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New Day

Terror Attack on Offices of French Magazine; Crews Find Tail of AirAsia Flight 850; Interview with Jon Bramnick and John Wisniewski

Aired January 07, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This morning, Baltimore police urging other East Coast police agencies to be on heightened alert after a frightening incident involving a local gang. On Tuesday, a 29-year-old man brought a loaded handgun into a Baltimore police station, saying it was a security test ordered by the gang Black Guerilla Family.

COMMISSIONER ANTHONY BATTS, BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT: That is alarming for us and I'm going to send a message along those lines to understand that we're not going to cower.

CARROLL: Commissioner Anthony Batts calling a meeting with the FBI, ATF and DEA as the incident comes amid national concerns about violence against police. In New York City, two men under arrest, a third in custody, for the shootings of two police officers at a grocery store in the Bronx Monday night.

OFFICER: Shots fired, 187 Tiebout, white Chevy Camaro going northbound.

OFFICER: Shots fired. Shots fired.

CARROLL: This new surveillance video capture the alleged rock robbery in progress, minutes before the shootout between gunman Jason Polanco and police. Both officers, 30-year-old Andrew Dossi, and 38-year-old Aliro Pellarano, are in stable condition.

Mayor Bill de Blasio commending the officers for their bravery.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: We depend on them to keep the whole city safe. They do it with extraordinary skill and professionalism.

CARROLL: Despite the mayor's public praise, a rift remains between some in the NYPD. Critics charge he hasn't shown enough support for officers, helping pave the way for fatal attacks on their police force.

Officer Dossi's father weighing in, sharing his son's perspective.

JOSEPH DOSSI, FATHER OF OFFICER ANDREW DOSSI WO WAS SHOT IN BRONX: Maybe he would think that the mayor should give them more respect for the job that they do. CARROLL: At the funeral for former New York mayor, Mario Cuomo, his

son, Governor Andrew Cuomo, talked about what his father would call for.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: It's time for the city to come together. It's time to stop the negative energy and to move forward.

(DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING)

CARROLL: This divide underscoring racial tensions between police and the communities they protect, stemming from the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York, and both grand jury decisions not to indict.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (on camera): Members of the Black Caucus are requesting hearings into the issues raised by their deaths, calling for broader police reform. House Speaker John Boehner did indicate last month the House might hold hearings on the deaths of Garner and Brown. The Black Caucus expected to keep up that pressure to see that that happens -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Jason, the obvious concern is that you have to understand the entire scope of the problem before you can figure out the solution.

So, let's get a little deeper on this right now. We have Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor at New York 1 News. And Dan Bongino, he's a former NYPD officer and former Secret Service agent.

Thank you, fellas, for being with us this morning.

Let's talk about the scope of the problem. Yes, we see what's happening in New York, Ferguson.

But now let me start with you, Dan, what we see in Baltimore, what we see in Colorado Springs, Colorado? They had a different type of threat there.

What do you think about those situations? Are they related to emerging racial tensions in your opinion?

DAN BONGINO, FORMER NYPD OFFICER: Well, I can't comment on the racial tensions so much. But I can comment on the general ecosystem out there of anti-police anger that I think a lot of police officers feel has been fuelled by people leveraging comments for political gain and not necessarily for improving relationships between the community and the police. And that's where this anger between the police officers and Mayor De Blasio is really generating from.

CUOMO: But when you see in Baltimore, a gang allegedly trying to target the police surveil their security, by sending in a dummy with a weapon, in Colorado Springs, this allegation that there may have been an explosion outside the NAACP that was deliberate. You know would that be seen as retaliatory? Do you think that's part of our concern here is watching what's happening?

BONGINO: Yes, I think your analysis there is accurate. I think it could be, it could be seen as retaliatory. And I think the fact that Batts from Baltimore, the police chief there, felt the need to put this out nationally. I think he has some more information there that they might, they might not be, they may not be saying to the media. But I think there may be some more intelligence there.

CUOMO: Errol, when you're looking at these situations, I could be connecting dots falsely here, hopefully they have nothing to do with one another. That would be much bet anywhere terms of what we're dealing with nationally. But what is the level of concern you believe in terms of an American issue?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I say it a little bit differently. I think there are sort of two contending national movements that are kind of going at a it over policing. So, you know, we've seen all of these black lives matter and a lot of these things pushing for research of police departments. And at the same time, there's been a less-reported string of spontaneously organized demonstrations, sea of blue is what they sort of use the hashtag around, everywhere, Massachusetts, Utah, Washington state, people coming into the streets and saying look, we support our police.

So, there are two different sort of groups that are out there saying very, very passionately they want something to happen. The need for change, though, is simply undeniable. I think about a dozen different police departments around the country where there's federal oversight. You know there have been findings just recently in Cleveland, saying that the police something aggressive, it's not professional. It's not necessarily even constitutional. It's got to be changed.

And then against that backdrop, you have everyday dangers that police face here in New York, Baltimore and other places.

CUOMO: While you say that it's undeniable that we need change, isn't it also undeniable that things have gotten better over time that policing today is better than it ever has been?

LOUIS: Oh, sure. Well, this is the peace dividend. Keep in mind in New York City, this is the safe -- we just completed the safest year in history of the city. And yet, people are in the streets and fighting.

Well, one of the reasons they're fighting is that there's a need to sort of focus on where we go next. This shooting is tragic as it was, where the two officers were shot in the Bronx this week, you know, 20 years ago, that happened five, six, seven times a day. That, as far as just hop sides, 2,000 homicides a year in the early '90s, a different era now, thank God we have the room to sort of fight over the fine tuning of how we keep the city safe.

CUOMO: Right. Now, Dan, it's not a mistake that I've glossed over what we've been seeing with the officers turning their backs here in New York City, I think it does have to start to be ignored. You have to move past it and get to where it's just unacceptable. You know you have to have your officers on the job respecting the

mayor. You know you have to have your communities respecting your police. So, the question is, how do we get there?

When you see the new crime stats, what seems to show a precipitous drop, not in crime, but in police action, arrests down 55 percent, year-over-year. Summonses from parking, traffic, criminal, transit, all down about 90 percent year over year, it seems to suggest inaction.

Are you concerned about this?

BONGINO: Of course, we all should be concerned about that. But two points here, number one, on the summons front, cops in my opinion having been there, police officers have always seen that as kind of a revenue generation measure -- there are a lot of informal quotas for summonses, I think the public generally suspects that, anyway and sometimes when they want to speak out they'll slow down in writing parking tickets and moving violations. I don't think you're going to have a lot of public uproar about that.

But on the criminal front, you're not going to see a police officer out there who is being summoned for help, God forbid in the middle of a robbery or some kind of assault, that's not going to respond. As a matter of fact you've seen quite the opposite. Two of the off-duty officers were off-duty and responded to the robbery.

CUOMO: Right.

BONGINO: I think they're just generally more in the hands off attitude and discretionary events, because they don't feel like the mayor is going to back them up.

CUOMO: Final word, Errol?

LOUIS: So much of this is about respect and the good part about that is it's something can you give, it's something that you can figure out, it's something that's political. It's something that people of goodwill can work out. Hopefully, we're going to see that happen.

CUOMO: Key word is leadership. We have to see it, that's what will move this forward. We'll be looking for it.

Dan Bongino, thank you very much.

Errol Louis, very nice op-ed on this in the "Daily News".

LOUIS: Thank you.

CUOMO: Thank you very much.

Back to you, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Chris, as you know, we're following breaking news. We've just gotten an updated bulletin at least 10 people have been killed in this shooting in Paris at a satirical newspaper office. These are the very first pictures that you're seeing. This is the first video outside the scene.

Again, this is a French satirical newspaper. It is significant because it is the same newspaper that was bombed in 2011 for publishing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. Again, at least 10 people have been killed this morning. We have all the breaking details for you straight ahead. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: To breaking news now out of Paris: an attack at the office of a well-known French satirical magazine has left at least 10 people dead. We're hearing two heavily armed gunmen stormed into Charlie Hebdo's newspaper office in Paris. You may recall, that office was firebombed and severely damaged several years ago, in response to cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed.

I want to get straight to CNN's Jim Bittermann in Paris.

Jim, bring us the very latest. What, 10 dead, among them, police officers.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to the prosecutor's office, it could actually be higher than that. We're still waiting for confirmation, there are numbers reported as high as 11 that had been killed in this attack this morning, and a number of people injured. Basically, the gunmen according to eyewitnesses, went into the offices during the editorial meeting this morning, as editors and reporters and cartoonists had gathered around, and started shooting.

And an attack that went on for about five minutes, and according to some eyewitnesses, the attackers also were armed with a rocket launcher as well as submachine guns. And so, it looks like it was a very well prepared attack. The men were dressed in black, two men dressed in black. Police gave pursuit and a number of police officers have been injured. One as you mentioned may have been killed, pursuing the gunmen as they were running from the scene.

That's about what the latest is from now. But we're expecting as the hours continue, we'll have a lot more confirmation, because both the interior minister and the Paris prosecutor on their way to the scene to look at things and see -- make their own assessment of what exactly happened, Alisyn -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: That's all right, Jim. Thanks so much.

A lot of details coming in. Stay with CNN. We'll bring you more information as it arrives to us here.

Meanwhile, an important find in the search for AirAsia Flight 8501, crews have found the plane's tail at the bottom of the Java Sea. Now, this discovery is extremely important because that section could carry the plane's critical black box. Meantime, another body has been pulled from the water, bringing the number of recovered victims to 40.

Leaders of the new Republican-led Congress will have to wait until next week for a sit-down with President Obama. The 114th Congress got down to business Tuesday. John Boehner was re-elected as speaker of the House for a third term, surviving a challenge from Tea Party conservatives.

Fallout from dissenters came quickly. Two Republican members who did not support him were removed from the influential House Rules Committee.

A funeral service will be held for the first of the four victims of the plane crash in Kentucky, from which 7-year-old Sailor Gutzler managed to survive. Her 14-year-old cousin Sierra Wilder will be laid to rest in her hometown of Nashville, Illinois. Services for Sailor's parents and for her older sister are scheduled for Friday.

Our thoughts and prayers certainly with all those family members.

CUOMO: Still amazing that anybody walked away.

PEREIRA: I still can't believe it.

CUOMO: We're going to take a break. But we'll stay on this developing situation in Paris. The numbers are just getting more and more frightening.

Remember, it is the middle of the day in France right now. It's seven hours ahead, six hours ahead. It's 12:45.

Two heavily armed gunmen, automatic weapons, maybe a rocket launcher, entered the offices of the satirical magazine, this French magazine, and just opened fire. High dead count now, as many as 10 killed.

Police officers had to come in, they had to pursue. They may have been injured, as many as three so far. The numbers are changing.

This is a situation that totally caught French authorities off-guard. The president is on the way, the interior minister, the prosecutors office. It's a developing situation with huge implications.

CAMEROTA: We understand from our reporter that this newspaper used to have a heavy police surveillance outside it because it was targeted in 2011 for publishing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. It was firebombed and then somehow in the past few weeks, he says, the police surveillance faded away a little bit and now, today, during their editorial meeting, there's been this gun attack.

We'll keep you updated on all of that.

Also, we're going to be talking about Chris Christie. As you know, he's taken some criticism for this hug seen round the world. He has been, of course, getting the royal treatment from the Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Critics are calling for an ethics investigation about all of this. Is his relationship too cozy? We'll debate that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Welcome back. Well, it was the hug that went viral. This was the hug between the

governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, and Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, after their playoff win over the Detroit Lions. I never get tired of watching that hug actually.

There are now big questions about the business dealings between the New Jersey governor and a company that he was promoting and the Cowboys owner had a stake in.

Joining us to discuss whether this hug has ethical implications is New Jersey Assembly minority leader, Republican Jon Bramnick, and Democrat New Jersey assemblyman and deputy speaker, John Wisniewski. He is also the co-chair of the state legislative investigation into the George Washington Bridge scandal.

Gentlemen, great to see you.

JON BRAMNICK (R), NEW JERSEY ASSEMBLY MINORITY LEADER: Good to be here.

JOHN WISNIEWSKI (D), NEW JERSEY ASSEMBLYMAN: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: John, let me start with you. Is this hug-gate?

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Is this more than just the expression of a bromance between the three men? You see a problem with this hug?

WISNIEWSKI: Well, I see it a problem there. It was a very awkward moment. When you look at the video, I kind of felt bad for the governor because he didn't seem like he was part of the hug. But --

CAMEROTA: But beyond that, you see him being cozy with Jerry Jones as a problem?

WISNIEWSKI: Well, his company, Jerry Jones' company in which he's a significant investor is doing work with the Port Authority. So, for the governor to receive this kind of benefit, to be flown down, his entire family for the game seems really questionable.

CAMEROTA: Jon, flying on private planes, being in the luxury box, getting free tickets, this for a man of the people, Chris Christie.

BRAMNICK: People are very emotional when it comes to football. Chris Christie is authentic. So, he's always been a Dallas Cowboys fan. He's somebody who is going to stand up even for his team.

That's why he's been so successful in New Jersey. The fact of the matter is, he had no influence over the process in New York. I think Randy Levin, president of the Yankees, said that connection is silly. They had a vetting process for years to determine who was going to tab that project.

CAMEROTA: So, no quid pro quo. You don't see any quid pro quo. The fact is Christie is getting all this free stuff, he's not doing any favors for his friend, Jerry Jones.

BRAMNICK: What you see is football mania. People get irrational sometimes about football and their teams. This is a typical -- I think an overreaction, of course.

CAMEROTA: Yes. But beyond the football mania, you don't think there's any one hand washing the other, he's doing favors for Jerry Jones?

BRAMNICK: There's been a partisan attack on Chris Christie for a year and they found nothing with respect to bridge-gate.

(CROSSTALK)

BRAMNICK: This is a popular national Republican who is authentic, people want to be around, and I can understand why people would attack him.

WISNIEWSKI: It's the hypocrisy.

CAMEROTA: John, it's just simple. They're just friends.

WISNIEWSKI: It's the hypocrisy. When the governor was the U.S. attorney, he admonished New Jersey local officials. He said if someone is offering you a ham sandwich, don't take it, it looks bad.

Now, here you have the governor of the state who has operational control of the Port Authority, who has the ability to award the contracts, taking not just a ham sandwich, but a plane ride back and forth to a game. I mean, there's not a lot of people in New Jersey being invited.

And this notion about personal friendship -- they're personal friends because he's the governor of the state of New Jersey, not because Mr. Jones was looking for somebody in Morris County to invite down do a football game.

CAMEROTA: John is saying he's a likable guy. He wants to be friends with the governor of New Jersey. Are you saying that the governor, Chris Christie, should reject any sorts of free plane rides, any sorts of free football tickets and sorts of invitations to a luxury box?

WISNIEWSKI: It's a double standard. You know, Jon Bramnick and I could not under our code of conduct as legislators take a gift even from a personal friend of that magnitude. But a governor of the state of New Jersey who has the ability to put his signature on contracts has the ability? There's something wrong with that system.

CAMEROTA: What is it that you rejected, Jon?

BRAMNICK: The governor followed the letter of the law. He's absolutely above board.

Look, John Wisniewski had been the chairman of the Democratic Party, that's his job. Partisan attacks, trying to find some fire where there's smoke. That's what he tries to do. CAMEROTA: Gentlemen, thanks so much, we'll see if hug-gate has any

legs after this. Great to be both of you. Thanks so much.

Let's go back to Chris for breaking news.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn.

We have developing details on this situation in France. It is now being called a terrorist attack by the French president. People entered into this magazine in France, maybe as ten or more have been killed.

We have the latest. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY. I'm Alisyn Camerota with Chris Cuomo.

We want to welcome our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. We do have breaking news.

There are two major stories that we're covering this morning. There's been an attack in Paris, France. Eleven people have been killed, after two men with automatic weapons stormed into the offices of a French satirical newspaper.

The president of France is calling this a terrorist attack.

CUOMO: We also have overnight a big discovery in the search for AirAsia Flight 8501. The tail section has been discovered at the bottom of the Java Sea. Remember, that's where they keep the black boxes, so that will be very important.

Let's get back to what is happening in France right now. We have Jim Bittermann in Paris.

Jim, this has been a developing situation throughout the morning. We know that this took place at this satirical magazine.