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CNN NEWSROOM

Remembering Slain NYPD Officers; Movie Controversy; Tech Hits and Misses

Aired December 26, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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


PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour now on this Friday. I'm Pamela Brown.

And, right now, as we speak, a wake is under way for New York police officer Rafael Ramos. The 40-year-old father of two was gunned down in his patrol car, along with partner, officer Wenjian Liu.

A moving moment, as Ramos's casket arrived, a solemn procession flanked by NYPD officers. And in case you're wondering, that flag you see draped over the coffin is the official flag of the NYPD. And the man suspected of killing Ramos and his partner was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound right after the shootings. Ismaaiyl Brinsley posted threats on his Instagram account before the ambush, saying -- quote -- "I'm putting wings on pigs today."

But in a sign of brotherhood and camaraderie between police officers, tomorrow, more than 25,000 officers from all over the country will be flooding the church for officer Ramos' funeral.

Let's go live now to Alexandra Field. She is standing right outside the church where the wake is happening.

And I'm just curious to know. We know all of these officers are coming in from across near and far. Have you been able to speak to any of these people that are there today?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we're doing initially, Pamela, is we're staying on this side of the street right now, and you can see why. It's because there are so many hundreds of people, hundreds of officers, hundreds of family members, community members, friends, relatives who have come out here.

And they have waited parentally in line for hours this morning to pay tribute in a very solemn and somber way. There have been some people in the community who we have been able to speak to who have been out here who have said that they wanted to come here to see this, maybe even to just see these officers line up and to witness this, to pay tribute in their own way.

It's the same thing that we saw at the sidewalk memorial that has grown over the last week in the same spot where officer Rafael Ramos and officer Wenjian Liu were assassinated in their patrol car. This is a day that is about both of them, but it is also really about paying final farewell to officer Rafael Ramos. It is happening here in Queens at the home church of officer Ramos.

He was a part of this church for 14 years. He's described as a officer and a man of great faith who was deeply involved in this church. We know that just a few hours before he was killed, he was set to graduate from a chaplaincy program.

Fellow police officers are here today to honor him. He was part of the force for two years, 40 years old, married, a father of two young sons who are inside with their mother, grieving on this day, Pamela, with so many people in this city and well beyond it.

BROWN: And we know officer Ramos's funeral is set for tomorrow. The details of Liu's service have not been announced. But his wife of just two months attended an emotional news conference today, Alexandra, with a pledge for help. Tell us about that.

FIELD: So many organizations have come forward wanting to show their support for these two fallen officers.

One of them, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which says it is their intention to pay off the mortgage for both of these officers. That's an $800,000 commitment. We heard from the former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani. He has already contributed $20,000 and he spoke about the need for people to really come forward and support both of the families who are grieving right now. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK: You and I can go to bed, our children can go to bed, our parents can go to bed safe because this family and the Ramos family sacrificed their son, their husband, the breadwinner of the family.

So I'm making a contribution specifically in addition to the other contributions that I make to the Tunnel to Towers fund of $20,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: Officer Liu's widow was at that press conference. You could see the grief on her face. She was comforted by loved ones, family members who were also in attendance.

And again these families are being supported by so many organizations that want to step forward and offer something, help in some way. The New York Yankees offering to pay for the education of officer Ramos' two children.

As far as officer Liu's final farewell, the family has not announced any arrangements at this point, but JetBlue airlines has come forward saying that they are working to bring family members from China to New York so that that funeral can happen. JetBlue, Pamela, also has offered now to fly in more than 670 officers who live in various cities along their routes. They will be flying them in to attend officer Ramos' funeral tomorrow.

We're expecting to see some 25,000 police officers in these streets ready to say their goodbyes. Some 30,000 people total are expected to be here. We know that various dignitaries will be here, including Mayor Bill de Blasio and the police commissioner, Bill Bratton -- Pamela.

BROWN: Wow. Incredible. It's so amazing to see all these people rallying around these two grieving families.

Alexandra Field, thank you very much.

And no doubt about it. Holiday cheer in New York has been overshadowed by the deaths of these two officers. The city, as we talked about, still in mourning after the actions of a lone gunman nearly a week ago. The loss no doubt weighing on fellow officers as they try to keep the peace, while also keeping a watchful eye, wary of the potential for more violence.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is in New York with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, this neighborhood in Queens is already being blanketed in blue, as you can see, NYPD preparing for 25,000 police officers to show up to this funeral, this as NYPD is on alert for more threats.

(voice-over): NYPD in mourning and on heightened alert.

BILL DE BLASIO (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: Any statements suggesting violence towards the police need to be reported to the police so we can stop future tragedies.

MARQUEZ: Seven people arrested in connection with making threats against NYPD. Three arrested for posting threats on social media, two for making false 911 calls. Two others arrested, one for making threats against 104th precinct in Queens, the other against the 84th precinct in Brooklyn where the two assassinated officers worked. Officer Rafael Ramos' family came to the 84th precinct Wednesday. His elder son Justin calling his father a hero, said "I'm going to miss his loving presence and I can't begin to fathom what life is going to be like without him." The memorial to the two officers growing in proportion to the sorrow felt citywide.

Police have come, sometimes alone, others in groups, all with a show of respect. Their grief unmistakable.

(on camera): And JetBlue airlines saying that they are going to bring 600 police officers from different departments around the country to this area. Businesses across the city also stepping up, raising tens of thousands of dollars for both families. The next few days going to be very emotional, not only for NYPD, but for the city -- Pamela.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Miguel Marquez, thank you very much.

And let's talk about these threats with Rashid Abdul-Salaam. He's a private investigator and security specialist.

Rashid, thanks for coming on to talk with us.

RASHID ABDUL-SALAAM, PRIVATE INVESTIGATION AND SECURITY SPECIALIST: Thanks for having me.

BROWN: I want to know what your thoughts are, what your reaction is to these new threats against the NYPD. Do they surprise you?

ABDUL-SALAAM: First, I want to extent my condolences to the Ramos family and to the Liu family.

These threats do not surprise me. Obviously, in this society, we have these copycat people who want attention, and who knows what the agenda is of other people who are doing these particular threats, certainly misguided and maybe some mentally deficient people as well.

So it doesn't surprise me in that this is occurring.

BROWN: What do you think about what some people are saying, that the recent protests that we have seen in Ferguson and elsewhere may have contributed to this rise in threats and the deaths of Ramos and Liu? What do you say to that?

ABDUL-SALAAM: I don't see that there's any real hard and fast evidence to that, saying that that is the case, nor is it any hard and fast evidence that it doesn't occur.

But what I would like to see going forward is this. I would like to see the type of support and the gatherings of the public going to the city council and to the budgetary committees when they're having the -- they're nailing out the budgets for police raises and firefighters.

Let's see if we can pack those arenas and give those police officers the proper support in terms of salaries that they deserve, as opposed to them working second and third jobs.

I wore the uniform, and one of the things when you are a patrol officer, a police officer, you have to work these additional assignments just to make ends meet. And I believe that we should have the same amount of participation at these budgetary hearings, whichever your municipality is, flood those halls and participate in demanding that police officers get compensated properly.

Everybody wants police officer services, but they want it for a security guard budget.

BROWN: Let's talk about something that happened this week, because there have been protests, more protests over another police shooting in Missouri that was just two miles from the Saint Louis suburb of Ferguson where Michael Brown was killed.

Now, in this case, though, the shot teenager was armed. There were surveillance videos that appears to show him pointing the gun at the officer. But I'm curious, are you concerned that with each new police incident that we're going to continue to see these kinds of outpourings, this kind of reaction and how do you bridge the gap?

ABDUL-SALAAM: We have to stop and pause, take a deep breath, and look at each incident as the facts present themselves.

We can't have this knee-jerk emotional reaction to everything that happens in reference to police encounters with the public and these types of incidents. It's not rational. It's not fair. And it does our country a disservice for us to have this knee-jerk emotional reaction.

Let's look at these situations and judge them based on the merit of the particulars involved in each one of these incidents.

BROWN: All right, because we saw in this particular case, there were protests and everything going on right after it happened, before that surveillance video was released.

Let's talk about these threats. And we sort of touched on this earlier. But there's the question, OK, so what can we do to protect the officers, to make sure this doesn't happen again? What action do you think the NYPD and other, you know, police officers can take moving forward to protect themselves?

ABDUL-SALAAM: Well, quite frankly, there's nothing new that we can do for this. Everyone that puts on that uniform and takes that oath of office and goes out into the communities, into the streets to serve the community, they understand that that threat is there.

There's really not a lot that we can do, other than for each of the commanders that are supervising the rank-and-file officers to remind them to be diligent, to be vigilant in moving about in the community. But, you know, unfortunately, it is an unfortunate result of this type of work, and so I would have to take that responsibility off of any department or city. There's really not a lot more that can be done, unfortunately.

BROWN: Yes. We were talking to a couple of officers earlier, former officers, who were saying that there's been a rise in ambush assaults. So, clearly, something needs to be done for both sides.

Rashid Abdul-Salaam, thanks for sharing your perspective. We appreciate it.

ABDUL-SALAAM: Thanks for having me, Pamela.

BROWN: And coming up, I'm going to speak with an organization that is helping the families of those officers killed in New York by paying for their homes. You won't want to miss that.

But, first, who would have thought a stoner comedy starring Seth Rogen would heighten tensions between the U.S. and North Korea? Well, no doubt it did, and now China's weighing in. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, now that "The Interview" has been released online, China is calling for calm. The movie's content shows close neighbor and longtime ally North Korea in a negative light, and here's what the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUA CHUNYING, SPOKESWOMAN, CHINESE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (through translator): This is a controversial movie. We hope that the relevant sides can maintain calm and exercise restraint and appropriately deal with this issue.

We realize that the film has caused some problems. China has expressed its position several times. We hope the relevant sides can objectively view this issue and seriously review conduct, communication and dialogue to properly deal with the issue as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, so joining me now to talk about what China has at stake in this controversy is our global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott.

So, Elise, great to have you on. Who was China talking to, in your opinion, when it is calling for calm?

(CROSSTALK)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think China is talking to both the United States and North Korea.

To North Korea, it's saying, listen, we understand your reaction. This is an affront to the dignity of your leader, where the people, although it's a lot of propaganda in North Korea, the people really revere Kim Jong-un. So they understand how controversial this movie is, and they're saying, listen, don't overreact here, don't provoke some confrontation with the United States that's bigger than this is. You need to calm down.

And to the United States, it's also saying, listen, we do not want a confrontation here. President Obama has promised a "proportional response." So they're saying to the United States, please don't make this into to be more than it is. We don't want a provocation here that will get out of control, Pamela.

BROWN: So they're speaking to both sides.

All right, the U.S., we know, has asked China for help and it accused North Korea of hacking Sony, so what do you think this controversy has meant for relations between China and North Korea?

LABOTT: Well, cyber issues have always been a sore spot in the relations between U.S. and China. If you remember earlier this year, the United States indicted two members of the Chinese military for hacking into U.S. systems. So that's always been a source of tension. But China also knows that North Korea is very unpredictable and unstable and can't be left unchecked. So when they talk to the United States, they know that North Korea needs to have Chinese influence there. You will note that the Chinese have never admitted that North Korea is involved. They have cast doubt on U.S. claims that North Korea is behind this. But at the same time, you saw that there were shutdowns of North Korea's Internet access over the weekend.

All the Internet is provided through China. So a lot of people say that maybe China was trying to send a message to North Korea, listen, you better cool it.

Meanwhile, I just think that any cooperation between the United States and China on North Korea is likely to be very quiet. The Chinese don't again want to provoke a confrontation that really could spiral out of control here.

BROWN: Elise Labott, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

And coming up next right here on NEWSROOM, I'm going to speak with an organization that is helping the families of those officers killed in New York by paying off their mortgages. That conversation up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: There has been an outpouring of support for the families of those two slain NYPD officers. The tuition for the son of one of the -- the sons, rather, the two sons of the officer Rafael Ramos has already been donated, and now thousands more dollars are coming in to help both Ramos and officer Wenjian Liu's families.

Liu didn't have children, but he was married just two months ago. And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is even donating $20,000 through a charitable foundation, Tunnel of Towers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIULIANI: You and I can go to bed, our children can go to bed, our parents can go to bed safe because this family and the Ramos family sacrificed their son, their husband, the breadwinner of the family.

So I'm making a contribution specifically in addition to the other contributions that I make to the Tunnel to Towers fund of $20,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: An important correction here. It's Tunnel to Towers. That foundation will also chip in and pay the mortgages for both of the officers' families.

So here now to discuss this, John Hodge, the director of operations for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

So you're really spearheading all of this. First off, I'm just curious to know, John, what is behind this effort? We were just talking a little bit. You said it happened in the blink of an eye, and now all of a sudden you have raised $70,000.

JOHN HODGE, TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: Yes, it happened very, very quickly. Our foundation, we were following the news reports, obviously, and we saw a report that stated from Governor Cuomo that he visited the Liu family, and that even with everything going on right now, one of the things that was bothering them the most was a very practical concern. They had just purchased a house recently and how were they going to pay their mortgage?

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation already builds homes across the country for catastrophically injured service members, and once we're finished building them, we give them the house debt-free, free and clear. So we know what kind of peace of mind that gives someone that is really in a tough spot.

BROWN: Yes, let's talk about that, because a grieving wife, like Liu's wife and Ramos' family, and everything else, you want to take off that burden. The last thing they should have to worry about is paying their bills. So what have you seen in your experience about the sort of emotional impact it's had on people?

HODGE: Well, it gives people a great sense of security. Everybody wants to know they're going to have a place to live, and not have to worry about it. And that's what this does.

And even though they're getting benefits and that was pointed out today, they will be getting benefits, but there's a difference between receiving benefits on a monthly basis and paying a mortgage on a monthly basis, as opposed to having your house free and clear.

That's what we're proposing to do here. We're asking for the generosity of the American people and for New Yorkers to please come forward. We're asking them to go to our foundation Web site and donate. We need approximately $800,000 to buy the mortgages out on these two homes and the challenge we issued today was to let's get the $800,000.

It's a big number, but let's face it, we have a big country and a very generous country; $800,000 is not a tremendous amount of money in the overall scheme of things. We're saying let's get this done, so on January 1, I can be back here again and give you the great news that we will be able to just have these homes free and clear.

BROWN: And people forget, even just donating a dollar could make a difference. If everyone pitched in just a little bit, you could really get to that number.

HODGE: Absolutely. We just don't need -- obviously, we welcome big donations, such as what former Mayor Giuliani was able to do today.

BROWN: Of course.

HODGE: But the dollars, the $5, the $10...

BROWN: People can really make a difference.

HODGE: We have seen this with the home building projects we do, as I said, for these injured service members also. It's the small numbers that add up to that big number. And that's what we're looking for right now.

BROWN: Right, and already $70,000 you said in just 24 hours.

HODGE: And 48 hours without a formal announcement.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: That's really incredible.

HODGE: Yes.

BROWN: So let's talk about your foundation and how it got started; 9/11 had something to do with it, is that right?

HODGE: Yes. Well, we clearly understand where the Liu family and the Ramos family are at, at this point.

Our foundation is named after firefighter Stephen Siller, who was killed on 9/11 himself. And he has a very interesting, unique story. And that will explain the name of our foundation.

But we understand the pressures that not only Stephen's family, but all of the first-responders' families were under after 9/11 also. So when we read this the other day in the newspaper, we said, we really need to try and do something to try and take this burden off of them. It's frequently been said that the Tunnel to Towers Foundation has decided to light a candle rather than curse the darkness, and that's the approach we clearly have taken because we have done a lot of good in Stephen's name in 13 years.

We're hoping that by doing this for the Liu family and the Ramos family, that maybe we can help them or help shed some light and bring some brightness to a very dark situation for them right now.

BROWN: Absolutely, at least giving them a peace of mind. So as you said, $70,000 already raised. You're trying to get to $800,000 by January. How can people help out? What should they do? Where should they go?

(CROSSTALK)

HODGE: Go right now -- go to tunnel2towers. And it's tunnel2towers.org, and the first slide that comes up is a way for people to donate directly, specifically right to that cause, to this cause we're talking about right now.

BROWN: I'm sure a lot of people will want to do that. We have just seen an outpouring of support and...

HODGE: Oh, it's just incredible.

BROWN: And the amount of officers also who have been flown in from across the country, going to their funerals this weekend. It's really just a brotherhood. HODGE: Sure. Sure.

BROWN: Thank you so much, John. We appreciate you coming on to talk with us.

HODGE: Thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate it.

BROWN: And good luck raising that $800,000.

HODGE: Thank you.

BROWN: Up next right here in NEWSROOM, as we round out 2014, we're taking a look at some of the tech world's biggest hits and misses, from the scandal-plagued car service Uber to a podcast that went completely viral, and much more. Stay with us. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)