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Sony Will Release "The Interview" Tomorrow; Concern About North Korea Nuclear Program; CNN/ORC Poll: Jump in President's Approval Numbers; Dow Hits 18,000 for the First Time Ever

Aired December 24, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We could see one to four inches of snow around the area, giving you a white Christmas tomorrow.

It's also going to be very windy. Wind gusts, 60-65 miles per hour. Anywhere from Cleveland, including Buffalo, all the way up to Burlington. So, do expect major travel delays anywhere from New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, we're going to see rain, we're going to see wind, and also a little bit of snow.

So, here's your Christmas eve forecast, we're going to stay windy across the east with those scattered showers and storms, rain spilling all the way up to New York City, even including Boston and then rain changing into snow in the Midwest -- guys.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, J. Gray, I've got a question for you there. Where are we on the kind of Santa forecast action? I noticed this morning in the early morning hours, the elf on the shelf had not come back, which is usually portentous that Santa will make his trip, if that's how it works.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I didn't know that was a harbinger.

CUOMO: Yes. One of the, you know, little snowman there in the screen, you know, we're very seasonally sensitive. One of the elves on the shelf is a casualty of the puppy. The other one did not come back. So, what do you hear about Santa? Does it look like these are the right conditions?

GRAY: These are the perfect conditions. You know, it's windy across the east. And it is a little bit of wind to get them get from house to house rather quickly. So, it looks like conditions are going to be perfect.

CUOMO: Good to know.

CAMEROTA: All right. There you go. Thanks, Jennifer.

CUOMO: Early work. I mean, he's still packing, we understand.

CAMEROTA: Of course.

Let's get over to Christine Romans. She's in for Michaela, with all the top headlines.

Hi.

CHRISTINE ROMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The breaking news there was that the elf on the shelf got killed by your dog.

CUOMO: We had to, it was a casualty. I didn't say it was killed. Don't go too far. It doesn't look the same.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: It's got a little hitch in its giddy-up.

ROMANS: There we go. All right. Thanks, Chris.

Let's take a look at your headlines this morning.

Tensions escalating again in Missouri after a teen was shot dead by a cop at a gas station in Berkeley. This is just two miles outside Ferguson. We're told a police officer got out of his squad car when he spotted two teens during a routine check at the gas station. One of them identified in the reports as Antonio Martin allegedly pointed a gun at the officer who fired multiple shots at Martin, killing him. The other teen ran away. Police say they recovered a gun at the scene.

Deadly destructive tornadoes touching down in Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia. A state of emergency has been declared in Jackson, Mississippi, four people in the state killed by extreme weather. Thousands are without power. Hundreds of homes and businesses have been damaged or destroyed.

Breaking overnight, former President George H.W. Bush rushed to a Houston hospital. The 90-year-old former president had been complaining of a shortness of breath. Doctors say they're keeping the elder Bush in the hospital as a precaution, no word on his condition, improvement in his condition. But a spokesman said Bush is expected to be OK.

Did the former Navy SEAL who says he shot and killed Osama bin Laden, did he reveal classified information about that raid? The Navy is investigating whether Robert O'Neill let classified details leak about the raid on the terror leader's compound in Pakistan, leak when he gave TV and newspaper interviews about his role in that operation. O'Neill tells the "Associated Press" he's gone to great lengths not to divulge classified information or compromise SEAL tactics.

Those are your headlines, guys.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

CUOMO: So, a little college basketball action, we had a stunner last night. It wasn't without its share of controversy either.

Let's bring in Brian Mcfayden. He has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report." That was a game, question mark?

BRIAN MCFAYDEN, BLEACHER REPORT: No, it was -- yes, the controversy you're talking about there, Chris.

Good morning to you, guys. Merry Christmas, too.

Unranked UNLV wasn't supposed to hang around with undefeated Arizona, but the Rebels must not have gotten the memo. UNLV traded blows with the third-ranked Wildcats to the very end. And then this, Arizona's they get the ball right here with nine seconds left. Brandon Ashley misses the three-pointer. That would have tied the game.

Now take another look. Is that a goal tend by UNLV's Jalen Kendrick? It doesn't matter, refs didn't call it UNLV gets the major upset, 71- 67. The home crowd loved it time to celebrate.

The University of Michigan football program, they need a new coach and current 49ers coach and former Michigan man, Jim Harbaugh, well, he is the biggest name being floated around. So, what's Michigan's ace in the hole to lure Harbaugh back to Ann Arbor? How about a birthday card? Michigan tweeted out this pic yesterday to their favorite son, wishing him a happy birthday. Will it work?

Well it can't work -- it can't hurt, Harbaugh is reportedly out as the 49ers head coach after this weekend.

These are my favorite type of stories this time of year, NBA star Anthony Davis, along with pelicans teammates took 75 kids at a shopping spree at a Toys 'R' Us in New Orleans. It didn't take long for the competitive juices to start flowing. Davis gets posterized with a mini hoop dunk. Davis got his fair share of blocks, too, on the kids. That looks like a lot of fun for all of those involved.

Don't forget, lots of NBA action tomorrow on Christmas Day. Check out our sister station, TNT, they have the Lakers and the Bulls at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, followed by the Warriors and Clippers at 10:30.

CAMEROTA: That looked like quite the game of twister.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: He had to be a contortionist that tall to play twister.

CUOMO: Would you have ever imagined that a guy would become so cool co-make a mono brow cool? Anthony is known for having this huge un- groomed eyebrow that goes all the way across his head.

MCFAYDEN: A mustache above the eyes.

CAMEROTA: I'm not seeing a lot of people follow the lead.

CUOMO: First, it's not easy to grow and can't really see it up there. Strong.

Thank you, Mr. Mcfayden, have a great holiday. MCFAYDEN: Merry Christmas to you guys. You, too. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: All right. Great.

Well, Sony Pictures reversing its decision to pull the movie "The Interview," deciding to release the comedy for Christmas after all. The decision hailed as a victory for free speech. But how are theater owners preparing for this? We'll tell you.

CUOMO: And all the talk about North Korea's hacking ability, have we forgotten they also have nuclear capabilities? Find out why North Korea is still a lot scarier than just the Sony hack, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: If you want to see the controversial movie "The Interview" tomorrow, you have a chance. Sony reversing itself, deciding to release the comedy, despite threats of violence. Hundreds of theaters now say they will show the film, despite the Sony hack allegedly by North Korea over the depiction of dictator Kim Jong-un.

Our Kyung Lah is in Seoul, South Korea, with more of these details.

Kyung, what's the latest?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Alisyn.

It is a reversal that's being celebrated in the United States and here in South Korea. In the U.S. Sony's CEO says this is the very first step in what he is hoping will be even more releases. We don't know if that means a streaming deal, if that means trying to get it on to more theaters, but he is anticipating that there is going to be more steps.

So, that's certainly being celebrated. We heard from Seth Rogen via Twitter. He said this was a victory for freedom. We should point out that those hundreds you were referring to certainly less than the 3,000 that were expected when the original deal was made for Christmas Day.

But nonetheless, it's also being celebrated here in South Korea, because this country certainly feels backing down from North Korea is not the right thing to do, even though the movie was never going to be shown here.

As far as North Korea -- not a peep. We've been listening and watching state-run television, it's been running the standard propaganda fare. But nothing about the Sony hack and certainly nothing about what's happened to their Internet and the overnight hours here in South Korea. Two nights in a row, getting completely knocked off the grid -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: And, Kyung, do we know how these new theater owners are going to take precautions?

LAH: What we do know is they are in talks with their local police. We also know that the FBI is supporting this decision to move forward. There is certainly going to be some concern. But really, when you

talk to the international security experts, they say that this really doesn't seem in the realm of something North Korea would do. What a lot of people are watching is whether or not there may be something brewing as far as another cyberattack -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Kyung Lah, it's been fascinating to watch the about-face in terms of the reaction to this movie, thank you so much for that report.

So, while North Korea's alleged cyberattack captured much of the limelight, there's a larger issue -- North Korea's nuclear capacity. According to a new report, North Korea has enough weapons grade plutonium to build nine nuclear weapons and the number could skyrocket at the present rate.

So, here to weigh in is our CNN political analyst, Josh Rogin. He's also a columnist for "Bloomberg View."

Josh, great to see you.

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Great to see you, too, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: It sounds like you're saying that our fears of North Korea have been misplaced. We've been so focused on their hack capabilities that we've taken our eye off the ball of their nuclear capabilities.

What are we missing?

ROGIN: Right. Well, I've been talking to North Korea experts since the Sony hack story began. They all say the same thing. They say, well, it's great that responding to the hack of a movie theater but what about the North Korea's nuclear program. North Korea is racing towards a bomb arsenal that rivals Pakistan and India, and nobody seems to care about that. The administration doesn't have a plan to deal with it there's no engagement with North Korea on that.

So, what about North Korea is doing that's much more serious than any delay of a Seth Rogen comedy? There has to be some sort of acknowledgement, that North Korea's actions on the cyber front are a symptom of a greater problem, that this is a regime that's threatening the region, building up its missile technology, stockpiling uranium and plutonium.

And that's the big threat, that's the big problem. And while we can do these proportional responses that make us feel better about what's going on with the movie theater, we don't really have a plan to deal with the larger issue.

CAMEROTA: Is it true that analysts believe that North Korea in just five years will have enough material for 79 nuclear weapons?

ROGIN: Well, that's the latest analysis and that's the high-end analysis. So, there are four different facilities in North Korea that are pumping out plutonium and highly enriched uranium on a constant basis. Even if the low estimate is taken, let's say the low estimate is 45 nuclear weapons, that's a lot of nuclear weapons.

It allows North Korea to totally change the game. Instead of having a couple of bombs that they hold in reserve, they could deploy them, threaten Japan, China, South Korea. They could threaten parts of the United States. That's a big deal. It could start an arms race. It could change all sorts of military calculations all over the region.

They're going to continue doing it. The only way to stop them is by re-entering a negotiation and the United States government hasn't done whatever it's going to take to get back to that negotiation. You know, so the people say maybe the movie is funny, not funny. What is not funny is being threatened by a nuclear arsenal that rivals Pakistan and could change the security situation for the entire northeast Asia.

CAMEROTA: Josh, if North Korea is pumping up plutonium production and uranium production, why isn't the U.S. or the international community as a whole giving them some sort of push-back?

ROGIN: Well, to be fair, it's really tough to deal with North Korea. They're terrible to negotiate with. This is their game. They threaten and they do these sort of provocative things, until you respond.

And then when you respond, they ask you for a bribe. If you bribe them maybe they don't do anything belligerent for a little while. They play this game for so many decades that the Obama administration looks at it and says, we don't want to play this game again.

The problem is there's no good alternative if you ignore them, they get more belligerent. If you leave them alone, they have to come up with new ways to make you pay attention to them. And one of those new ways is to hack a movie theater. So, a lot of what we're seeing on the Sony story is a result of us ignoring them.

Even though we don't like to pay attention to North Korea and it's difficult and they're tough to deal with, we have to because the only alternative is to leave them alone and when we leave them alone, they build up nuclear and missile arsenals that are going to make it much bigger problem to deal with and much harder to deal with whenever it is we decide to stop ignoring them.

CAMEROTA: Such a conundrum. Josh Rogin, thanks so much for sharing your reporting.

CUOMO: All right. Alisyn, it looks like there's going to be a Christmas gift for everyone from the president, the American economy is really starting to hum on all cylinders, rapid growth, plunging oil prices and new numbers that are long and strong for the president for making it all happen. We have brand new polls, and what they mean, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: The jingle, there's even more of it now. CNN money time chief business correspondent Christine Romans has headlines for us. ROMANS: Bells of another sort this morning. The Santa rally in full

swing this morning.

The Dow topped 18,000 for the first time in history, climbing 1,000 points since last week, folks. The S&P hit another record, putting it on track for three years in a row of double-digit percentage gains, that is something. The S&P 500 up 200 percent since it bottomed out in March of 2009. Those red pull-backs, look at those, those are almost corrections or attempts to correct bull market now, more than 2,000 days old.

The market jump came as the U.S. economy grew at an incredible 5 percent last quarter, the fastest pace for the economy in 11 years. The growth has not gone unnoticed by American consumers for the first time in seven years, folks, a majority of Americans think the economy is good, a remarkable, remarkable turn-around in sentiment.

And you can thank crashing gas prices for the increase in confidence, the feeling better about the economy. Gas prices down a record 90 days straight. That's never happened. That's according to AAA. Average prices now $2.35 a gallon.

Look at that, down more than $1.30 since the summer peak. That puts extra cash right in American wallets this holiday season. And, guys, you can see it, you can see it in these poll numbers. You can see it in the stock market. You can see it in the GDP numbers. It looks good.

CUOMO: Even diesel is really low. You know traditionally diesel is much higher than even super high test. Now, it's lower. It's great thing.

CAMEROTA: All right. The Dow reaching record highs this week. And now, the president's job approval seeing improvement.

The new CNN/ORC poll to show you gives President Obama his highest rating since May of 2013.

Let's talk about all of this, what it means for your wallet and for the president with CNN global economic analyst and "TIME" assistant managing editor, Rana Foroohar, and Paul Begala, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist, also a senior advisor for the super PAC, Priorities USA Action.

Paul, I want to start with you. Is this -- are President Obama's improving poll numbers directly tied to the improving stock market numbers? Or are you going to claim it has something to do with leadership?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's not simply the stock market, because that's been booming for quite some time. I think the most important thing to look at in economic data from a political point of view is jobs and income. And more Americans this Christmas have jobs. They're making a little bit more. We want to see incomes go up. But 20 states have raised the minimum wage had nothing to do with

President Obama. But -- so, it's mostly the economy. But there has also been some of the executive actions the president has taken since he got pasted in the election just a few weeks ago, particularly on immigration and now opening up to Cuba. President believe it or not, even getting shellacked is now on a roll.

CUOMO: Well, you know, pocketbook politics dominate at the end of the day.

But, Rana, here's the thing, I'm happy for good news, everybody should be happy for good news. But there is a concern that sometimes the politicians will ignore what lies under those numbers.

Christine is always great at telling us, jobs are being made, but are they the right jobs? Is income going up? Underemployment. We never talk about that number, the unemployment.

What do we see there that still creates a need?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: So, the recovery is still bifurcated. There's no question, there's a lot of jobs at the top. There's always been a lot of jobs at the bottom. There aren't enough in the middle.

That said, these last few months, we've really seen a little bit of a turn where consumers are opening their wallet. Actually even before oil prices began to fall, were you see the uptick really start. That means when there's more spending, companies want to invest more, more jobs are being created. We're really hoping we're getting to the tipping point where you're seeing more middle market jobs, finally.

CAMEROTA: Paul, what a turn of fortunes, just earlier this year, people were dissing the president, saying that Vladimir Putin was a more sort of powerful leader. He was showing real leadership on the world stage and that, you know, President Obama was you know, totally lackluster here.

Here's a little -- we've put together a little mash-up of what the hype used to be. Take a look this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NYC MAYOR: Putin decides what he wants to do, and he does it in half a day. That's what you call a leader. President Obama got to think about it, he's got to go over it again.

REP. MIKE ROGERS (R), MICHIGAN: I think Putin is playing chess and I think we're playing marbles.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Passive responses to naked aggression all over the world is our foreign policy. Putin, who has an economy the size of Italy, he's playing poker with a pair of two's and winning.

(END VIDEO CLIPS) CAMEROTA: Paul, now, Putin is overseeing a cratering economy and the president, President Obama, is seeing this robust economy and it just feels at the end of the day, that it's always about the economy.

BEGALA: Well, that's right. And the economy I'm sure Christine could correct me if I'm wrong, driven by energy. The most important thing that's happened is Russia, John McCain famously said this -- Russia is a gas station with nuclear weapons or something like that. And when the price of oil goes down like that, it's devastating to Mr. Putin. And though I will say, this president rallied the civilized world to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs, you saw a lot of politicians say that will never work.

It's had real effect, along with the collapse of oil prices. Mr. Putin now, who you're right, everybody was looking at like he was such a great deal, when that was going on the president called him a regional power and he is, he's a failing regional power now. Look, the president was right and his critics were wrong. I do think it helps that oil prices have collapsed, but, you know, that's part of our policy.

ROMANS: You know, Paul, it's interesting, the biggest jump in optimism among Americans in our polling is among people who make $50,000 a year or less, that is oil prices, that is gas prices. And those are the people who are now feeling better about the economy and feeling better about the president. But the president isn't responsible for $2.50 oil.

So, is it the president's policies that really are behind these better approval ratings?

BEGALA: Well, actually this is counterintuitive for a Democrat, but he's had a very aggressive policy on drilling. He's been more pro- fracking than maybe some of his friends in the environmental community have wanted. This -- the United States of America is fixing to pass Saudi Arabia as the largest oil producer on the planet Earth.

So, it has had something to do with policy. It's a global market. That's the most important thing. But the United States has become such a big player that our policies matter.

CUOMO: Talk about having it both ways, Begala. Hold on, I can't let it go, even on Christmas I'm not letting it go, Begala.

You have hit me over the head with we got to get off the oil dependence, the president is always saying we have to do it. And now you're saying he's like captain frack, you know, and you know, we're passing Saudi Arabia. I mean, come on. Your mouth is going to split in half you keep talking out of both sides of it like this.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: Well, both are true. We can't get off tomorrow, but the president says go back and look at the last couple State of the Union Address, he had said. He's been very pro-fracking. He has. Look at his policy. It has been. That may again, that probably annoys a lot of people on his left and

his own party. But the president has vast executive authorities. He could have clamped down, had he wanted to. Instead, he's allowed permitting to go forward. He said he's an all of the above policy.

We do have to get off oil. No doubt about it. But, you know, one of the things that's happening right now is we're producing so much that the price is dropping.

CAMEROTA: Rana, when gas prices go up or down, can the president be blamed or take credit for that?

FOROOHAR: Absolutely not. Oil market is a global market. They have very little to do with the president. You know, the U.S. is becoming a huge producer. That's one of the reasons that there's more supply online right now, which is one of the reasons the prices are dropping. So, in that sense, the U.S. economy does play part in this, but not the president.

CAMEROTA: Rana Foroohar, Paul Begala, thanks so much for the fun debate this morning.

CUOMO: Hey, the economy is a big story. There's a lot of news this morning for you. So, let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police near Ferguson, Missouri, shot and killed a black teenager at a gas station after the man aimed a handgun at the officer.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They just got my baby laying out there. He's been out there for about two hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've marched from downtown in Manhattan and now they're up in Harlem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may be the most tense it's been.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to keep the pressure on if you care about reform in the justice system.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bad weather complicates holiday travel for millions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's it, that's the tornado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not too sure. This used to be a gas station. There's debris all over the place here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, December 24th, Christmas Eve morning. I'm Alisyn Camerota, alongside Chris Cuomo.

And we begin with breaking news for you. There are tempers flaring in Missouri this morning after a police officer shoots a teenager to death at a gas station. This is happening just a couple of miles away from Ferguson, Missouri.

CUOMO: Only this time, it's a different situation.