts arrive at the time almost at the time of the murders much too late, unfortunately.

What kind of tools need to be used, communication tools to warn the police in New York? I mean beside the facts? Is there something that could have been done faster?

FUENTES: Well, I'm not sure that was the exact thing or somebody just used the term facts. It could have been the normal communication, the tele-type network that connects all police departments in the country with the federal agencies like the FBI and marshals and ATF. So it could have been that way. Someone just used the term fax.

That is the first point. The second and more important is even if the police had received this warning, say two, three hours earlier in the day before the shooting happened, we don't know how specific it was. Did it name him? Did it give an address he's going to? Did it give him a car with license plate information where they could be very specific in who they stop and talk to?

Can you imagine the police in that neighborhood if they start doing stop and frisk on every young African male walking around who might be carrying a gun and, of course, it's winter time.

You have coats on you don't know what is under the coat. It could be a shotgun or pistol. Can you imagine the outcry if NYPD was doing stop and frisk that afternoon after getting that message?

MALVEAUX: Sure. I want you to take a listen to what the mayor said about how this unfolded in social media.

FUENTES: There is something important here. This individual, this horrible assassin put information on the internet. It was a very, very brief time line. But there may be other people posting things like this. We should focus on is if anybody knows of anybody who puts information like that on the internet or says it to someone, it has to be reported by the way to so we can protect our officers, protect our entire civilization.

MALVEAUX: So, Tom, the mayor is asking for people to, if they see something, say something. If it's on the internet, if they hear it, is it possible that people, the community itself can go ahead and be a part of policing the -- be a part of looking for the warnings and clues in enough time to actually go ahead and have that message delivered on the ground so something like this wouldn't happen.

FUENTES: It's possible, especially as I said, if it's specific enough information about an individual and where that person might be and what kind of vehicle he's driving and that type of thing. But if you just put a general be on the lookout, this is many of people protesting in the last couple months have said, the police stop me.

I was doing nothing but, you know, walking down the street. And they said you look like somebody we're looking for who has just committed a crime. That is exactly what you would have here.

You would be asking the police, you know, stop everybody walking around who is a young African male because they might be out to kill you. And this is a little bit tricky here for the police unless they have specific information about a specific person with an address with more descriptive data.

MALVEAUX: All right. Tom, please stay with us. We'll have a lot more on this. We'll have a lot more to discuss in the New York shooting, why the police also are furious with the mayor of New York City.

BLACKWELL: President Obama, he also issued a statement on the Officers' killings. He said, quote, I have it here. He said, "I unconditionally condemn today's murder of two police officers in New York City. Two brave men won't be going home to loved ones tonight and for that there is no justification.

The officers who serve and protect our communities risk their own safety for ours every single day and they deserve our respect and gratitude every single day.

Tonight, I ask people to reject violence and words of harm and turn to words that heal, prayer, patient dialogue, and sympathy for the friends and family of the fallen."

All right, of course, we're continuing to follow this breaking story with new developments of the two New York City Police Department officers shot and killed inside that police cruiser.

BLACKWELL: And also how the community is reacting to the gunman's possible motive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: The murder of two New York City police officers comes at a time of strained relations between city hall and one police plaza.

BLACKWELL: Last night while visiting the hospital where the two officers were pronounced dead, Mayor Bill De Blasio was met with a blue wall of silence, look at this, the uniformed officers here literally turned their banks to the mayor as he walked by.

MALVEAUX: The head of the police union echoed their fury telling reporters that city hall and the mayor had blood on their hands following the death of officers Wenjin Liu and Rafael Ramos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK LYNCH, PRESIDENT, PATROLMAN'S BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION: There's blood on many hands tonight. Those that incited violence on this street under the guise of protest that tried to tear down what New York City police officers did every day.

We try to warn. It must not go on. It cannot be tolerated. That blood on the hands stops on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right, the tension between New York City's police force and mayor started a couple weeks ago after De Blasio said at a news conference that he warned his son who is biracial about racism and the police.

Let's talk about this with CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes, who stayed with us. Incited violence and starts on the steps of city hall, let's start with the comments made by Mayor De Blasio after the grand jury failed to indict the officer in the death of Eric Garner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DE BLASIO: We've had to talk to Dante for years about the dangers he may face. Good young man, law abiding young man that would never think to do anything wrong and yet because of the history of still hangs over us, the dangers he may face, we've had to literally train as families have all over this city for decades in how to take special care in in encounter he has with the police officers that are there to protect him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Tom, we've had this conversation on this network in detail over the past several months that this is a conversation that many families, I would go as far to say most families raising young black males have with them. But is it appropriate for the mayor of New York to say that behind the seal in front of cameras?

FUENTES: Victor, I don't think so. I think that, you know, for all of the politicians, they need to understand that words matter. You might, you know, in showing what may appear to be disrespect for law enforcement, may be encouraging a deranged person to go over the line and do what happened yesterday in New York City.

And I think that's the fear that police officers have had since the whole public discussion has started after the Ferguson grand jury and after the Eric Garner grand jury that, you know, that you some this only shows how brutal the police are, how terrible, how they mistreat everybody in the community.

And the people that actually have the opposite view. I think they had been silenced. I brought this up before. You know, you have the 15- year-old girl who performed at President Obama's second inauguration ceremonies and one week later went back to her neighborhood on the south side of Chicago and was shot and killed by two black gang members who thought she was somebody else.

And that was one mile from President Obama's south side home. And at the time in Chicago visiting my father watching local Chicago media interview residents of the neighborhoods there, mostly mothers who said we want more police.

We don't have enough police here. We're afraid to send our children to school. They might not come back alive. And that month, January 2013, there were 40 murders in Chicago like that. The residence, you're not hearing from them.

They can't be out protesting at night because they're home with their children and in many of the project areas, they're hunkered down. And that's part of what New York City police was doing with this program in "Bedford-Stuyvesant."

They take officers from other districts, other precincts and park their cars at various locations in the high crime areas and that's at the request of many of the residents there.

That is not the occupying force of law enforcement, trying to oppress our community. That is police officers being asked protect our children so they can walk around safely in our neighborhood.

BLACKWELL: We heard from the president, his statement, is that officers put their life and well-being on the line for us every day and deserve that gratitude and respect every day.

FUENTES: He said. That victor, he also said a couple months ago at a public speech that everybody knows of instances of people being stopped for the offense of driving while black. That is such an offensive statement to make against police officers.

I was a cop six years at the height of being called pigs and disrespect. I didn't know one officer that did that. I certainly didn't. I didn't know of any instance of someone driving while black was the reason they were stopped.

BLACKWELL: It may not be the reason they were stopped, but on a note that having been in a car pulled over, I will tell you that there are times when you're in a city, Tom, that you know the history of something that happens.

And there are, I'll tell you I was in a city, I won't name the city but I was pulled over and you know that many other people who are involved in incidence with police look just like when you you're pulled over. That is something you know when you pull over.

The question I think is should these officials being saying it in front of the seal as officials? I guess we have your answer there. You say the president as well, you believe that he should not have had used that phrase.

FUENTES: What I'm saying is that whether it's the president, the attorney general, the mayor of New York, a governor, a senator, somebody in a position of authority like that makes statements that appear to be and can be interpreted as disrespectful of law enforcement.

It will encourage people to also be disrespectful of law enforcement. And I think that, you know, this recent controversy about the professional athletes wearing the t-shirts "I can't breathe" and they take the field or take the court at a basketball game.

You know, they've commented that they respect law enforcement. They don't mean this as disrespect to law enforcement. Only as a show of support for Michael Brown or Eric Garner, but from the police perspective, they look at that and say, you know, that it's an anti- police statement.

What you're saying is the reason the person can't breathe is because of inappropriate use of force by a police officer. And I think that's where it gets difficult to separate whether you're -- we're supporting the protesters or whether you're just anti-police.

And you have seen this lately in New York. You got the video of the police officers not wearing a mask, not wearing protective clothing and just punched right in the face on camera. And then the other two officers that were trying to keep somebody from dumping a trash can on to the traffic below on the Brooklyn Bridge.

And they both end up in the hospital being checked out after they get punched and kicked and beaten on the street. I think that we have to be very careful.

BLACKWELL: Understood.

FUENTES: People were talking last night about the protesters in New York recently shouting on the street that we want police to be killed.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

FUENTES: I think now it has crossed the line. This is not peaceful protest. This is insightful, hateful speech that can lead a deranged person to go over the edge and do something.

BLACKWELL: All right, Tom Fuentes, thank you so much for offering that insight. FUENTES: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: And of course, be sure to stay with CNN throughout the morning for continuing coverage on the execution of those two police officers, obviously very different reactions from different people. We're also going to hear from members of the community straight ahead.

BLACKWELL: All right, after more than 50 years of tensions, President Obama is opening diplomatic relations with Cuba.

MALVEAUX: But does that mean more Americans might be able to take a vacation there any time soon? We're going have a live report from Havana to hear what Cubans think about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Well, in a historic move this past week, President Obama announced plans to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba. But he warns it will take time for Congress to lift the embargo against the communist nation just 90 miles from the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: But what I know deep if my moment is that if you have done the same thing 50 years and nothing is changed, you should try something different if you want a different outcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now as a show of goodwill, Cuba agreed to release U.S. aid worker, Alan Gross after he spent five years in prison. Now the U.S. also swapped threw Cuban spies in exchange for a CIA worker, who was held for 20 years.

The president also easing the travel restrictions to Cuba, but don't rush to call a travel agent or pack your bags. CNN's Rosa Flores is live in Havana. Rosa, we have Rosa back, good. Do we have Rosa? We're having a camera problem here. All right, we have Rosa.

Let's go straight to her story. We'll try to get Rosa out of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Everybody loves Cuba says (inaudible), an independent contractor renting this cab from the Cuban government for about $10 a day. He's not allowed to drive tourists. Most of his time is spent donating services to the state, which means driving less fortunate Cubans for free.

On a good day, he takes home about $10 in profit. He hopes if Americans flock to Havana, more cabbies like him will be cleared to drive tourist who pay more to get around.

That will be foreign for that to happen. He's not the only person here expecting to see the American dream come into focus. Americans tend to appreciate finer art at higher prices.

Others set to reap the benefits, construction companies giving Havana's battered buildings much needed face lifts while hotels and restaurants take care of extra visitors.

(on camera): Not everybody wins if Americans start flooding plazas like this one. So who's to lose? Well, possibly tourists from Canada and Europe who have been visiting Cuba freely for a very long time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The price go up and more tourists come, more service and more business come.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't want too many CNN and too many Starbucks and McDonald's.

FLORES: It's a historic time in Havana (inaudible) while there are sure to be winners and losers if the U.S. embargo was lifted, he hopes the road leads Cuba to a better tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right. We have Rosa Flores live in Havana for us. Rosa, Cuban president, Raul Castro, delivered this speech yesterday to the National Assembly praising President Obama. But he also reaffirmed that communist rule is not over. Beyond the president and the assembly, are the people of Cuba? Are they ready for this change?

FLORES: You know, everyone that we've talked to from younger folks to senior citizens here, a lot of the people here are anxious to see a change in Cuba. They said it's been too long. It's been decades, victor, and they're ready for opportunity.

They're ready to see Americans walking the streets of Cuba and walking the streets of Havana. It's really interesting. As we were chatting, there is this disparity. Here in Havana, what we're hearing from everybody is stop it!

We need this conversation to continue. We need renewed economic reform so that both countries can benefit.

BLACKWELL: And we'll see if Congress agrees with that. And then turns that mission into an embassy. Rosa Flores in Havana for us, thank you so much. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Two police officers ambushed, gunned down without warning. Their killer had a long rap sheet. So why was he out on the street? We're going to take a look at that up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The families of two New York police officers are in mourning today.

MALVEAUX: The entire New York police forces mourning with them as the investigation into why the officers were gunned down. It is now getting into full gear. And the brutal shooting of these two cops as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn on Saturday. It is really shocked a lot of people in the city. New York Police Commissioner William Bratton, what he says they were ambushed and executed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRATTON: Today two of New York's finest were shot and killed with no warning, no provocation. They were quite simply assassinated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, their alleged killer, 28-year old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, police say officers chased him to a nearby subway station where he reportedly turned his gun on himself. He allegedly had posted threats against police online in revenge for last July's police chokehold death of Eric Garner.

MALVEAUX: New York Mayor Bill di Blasio praised fallen officers Raphael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. Officer Ramos had just turned 40 this month and Officer Liu got married just two months ago.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in HLN legal analyst, Joey Jackson. Joey, Ismaaiyl Brinsley had been in and out of trouble with the law starting from shoplifting to obstruction of police officer, many other charges. Why do you think police, I guess didn't have him on their radar before this?

JOEY JACKSON, LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Victor. You know, it's really a tough scenario. Because as you know, our criminal justice system is about punishment, it's about deterrence and certainly it's about rehabilitation. And when you have people who engage in senseless tragic acts like this, it's just hard to account for everybody. And so as we know, Victor, in addition to engaging in this horrific act of violence, completely unnecessary, inappropriate and cowardly, he, of course, turned a gun on his girlfriend prior to that, prior to that in Maryland before coming here. And so it just makes you wonder. Police, of course, do the best they can, Victor. But they can't account for everybody who is out there who will inflict harm no matter what the circumstances are and therein lies the problem.

BLACKWELL: You mentioned the shooting of the girlfriend in Baltimore. And that information was transmitted just moments before the shooting there. And you brought up an interesting element. Was the technology potentially antiquated that was used to get this to New York? Should that have been there quicker?

JACKSON: You know, it certainly could have, Victor. A lot of things certainly could have happened. But you even wonder in the event that the technology was not antiquated and it did get to New York on time, could it have been prevented? You know, the police are there. They're doing their job. They're on a taskforce, they are helping to protect and to serve the community. And essentially, they're sitting there and they're assassinated.

And what can you do to prevent that? You know, so it's just very difficult that you know when he is traveling here. What has intentions were. Do you know where he's going to be? In the event that you do know where he's going to be, that the police have time even, you know, to draw their firearms and to protect themselves? And so it's random acts of violence, specific targeted acts of violence. But when a person gauges in this type of random behavior, it's very difficult to guard for. So, there is a number of things we can point to. But at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, how do you stop the madness and how do you stop this even if you have technology, even if you're on alert for it? It just makes no sense.

MALVEAUX: And Joey, I asked Tom Fuentes early this morning about the fact that this was on Instagram and that the mayor was asking people to look at those tweets, look at the postings on social media. Are there ways, really, that people can look at this in real time and move on it so that, you know, this kind of thing when you have got that kind of language out there, they get a heads up in some way? That this guy was not a good guy?

JACKSON: You know, it's a great question, Suzanne. But I think it brings about a couple of issues. Number one, it's a needle in the hay stack issue. Social media, as you know, Suzanne, is rampant. We have Instagram, we've got Twitter, we've got Facebook. And to keep track of everybody who are posting things becomes very problematic. And then, Suzanne, you separate out the facts from the fiction. Who are those people who are simply ranting and venting and who are those people who really mean real harm? And then there is a third element and that is the supreme court now evaluating whether or not messages like this are actionable criminally. And that is, is it a First Amendment's right in order to state what you want? Or is it indeed something that the law could guard against and punish to ensure that things like this don't occur. We'll see what the Supreme Court says about this.

But you know, Suzanne and Victor, you look and you wonder, you know, how many things could be done here and notwithstanding all the technology and everything else we have, you know, could it have been prevented? I just don't know. It just has no place. It has to stop. It is unwarranted. And it just really boggles the mind. And it's a sad day in New York City and throughout the country.

MALVEAUX: Joey, you're absolutely right there. And it's hard, right? Victor, to know like who -- it's a freedom of speech issue. But do you know, is this a real threat? Is somebody just playing around? Just wants to, you know, get a rise out of somebody?

BLACKWELL: You also have to consider the billions of social media accounts from Twitter to Instagram to Facebook and who is monitoring that. I mean friends may think that they're just saying it in jest. But what then happens after that is the most important part. All right.

MALVEAUX: Well, we have been following this story throughout the morning. The two New York police officers gunned down in their squad car. We're going to have the latest on the investigation and how the community is reacting, responding to this.

A threat and a promise. This is another story we're following. North Korea vowing, there'll be serious consequences if the U.S. officials continue to (INAUDIBLE) the communist country. That they're responsible for that massive cyber-attack on Sony. Well, now the hackers are out with the new message for the FBI.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: 17 minutes until the top of the hour now. And just one day after President Obama vowed to take action against North Korea for that crippling cyber-attack against Sony, the United States is turning to China for help.

MALVEAUX: North Korea has threatened serious consequences if the U.S. continues to tie the communist country to the attack. Well, meanwhile cyber hackers, they are now out with a new message for the FBI.

I want to bring in our CNN'S Will Ripley in Tokyo to talk about this. And first of all, what can you tell us about the new message from the hackers to the FBI? What are they saying?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it come - it's in pretty broken English, Suzanne. But the message is really clear. It is essentially a thinly veiled threat to the FBI that if they move forward with this investigation, there will be a gift waiting for them. I believe we have a graphic that I'll read to you what you the actual quote is. And part in the broken English here. But this is how they sent it. It says "The result of investigation by FBI is so excellent that you might have seen what we were doing with your own eye. We congratulate you success. FBI is the best in the world. You will find the gift for FBI at the following address. Enjoy." Now what is interesting about this investigation now, Suzanne, is that the focus is shifting from inside the borders of North Korea to North Korea's neighbor and benefactor, China. The average North Korean doesn't have access to the Internet. It's one of the ways that the country keeps its population under control by restricting outside influences.

So what investigators believe these hackers are doing because North Korea doesn't have an Internet infrastructure, is that they are crossing over into China and they're operating from there, launching cyber-attacks from places like hotels where they can have high speed Internet and the ability to hack without directly being traced back to their home country. A senior Obama administration official spoke to CNN about this and it's another quote that I'll read for you. It says, we have discussed this issue with the Chinese to share information, express our concerns about this attack and to ask for their cooperation. Both China and the United States have expressed the view that conducting destructive attacks in cyberspace is outside the norms of appropriate cyber behavior. So apparently the United States believes that if they're going to get to the bottom of the Sony hack, Suzanne, they'll have to work with China.

MALVEAUX: Yeah, absolutely important that they work together on that. And well, just very quickly, do we have any idea what they're talking about when they say a gift?

RIPLEY: Well, we've seen what the hackers are capable of. And what they did with Sony where they stole a massive amount of information and then used it to attack the company. What they would be able to do against the FBI - that is anyone's guess. But one thing we have been able to learn this week, don't underestimate the power of these hackers that the U.S. government believes are coming right from North Korea.

MALVEAUX: All right. Obviously, something they're investigating. Will Ripley, thank you so much, appreciate it?

BLACKWELL: Let's go to CNN military analyst General "Spider" Marks. First, general, what is your reaction to this latest message from the hackers mocking the FBI?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.) CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Victor, good morning. Frankly, what these hackers are doing is they're having a very open, very cynical conversation with a whole host of folks as can you well imagine now that are involved in the forensics of who they are and what their next steps might be. What we see is a very well planned and a very well executed cyber threat and attack that has taken place and we can expect that this is probably we should expect it more like this will occur. The thing that I think is most interesting about all of this is that wrapped in this attack against Sony, it truly is an opportunity that gave the North Koreans and let's just call it what it, North Koreans with help by the Chinese a cover for action, if you will, in intelligence terms. Which means they're looking at this film, they are using that as the justification for their attack. But really what they're doing is they are increasing their capabilities and their reconnaissance, if you will, their surveillance, if you will, and their techniques of cyber exploitation. It's a domain of wars. Cyber is a domain of wars. So, this really is a military operation. It's not as the president indicated cyber vandalism. This is an act of terrorism. And we need to take this very seriously. I know we are.

BLACKWELL: So, you use the phrase here that it was the North Koreans with cover by the Chinese. Is it defined credulity to think that the Chinese would help in this investigation that the U.S. is asking for?

MARKS: Oh, not at all. No, no, no. Yeah, I would think that the Chinese will say, yeah, we're good partners. We're going to step up and help. Our relationships in that part of the world are not unlike many relationships, are very complicated. It's a dance that we have and the six parties that are involved in the peninsula, the Korean peninsula, you know, Russia, China, the U.S., Japan and both North and South Korea have always given North Korea an incredible amount of deference. Only because now they are a nuclear power. They've got the world's largest standy military. And this is a very powerful nation. Yet extremely isolated and extremely interesting when you look at it. It's almost a theocracy. It's just an odd place. Yet with some immense capabilities. So it's not unusual at all that the Chinese would say, sure we'll help. We'll do that on our terms and we'll continue to have this relationship that we all agree to. That's a bit odd.

BLACKWELL: North Korea has warned of serious consequences. Frankly, North Korea has warned of serious consequences many times over the past couple of decades. MARKS: All the time. That's right.

BLACKWELL: But if the U.S. continues, of course in, this investigation, they say that they're going to continue these cyber- attacks. What is North Korea capable of?

MARKS: Well, we see right now, look, they were able to get into Sony, Victor. And they were able to get what is called root access, administrative access. These are the folks that run your Internet access and your enterprise, your network, whoever you are in this case, it's Sony. Very, very broad, huge enterprise. So they were able with great speed and alacrity to get in there. Then they have the permissions, because of what they took, to get anywhere in their enterprise they can. So what they did with Sony was very selective. We can only hope that they won't go to, you know, the financial institutions or skater (ph) systems.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MARKS: So we certainly should expect more from these guys. And you're absolutely spot on. I mean everything to them is an egregious act. And they've threatened everything in their past. And the bellicose activity is not unusual.

BLACKWELL: The threats not so empty anymore, General "Spider" Marks, thank you so much.

MARKS: Thanks, Victor.

BLACKWELL: And of course, later today, CNN's Candy Crowley sits down for an exclusive interview with President Obama. Why he is standing by his comments on Sony. That interview airs right here on CNN at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: In December's "One to Watch" series, we're exploring the world of street art.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, the subculture was once associated with vandalism. But things are beginning to change. We're going to meet a graffiti artist from Chicago who is painting legally for the first time on his own streets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I take really every day simple basic kind of throw away things and reposition them and put them back out into the world to try to communicate with people something much deeper. I live half a block from the train and the train would rattle my windows. The train line was sort of the main artery for this unique movement and art form that was being created before your eyes. When we used to run tracks, you run the grates. The third rails here. If you hit that, you're fried. So it's really exciting place.

Being a young kid that had a need to express myself, graffiti was just naturally captivating and just completely consumed my entire life and took over my life from about 12 years old on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 1993, Chicago's mayor Richard Daly launched a program to eliminate all graffiti from the streets of the city. It was called the graffiti blasters. Works were routinely painted over and a constitutional law was passed to ban the sale of spray cans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was always told, no, I was always arrested and locked up or beat up by the police or, you know, it's very, very rough city. One of the most anti-graffiti cities that I've ever seen in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But things are beginning to change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you look around like all the cool neighborhoods have street art. And that in graffiti co-exists in that. And those are the neighborhoods that are being sought after for some of the highest property values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Be sure to check out the full show at cnn.com/oncetowatch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The shooting death of two New York police officers comes at a difficult time in this city. You know, tensions are strained between the police and the mayor's office.

MALVEAUX: But also between officers and the communities that they patrol as well. In the aftermath of yesterday's shootings, reactions were divided. Cedric Alexander, he is joining us on the phone to talk about all this, and he is the public safety administrator for the DeKalb County police in Georgia. And I want to start off by asking you, do you think this was a reflection in some way, an expression of somebody in the community who just didn't agree and was frustrated with the fact that you have those cases of the African-American men who are in some way and some form were killed by white police officers?

CEDRIC L. ALEXANDER: Well, let me say this first thing this morning. My condolences goes to the family and friends of those slain officers and also to the men and women of New York City Police Department. That's the first thing I want to do in regards to your question. There's some mounting evidence even you all have presented as of last night and this morning that there is some evidence that suggests that the assailant here in this case was responding to the most recent cases that become -- that have become very noble in this country.

MALVEAUX: We have seen comments from public officials blaming the mayor for the deaths of those officers. I want you to see this. The head of the New York Sergeants' Association tweeted this, saying that the blood of two executed police officers is on the hands of Mayor di Blasio. "May god bless their families and may they rest in peace." And former New York governor George Pataki tweeting this, sickened by these barbaric acts, which sadly are predictable outcome of divisive anti-coop rhetoric of Eric Holder and Mayor di Blasio? What do you make of the back and forth, these comments? Do they help? Do they hurt? Or does this just continue?

ALEXANDER: Well, none of these comments right now are going to be helpful. What this nation, what we need to do and for all of us, we need to come together as a nation both as police and community right now. And begin to partner and solidify our partnership. Because the greatest majority of the people in this country are very strong supporters of police. As I am and many across this country, we're all very hurt in the loss in the way that these officers lost their lives last night.

So I can only hope that some point here real soon that all of us, urban leadership positions across this great country, continue to look forward. The president and the attorney general both I know are strong proponents and supporters of police. They're going to do everything in their power to make sure and I want to be part of that as all of us in this country need to be, we need to be part of moving forward, making sure that our communities and our police as we go through this very difficult time right now in this country's history is that we join ourselves and find resolution and not begin to find blame.

There are millions of people across this country who are looking to all of us for leadership and we have to provide that leadership regardless of what our feelings may happen to be. But the loss of these two lives last night is just very painful to all of us. And we're all -- all of us must continue to stay focused on the fact that we are a nation of one and not be divided right now. And all of us again who are leadership positions will have to come together and lead this country.

MALVEAUX: All right. Cedric Alexander, thank you so much. We appreciate your insights. He brings up a very good point. This is not a broad brush stroke. You really have to look at individuals and specifics and not get caught up in all of the rhetoric.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, and on both sides.

MALVEAUX: Yes, absolutely.

BLACKWELL: Look at the individuals. Well, the alleged killer of two New York police officers that reportedly made threats online.

MALVEAUX: We're continuing to follow breaking news. The latest on the killings that New York mayor and police commissioner are calling an all-out execution of the city's finest. That just ahead.