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New Day Sunday

Gunman "Assassinates" Two NYPD Officers; U.S. Calls On China to Help Battle Hackers; Obama Weighs In On U.S. Russia Relations

Aired December 21, 2014 - 07:00   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: No warning, no provocation, now outrage after two New York Police Department officers are gunned down on patrol, targeted by a career criminal investigators say was hell- bent on revenge.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. asked China for a helping hand after a hack attack that brought Sony to its knees. The question is: Will China oblige the request to battle North Korea's cyber assault?

BLACKWELL: And the exclusive one-on-one you do not want to miss. CNN's Candy Crowley sits down with the president and nothing is off the table. You hear what he says this hour.

(MUSIC)

MALVEAUX: Good morning, everyone. I'm Suzanne Malveaux, in for Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Seven o'clock here on the East Coast.

And we're beginning this morning with the latest on the two New York City police officers who were gunned down in cold blood without warning. The gunman who killed them, he is now dead.

MALVEAUX: This investigation is kicking into full gear. It is focusing now on threats made online. Police say suspect Ismaaiyl Brinsley shot himself at a subway station after cops chased him. There.

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

CNN's Alexandra Field has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of police officers united in grief in the assault of two of their own. BILL BRATTON, NYPD COMMISSIONER: Today, two of New York's finest

were shot and killed with no warning, no provocation. They were quite simply assassinated.

FIELD: With those words, a visibly shaken New York police commissioner, alongside New York's mayor, talking about the deaths of Officer Raphael Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu. Liu, a seven year veteran, married two months ago. Ramos, a two-year veteran turned 40 this month, married with a 13-year-old son. They were killed ambush style Saturday afternoon as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street.

BRATTON: The suspect was identified as 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley walked up to the police car. He took a shooting stance on the passenger side and fired the weapon, 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.

FIELD: Police say officers chased Ismaaiyl Brinsley to a nearby subway station where he reportedly shot himself to death on the train platform. A semiautomatic handgun was recovered near the body. Brinsley arrived in New York from Baltimore but had a residence near Atlanta and apparently had connections to Brooklyn.

Police say earlier in the day he shot and seriously wounded a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore. Police there received information that Brinsley had made threatening comments about officers on social media sites and they sent a warning to police in New York but that message came almost at the same time the ambush happened.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: These officers were shot execution 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.

FIELD: New York police say there is no indication Brinsley was connected to any terrorist group.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's blood on many hands tonight.

FIELD: The deaths two of officers highlighted mounting tensions between police union officials and the mayor whom they accuse of putting officers' lives at risk with his support for recent protests involving the Eric Garner chokehold death and the police shooting of Michael Brown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 tried to warn. It must not go on. It cannot be tolerated.

That blood on the hands starts on the steps of city hall, in the office of the mayor.

FIELD: And in an apparent show of defiance, police officers gathering at the hospital where the slain officers were taken turn their backs on the mayor as he entered for Saturday's press conference.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: Officer Wenjian Liu and Officer Raphael Ramos should have returned to work here in the 84th precinct of Brooklyn. They were on assignment in a different neighborhood, a higher crime area where they were gunned down for no other reasons, police, than for the uniforms they wore.

And, Suzanne and Victor, that's really what's sparking this conversation and shaking people in this community and across the country and launching this wider conversation about police officers in our communities and what this means for them.

MALVEAUX: Alexandra, if I could just follow, is there anything that police officers and the mayor are going to do to repair this rift here?

FIELD: It is certainly an ugly rift and it's one that we have seen not only coming to a head right now as the patrolmen's union speaks out, as you hear things from former Governor Pataki, talking about what has happened in the city this rift that we have seen growing between the mayor and the police.

But right now, people seem to want to focus at least on the victims of this, the two officers that were killed. The mayor did not address any of this when he came to the hospital. He spoke in a press conference last night. He talked about this being an assassination of two officers, the loss two of good men, not responding to any of the denunciation that's have been lobbed at him.

Again, this has been going on. This is a city that's seen protests here.

MALVEAUX: All right. Alexandra Field, thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: Let's take a different perspective to that question and toss it now to CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes.

You know, Suzanne asked Alexandra, is there anything that is happening to repair that rift? I'll come to with you how is that repair between the mayor's office and the officers of New York? Because for the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association to say the blood on the hand starts at the city, steps of city hall. That is stark imagery.

How do you fix it?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You're right, Victor. That is pretty extreme language. And, you know, I think it's damaging rhetoric on its own. We don't need that either.

But I think the only way it's going to happen is if the mayor comes out repeatedly and strongly in favor of the police. I think the police have just had the impression, you know, whether it's deserved or not, that they've been thrown under the bus in a way about it mayor. That the mayor, it's one thing to support protesters. It's another thing to say that their cause is absolutely correct. The police are bad. The police have committed brutality. He fears for his own son on the street.

You know, statements like that really, you know, really offended the police. The rank and file police officers that are on the street and deal with people like, you know, hoodlums all the time.

I think in this case, again this shooter shot his girlfriend first. So, obviously, she's not a police officer. It had nothing to do with, you know, the prior rhetoric or incidents concerning police. But then he decided to go and post all of this hateful rhetoric and go kill two police officers. So, there is more to it with the shooter than just, you know, the sentiment of anti-police.

But I think the mayor is going to have to show the police that he respects them and encourages all of the people of New York to respect them and, you know, we've seen some question of this. I mean just this week the head of the police union circulated petitions among the rank and file for officers to sign if they were killed in the line of duty and did not want the mayor to attend their own funeral.

BLACKWELL: We have that. Let me read a line from that. It says that his refusal to show police officers support and respect they deserve, he asked they should not attend the mayor and other city council person. It would be an insult to that officer's memory and sacrifice.

I want to go to something that former New York Governor George Pataki tweeted. He tweeted, "sickened by the barbaric acts, with sadly predictable outcome of divisive anti-cop rhetoric of Eric Holder and Mayor De Blasio."

In addition to this comment from Pataki, the question is, these are real concerns by the mayor. I take him at his word. He is concerned for his son's safety as many people are.

Is the question that he should not say this in public, he should keep these to himself? And should he not even criticize officers when they are wrong in his opinion?

FUENTES: No. I think he can. And he can still do it in a respectful way.

And, you know, the comments like that, and there's been a lot of this come out in the last couple of months. I've been on the air talking when, you know, someone published a statement saying how to survive an encounter with the police.

And, you know, I said wait a minute, this is like saying how do you survive an encounter with a rattle snake or a grizzly bare or a wolf. I mean, the police are not out there killing people just, you know, for the fun of it. And, yes, it happens. Yes, there are officers that use excessive force on occasion.

But given the tens of millions of police encounters with the public every year, you have really not that many incidents. And incidents that happened, yes, those police officers need to be brought to justice. But, you know, that's the problem in this situation.

BLACKWELL: Yes. All right. Tom Fuentes, thank you.

FUENTES: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: The New York shooting suspect, he was no stranger to crime. Ismaaiyl Brinsley had earlier shot and seriously wounded a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend. That happened in Baltimore. And he had been arrested several times in Georgia where he had a home.

So, those charges included shoplifting and illegal weapons possession, property damage and obstructing a police officer. Brinsley had also suggested on social media he planned to kill police officers.

CNN's Laurie Segall has more.

Good morning, Laurie.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT: Hey there.

Well, 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 this 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 and my present is haunting me." And hour before that, he said, "Why live if you don't love to live?"

Also, when we heard from the NYPD, when we heard from Commissioner Bratton, he spoke quite a bit about these digital clues and Instagram, and how the shooter had 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 wings on pigs 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 emoji bullet.

So, you really begin to wrap your head around the clues and motivation behind this horrific attack.

Back to you.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Laurie. Appreciate it. BLACKWELL: We talked about the embarrassing tweets, information

about Hollywood stars. There is also the social security numbers and health information, the confidential memos. So much more private information was revealed in that crippling cyber attack on Sony. And now, the U.S. is calling on China to help battle the hackers.

MALVEAUX: Plus, President Obama sits down with CNN for an exclusive interview. Why he is standing by his comments that it was a mistake for Sony to cancel the Christmas Day release of "The Interview."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Well, just days after President Obama vowed to take action against North Korea for that crippling cyberattack against Sony, the White House is now asking for help from China to battle these North Koreans.

MALVEAUX: North Korea's Internet traffic goes through China, and as a senior Obama administration official tells, that both China and the United States have expressed the view that conducting destructive attacks in cyber space is outside the norms of appropriate cyber behavior.

BLACKWELL: Meanwhile, hackers issued a new message yesterday mocking the FBI. Here's part of it, "The result of the investigation by the 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."

MALVEAUX: A link in that message leads to a YouTube video called "You are an idiot."

So, the FBI, of course, declined to comment.

BLACKWELL: Well, President Obama says it was a mistake for Sony not to move forward with the Christmas Day release of "The Interview." That is the movie that the North Koreans were upset after the threats of hackers.

MALVEAUX: Our CNN chief political correspondent, "STATE OF THE UNION" host, Candy Crowley, sat down with the president for an exclusive interview.

Candy, it's great to see you now here in Washington.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So, first of all, I mean, we saw the message from the North Korea just dripping with sarcasm. Did you find that president had any kind of appetite to engage -- to continue to engage with North Korea?

CROWLEY: I'm not sure he wants to engage with North Korea. But he also wants to make sure that there is some response to this. I think, you know, we're all sort of sitting around trying to figure out what that might be. Will that be a counterattack? He definitely as we saw in the news conference and when he sat down with me thinks that Sony made a mistake by being intimidated into not distributing the movie.

As you know, the Sony chairman told Fareed Zakaria that's not how it worked. It was the movie theater that said we're not going to run this thing. And the president's response was, I wish they called me, maybe I could have called the movie theaters.

He is very interesting on trying to -- we've heard from some on Capitol Hill saying this is an act of war by North Korea. We need to respond very strongly. I wanted the president to put it in perspective about how serious this was. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Do you think was an act of war by North Korea?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No. I think it's act of cyber vandalism is that is very costly, very expensive. We take it very seriously. We will respond proportionately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: I can tell you the word "cyber vandalism", Senator John McCain who is also on the show found the president underplaying what McCain who soon to become the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, thinks is a very serious breach, and he's going to hold hearings on it.

BLACKWELL: Candy, I understand you also had a chance to talk about President Putin and Russia. What was that conversation like?

CROWLEY: Well, it was in the context of Cuba. I said to the president, you know, looking at Cuba, your critics are saying here is just another case where this president is getting ruled by dictators. He is giving them something for nothing. And he is the one that actually brought up Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: There was a spate of stories about how he is the chess master and outmaneuvering the West and Mr. Obama and this, that and the other. And right now, he's presiding over the collapse of his currency, a major financial crisis and a huge economic contraction. That doesn't sound like somebody who has rolled me or the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: But as the president's critics point out, Putin still is in Crimea.

So, nonetheless, he feels very sort of gives of, I think we saw this in the news conference as well. There is a confidence here sort of a post-midterm election confidence to the president who is really using his powers as much as he can to affect some changes he really believes in.

MALVEAUX: Candy, I'm so happy that I'm actually on the air during this day to acknowledge you and recognize that this is going -- your last day here at CNN. You have been an amazing mentor to so many of us here at CNN. And I just wanted to really congratulate you on your next moves.

You know, there are so many stories, I know you'll share many on your own show. But is there one moment in your career, something that stands out that was really particularly special or impactful for you because you really made such a difference for so many of us.

CROWLEY: Honestly, I think it is hard -- I mean, I cover the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton. I cover the elongated 2000 election, through the Supreme Court, et cetera.

But it's very hard as a journalist not to look at 9/11 as the day that just put your journalistic skills to a max test, which is trying to tell a story that you're not trying to get sucked into, because it was so horrific.

So, I think in a horrible way, that day is where I look at and I -- you know, was reinforced by what journalism means just as a way to tell people what's going on. But how tough it can be when you have to cover other people's stories that are so incredibly tragic.

MALVEAUX: Yes. I appreciated the time 2008 when we were able to cover the election together. Just the historic occasion. Are going to sleep in on Sunday mornings?

CROWLEY: You betcha, and maybe a couple of other mornings.

But, you know, I'm not retiring so much as I am leaving CNN. It's been 27 years. It's been terrific.

You know, we're friends. We'll remain friends. And I feel that way about a lot of people here.

MALVEAUX: All right. We do as well.

Candy, thank you so much. It has been absolutely a pleasure.

CROWLEY: Thanks, Suzanne.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Candy.

CROWLEY: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: And be sure to catch more of Candy's exclusive interview with President Obama today at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

MALVEAUX: And probably many of you packing your bags to get out of town for the holidays. BLACKWELL: Yes, it's hard enough to deal with the crowds, but

stormy weather might really bring out the Grinch in a lot of folks. Your holiday forecast is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Let's get you caught on the day's top stories. We've got your "Morning Read".

MALVEAUX: The gunman who ambushed and shot dead two New York police officers as they sat in their squad car reportedly had made threats online. He's identified as 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley and is believed he also shot and wounded his ex-girlfriend.

BLACKWELL: Police chased him to a subway station. They say he fatally shot himself with his own gun.

The White House is asking for help from China to battle North Korean cyber attacks following that massive attack on Sony. North Korea's Internet traffic goes through China. Meanwhile, hackers issued a new message yesterday mocking the FBI. A link to the message that leads to a YouTube video titled, "You're an idiot."

MALVEAUX: Boxing legend Muhammad Ali is in the hospital with pneumonia. Now, his spokesperson says that his prognosis is good and he's not expected to be hospitalized for long. Former world heavyweight champ is 72 years old.

BLACKWELL: The son of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was robbed and beaten near his home. That happened on Friday night. That's according to Chicago city hall. Zachary Emanuel had his cell phone stolen and received medical attention for his injuries. Chicago police now are, of course, investigating.

MALVEAUX: And it's an early Christmas for Madonna fans. That's right. The pop star released six new songs on iTunes yesterday morning, trying to regain the upper hand after early unfinished versions of her new album were leaked online. Her manager is asking for help in trying to figure out how her album got out.

BLACKWELL: All right. Time to check in with Dr. Sanjay Gupta for a look at what is coming up on "SGMD" at 7:30 Eastern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne and Victor, who doesn't love a top ten countdown? Even when it comes to health. You probably know that Ebola was the biggest health story of the year. But see how many of the others you actually remember. We got that coming up at the bottom of the hour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right. We're pushing forward on the big story we've been following, the shooting of the two police officers in New York city. Here is the latest on what we know now. The gunman who killed those two NYPD officers, he is now dead.

MALVEAUX: But the investigation into why he did what he did, that is just beginning. And it's focusing on threats made online. Police say suspect Ismaaiyl Brinsley shot himself at a subway station after cops chased him there.

BLACKWELL: Now, minutes earlier, he ambushed police officers Wenjian Liu and Raphael Ramos as they sat in their squad car in Brooklyn. That was yesterday. They were both side in the head. And, of course, there's so many questions as people try to pull apart this shooter's social media account to get more answers about the motive here.

Listen, we'll see you back here at 8:00 Eastern.

MALVEAUX: "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." starts right now.