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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

De Blasio Urges Unity After Cop Killings; Police Violence Protest in Milwaukee; Internet Back for North Korea; Airline Gun Smuggling Operation Busted; Grimm to Plead Guilty of Tax Evasion; Joe Cocker Remembered, 1944-2014; Ugly Brawl Erupts At End of Miami Beach Bowl

Aired December 23, 2014 - 05:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: De Blasio urging New Yorkers and the media to focus on supporting the officers' families. But some activists said they will not heed the mayor's call to suspend protests. They will hold a police reform demonstration this afternoon in Harlem.

CNN's Don Lemon has the latest -- Don.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDNET: Christine, Mayor Bill de Blasio pushed back at critics who say he contributed to an anti-police atmosphere that got Officers Ramos and Liu killed. The mayor said that the head of the police union who said De Blasio had blood on his hands was wrong and mistaken. The mayor also called for calm and civility and said he respected the right of the 35,000 sworn officers in the NYPD to have lots of different opinions.

Now, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton supported the mayor on that point, saying, quote, "Can you point out to me one mayor that has not been battling with the police union in the last 50 years?"

The investigation continues even though Ismaaiyl Brinsley is dead because officials say families have the right to know.

And there is new surveillance video to report. It was just released. It was taken at a shopping area in Brooklyn not far from the scene, about three hours before the shooting took place. Authorities want to find out what Brinsley was doing for that time before the shooting to make sure that there were no other accomplices.

They are asking others in the public for help and also we're hearing from the widow of one of the officers killed in the attack. Officer Liu's wife of just two months spoke about her personal loss and the loss of the Ramos family.

PEI XIA CHEN, OFFICER LIU'S WIDOW: We would also like to express our condolence to Officer Ramos' family. This is a difficult time for both of our families. But we will stand together and get through this together. Thank you. LEMON: As far as the services for the officers, funeral services for

Officer Ramos will be on Saturday. The Liu family is waiting on family from China to make their arrangements -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Don Lemon, thank you.

New York City police officers now dealing with new threats on top of grief. The NYPD investigating more than 15 new threats against officers posted on various social media platforms. Detectives are trying to figure out which if any are serious, which are credible, and because of the new threats to officers, the department plans to increase security around the Times Square ball drop this New Year's Eve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JALAA'A BRINSLEY, GUNMAN'S SISTER: I feel badly for the family, you know? We give our condolences to the families.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're grieving and we are very sorry.

BRINSLEY: This has nothing to do with police retaliation. This was a troubled -- emotionally troubled kid. He needed help. He didn't get it. If he got arrested this many times, that was a question like they help him out, but they kept releasing him into the streets. So, isn't that a problem that's a justice system should be asking? Not us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Brinsley's family says he leaves behind two children, an infant and a 5-year-old.

And in Milwaukee, more protests against police violence after the district attorney there decides not to charge a white police officer in the deaths of a mentally ill black man. The federal government is now looking into the case.

National correspondent George Howell, he is in Milwaukee for us this morning with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A group of protesters has gathered in downtown Milwaukee. I want to show you the group here, at Red Arrow Park. All of this in response to a prosecuting attorney's decision not to charge a police officer for fatally shooting a mentally ill man more than a dozen times. This happened back in April, when Officer Christopher Manney confronted Dontre Hamilton in this park, a report of a man sleeping in the park.

According to the officer, the two got into a confrontation. The officer claims that Hamilton grabbed his baton and struck him. And that is when the officer claims he used deadly force to defend himself shooting Hamilton at least 14 times. The officer was fired from his job. The police chief basically saying

that the officer did identify Hamilton as mentally ill and did not follow training and that he instigated that fight. But again, the case went to a prosecuting attorney, and the decision not to charge this police officer.

However, we have learned that the federal government will be looking into this case, the Justice Department plans to investigate as well.

George Howell, CNN, Milwaukee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, George.

Breaking overnight: a Delta Airlines baggage handler busted for allegedly running a gun smuggling operation aboard passenger jets flying between Atlanta and New York.

Federal authorities say Eugene Harvey and former Delta employee Mark Henry used carry-on luggage to transport the weapons. Police say one of the suspects admits bringing 18 guns, seven of them loaded, onto a flight to New York, including an AK-47 and AR-15. We'll find out more about one of the biggest airport security breaches in years when prosecutors hold a news conference later this afternoon.

In Australia, the prime minister issuing a new terror warning this morning, saying security officials have detected an increase level of terrorist chatter following the hostage siege in Sydney. Tony Abbott also saying a terror attack is likely. So, there will be an increased police presence across the city. His words come among a sad farewell of the two victims killed during

that attack in the downtown cafe. The cafe manager Tory Johnson and attorney Katrina Dawson laid to rest in separate ceremonies. Survivors from the standoff were on hand to pay their respects. Johnson and Dawson both remembered as heroes -- Johnson for trying to wrestle the gun from the shooter and Dawson, she was shielding a pregnant friend from the gunfire.

Republican Congressman Michael Grimm of New York is expected to plead guilty to one count of tax evasion today. The charge could land him in prison. Sources say he would admit failing to report $1 million in revenue from his restaurant business prior to his election in 2010. Grimm made headlines last year when he threatened to throw a reporter off a Capitol Hill balcony at the end of the interview when a reporter asked him about those legal troubles.

Later today, House Republicans will release a report alleging a culture of bias against conservative organizations at the Internal Revenue Service. It will reportedly claim IRS employees subverted the agency's nonpartisan mission in order to advance the political goals of President Obama. Several senior IRS officials, including the acting commissioner, have already lost their jobs.

All right. Some of the busiest travel days of the year start right now and Mother Nature is not cooperating. Let's get to meteorologist Ivan Cabrera for an early look at your

weather -- Ivan.

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Christine, for most of us, it's going to be a rain event, but the problem is, the rain is going to be very heavy, severe weather potential and also some strong winds I think are going to cause some airport delays over the next 48 hours.

So, here's the storm right now. It's just getting going across the mid-section of the country. We aren't going to have that southeastern side that's going to be looking at some nasty thunderstorms I think for today and heading into Wednesday.

As far as temperatures, not looking too bad, here's 30s and 40s to the north, and 70s and 80s in Florida. But you see the temperatures in Chicago in the 40s. So, not cold enough quite yet for snowfall. We're going to start off as a mix and then eventually as this storm pushes to the East on the back side of it, we will get in colder air and it will be snowing across parts of the Midwest, anywhere from three to five inches expected here.

Now, in the next 48 hours across the Southeastern U.S., this is where we have the bull's-eye for severe weather, damaging wind potential, certainly, large hail, and even a few tornadoes. And as we put this into motion, by the time we get into Thursday, Christmas Day itself, we are done with the storm, although a new one is getting going on across the Rockies. It will be a white Christmas certainly for parts of the western U.S.

So, this is the highlighted area. This is for today for the potential of some severe thunderstorms as we head through this afternoon. So, we'll watch that closely. And, of course, we will keep an eye through the next couple of days on the big storm heading east.

ROMANS: All right. Ivan, thank you for that. An early start on your weather.

How about an early start on your money? The Santa rally in full swing. The market with the fourth straight day of gains, pushing both the Dow and S&P to record closes. Dow more than 150 points to hit the 35th record high close. The S&P 500, 50th record. The biggest number of records in a year since 1995. Stocks could even swing higher today.

You can also thank gas prices for some extra cash this holiday season. Gas prices have now fallen a record 89 days straight. That's according to AAA, just reported the longest consecutive streak of falling prices. Average prices dropped to $2.38. That's down a buck 300 from the summer, which is also good news for whole day travelers. The group is predicting 98 million Americans will hit the roads this season, and it will cost you less this year.

All right. The Internet is back on in North Korea after a huge outage. Was it a cyber attack in retaliation for the Sony hack? Could the U.S. be involved? What about china? A live report is next.

And a legendary voice remembered. This morning, singer Joe Cocker celebrated by the Beatles this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: In North Korea, the tables may have turned, the hacker perhaps on the other side of the keyboard. Internet service in North Korea mostly back this morning, a bit spotty, after it was completely down for nine and a half hours Monday.

This follows U.S. government claims Pyongyang was behind the attack on Sony Pictures, that ended in the studio pulling the comedy, "The Interview."

But a State Department spokeswoman refusing to say whether the U.S. was behind North Korea's Internet woes.

CNN's Kyung Lah live for us now from Seoul with the latest.

The U.S. isn't saying whether it did it. The U.S. isn't saying what it could do as it's response to what it says is the North Korean hack on Sony. Tell us how this works. North Korea does not have a vibrant Internet, no question. And the pipe goes through China. So, you could argue it could be North Korea that shut it off itself, it could be China that pulled the plug, or it could be the U.S.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It could be a number of factors. When you look at what the possibilities are and the number of actors involved, it could be a number of things.

Getting to the pipe, it is a pipe out of North Korea. Think of it, North Korea has Pyongyang, one business and shooting a pipe out of North Korea into China. Well, someone essentially took scissors to it and cut the cord. So, who did it?

It could have been North Korea saying we will take a preemptive strike. We hear President Obama. He's mad and we don't want viruses or cyber attack to come to us. I mean, the president said he was going to respond.

It could also be China deciding that North Korea has been a very bad boy and we will punish you for a while and cut the cord. Or it could be a rogue hacker.

So, a number of possibilities because of the way the Internet is behaving this morning, Christine, it is looking like it may be some rogue hackers. That's what the intelligence people whom we spoken to are leaning to.

ROMANS: The flowers on the web site on the state news media. Is that the give away? What is it doing now? Are they back up and running or trying to get up and running?

LAH: The flowers are clear. When you look at what happens, when you log on to the state-run media Web site, that is the page that North Korea uses to communicate to the outside world, essentially to make those threats to the White House and Pentagon that we saw yesterday. On that Web site, when you log in, depending on the time, you get an error page, that blank error page or one time, we actually saw the bizarre pink flower. It's the flower that blooms in spring here in Korea.

So, that is a bit of a clue it may be an outside hacker. Somebody familiar with what that flower does here in Korea.

ROMANS: I think from the perspective of the United States government, too, I mean, the indications are at this point, that we may see whatever the response that the United States will give to North Korea and we may not. They're really not laying out what they could do next.

Let me ask you this about the South Korean nuclear plant getting hacked. What do we know about that?

LAH: We know someone using the very same method that they did to get into Sony did the exact same thing to the agency that runs the nuclear web sites here in Korea. When they did is got to the system administrator and took the keys and wandered around this highly classified, highly protected government agency.

Blue prints were stolen. They were posted on a web site that hackers looked at. That is sensitive information.

Given -- put it in the wrong hands, you are talking about a compromise of security of a country, 23 nuclear Web sites are combed through by the government. The important thing here, Christine, is that South Korea, anything that happens here, because they're so close to North Korea, because this is the testing ground for cyberattacks from North Korea, according to this government, this is what may lie ahead for America.

ROMANS: So terrifying. All right. Thank you so much, Kyung Lah, in Seoul for us this morning. Thank you.

Fifteen minutes past the hour.

French officials urging everyone to remain calm this morning after the second car attack on pedestrians in two days. At least 11 people were injured Monday when a 37-year-old man rammed his vehicle into a crowd of holiday shoppers in the city of Nantes. That's in western France. Police say the suspect then stabbed himself several times. It does not appear to have terrorist motives.

On Sunday, a man shouting "God is great" in Arabic rammed his vehicle into a crowd in Dijon, in eastern France, injuring 13 people.

New this morning, another setback for President Obama's efforts to shutdown the military prison in Guantanamo Bay. Cliff Sloane stepping down from his job as the State Department who negotiates detainee transfers. Sloane's resignation comes as the administration officials increasingly complained about the Pentagon's slow pace of transferring prisoners. But Sloane says that's not the reason he is quitting. He tells "The New York Times" he always planned to quit after 18 months.

U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl's fate now in the hands of a four- star general. General Mark Milley will decide whether to charge the 28-year-old criminally for leaving his post in 2009. Milley can order a court martial, he can impose non-judicial punishment, or take no action. His decision will consider a report by Bergdahl's former platoon mates who accuse him of desertion. They say he walked off his base and then was captured and held by the Taliban.

"Rolling Stone" article about the gang rape at the university of Virginia is about to get the fine-tooth comb treatment. "Rolling Stone" magazine has asked the Columbia University's School of Journalism to review its controversial and widely discredited article about a gang rape at the University of Virginia. This review will be conducted by the dean of the journalism at the journalism school and the dean of academic affairs. It will evaluate the editorial process that led to this story. "Rolling Stone" says the findings will be published unedited on its Web site.

Arizona ditching the use of a controversial lethal drug cocktail following serious complications in the execution of an inmate. It took two hours and 15 doses of this drug to kill Joseph Wood back in July. A state review found his execution was, quote, "handled appropriately", but determined the two drug combination would longer be used. The drug had previously only been used one other time in Ohio.

NASA releasing this thrilling video of Orion's spacecraft reentry into Earth's atmosphere, with speeds here, folks, of up to 20,000 miles per hour. The vantage point is amazing. Astronaut's view of reentry. It begins with the dazzling colorful light show created by friction between the spacecraft and super heated gas on the edge of the atmosphere. And then you can see parachutes deploy to slow down the capsule. The video ends right when Orion splash down off Baja, California.

All right. Eighteen minutes past the hour.

Friends and fans alike are remembering legendary singer Joe Cocker this morning.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

ROMANS: The British rocker hits included that Beatles cover "With a Little Help From My Friends". He passed away Monday after a battle with lung cancer. Paul McCarthy and Ringo Starr both expressing their condolences over Cocker's death. Cocker died at his home in Colorado. He was 70 years old. Oh, boy.

All right. The Miami Bowl should have been named the Miami brawl last night after the bench-clearing battle after the game. Brian Mcfayden is going to sort through that mess for us and tell us what sparked it in the "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. The Cincinnati Bengals did something they never accomplished before last night, that's beat a Peyton Manning-led team.

Brian Mcfayden has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Brian.

BRIAN MCFAYDEN, CNN SPORTS: Hey, Christine.

Yes, what a game this was, an AFC showdown on Monday night football between the Broncos and Bengals had all kinds of playoff implications. Peyton Manning entered the game 8-0, all time against the Bengals. After trailing 20-7 at halftime, Peyton led three third quarter touchdown drives, including this 5-yard touch pass to Emanuel Sanders to give the Broncos a 27-28 lead. But the Bengals, well, intercepted Peyton Manning, a season high, four times, this one by Drake Kirkpatrick, and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown, and a 37-28 victory. The win clinches a playoff berth for the Bengals. The Broncos loss gives the Patriots a home-field advantage throughout the entire playoffs.

The NFL suspended Lions center Dominic Raiola one game without pay for stomping on Bears defensive lineman Ferguson during Sunday's game. After the game, Raiola called the move unintentional and apologized. But the league didn't see it that way, suspending him for repeated violations of player safety. Raiola is expected to appeal the suspension, but will likely miss the Sunday's NFC North Title game against the Packers.

Free agent quarterback Rex Grossman said being home for the holidays is better than joining the Cleveland Browns for a week. With injuries to quarterback John Manziel and Brian Hoyer, the Browns reached out to the 12-year vet who could have made $53,000 for six days work, but the two sides couldn't hammer out a deal like just hanging with the in- laws and kite surfing in Palm Beach sounds better than holding a clip in Cleveland.

Usually after most college football bowl games, you see handshakes and hugs. Not this game. A huge fight breaks out after Memphis defeated BYU, things got ugly with players. It was all out brawl. Helmets swinging, cheap shots. Both schools, they are investigating the fight to determine what kind of discipline to be hand down. But BYU athletic director apologized for the incident to fans on Twitter.

And that is your "Bleacher Report", Christine. Wow.

ROMANS: I'm also surprise, Brian, when they get -- I know it's very intense and they are so pumped up in a game, but to see that unsportsmanlike conduct on such a wide scale. It is rare.

MCFAYDEN: What happened to sportsmanship at bowl games? Plus, you get it well in the New Year.

ROMANS: I know. Oh, well, I know. It's such an intense experience, I'm sure. OK. We look forward to the results of that investigation.

Brian, thank you so much.

MCFAYDEN: You're welcome.

ROMANS: Twenty-four minutes past the hour.

Calls for calm this morning after a war of words over the deaths of two New York City police officers. Mayor de Blasio now calling for protests and debates to stop until these officers are laid to rest. But can he calm these flaring tensions?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: A growing plea for calm as the war of words escalates over the murders of two NYPD officers. The mayor of New York asking protesters to hold off until these officers are laid to rest, and the widow of one of those men now speaks out.

Protests erupt after a district attorney decides not to indict a former police officer in the shooting death of a mentally ill black man. Now, the Feds are looking into this controversial and potentially exclusive case.

North Korea's Internet is back on this morning after it was struck by a major outage. Was this a cyber attack? And could the U.S. be behind it? What about China? Plus, what the Pentagon is doing to protect any attempts to hack the U.S. military.

Welcome back to EARLY START. A lot to get to today. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman has the week off. It is 28 minutes past the hour on this Tuesday morning.

This morning, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is rejecting claims that he is anti-police, and he is calling for healing and unity. With New York in mourning and vigils across the city, the mayor urged activists to hold off on further protests in the names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown until two murdered NYPD officers can be buried.

At a news conference with Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, De Blasio said he had met with the families of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, and he tried to console them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: They are in tremendous pain and they are worried deeply. The Ramos family's case, two teenagers, reminded me of my own children, good young men, who no longer have a father because of an assassin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: De Blasio urging New Yorkers and the media to focus on supporting the officers' families. But some activists said they will not heed the mayor's call to suspend protests. They will hold a police reform demonstration this afternoon in Harlem.

CNN's Don Lemon has the latest -- Don.