Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom 20141226

Friday december 26th 6 00 in the east im Christine Romans along with poppy harlow and pamela brown. Were so glad youre with us this morning. Seven people hauled off in happened cuffs for allegedly making threats against new York City Police officers in the days following the executionstyle murders of two officers. A public wake for one of the officers rafael ramos taking place today ahead of his funeral, which is tomorrow. People across this nation are coming to pay respects to both of the slain officers from the nypd. As a memorial to the pair grows in brooklyn. Lets get to Miguel Marquez, live at the church in officer ramos ramos home borough of queens. This kicks off at a wrenching time for nypd and the city. The wake from 29 p. M. It will be a tough wake for these folks, they have to get through two funerals. All of this as the nypd remains on alert against other attacks. Nypd in mourning and on heightened alert. Any statement suggesting Violence Toward police need to be reported to the police so we can stop future tragedies. 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 eldest son justin calling his father a hero. Said im going to miss his loving presence and i cant 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 unmistakeableunmistakable. Its sad its hurting me. Even though im not a Police Officer, but it just it really got to me. To watch this on tv with my family. Like nypd funerals before an enormous display of respect and grief will blanket the glendale section of queens as officers from across the country remember one of their own. Now bow our heads in memory of officer ramos and officer liu. Wenjian lius funeral is still being planned as the city and country grieve. Jetblue airlines is working to fly family members from china and has offered to fly two officers from any Law Enforcement agency along its route to the funerals. Jetblue says it will fly some 600 people from different departments from around the country here. Thousands of dollars has been raced for both families even the new york mets has invited the ramos family to a spring training camp. None of it compares to whats going to happen in queens tomorrow for this funeral. This area of queens will be transformed for the funeral for officer ramos and later for officer liu. Christine in. Miguel lovely gestures but nothing brings those two Police Officers back and their families have a very big hole to grapple with i want to dig deeper on the threats against police with tom fuentes, cnns Law Enforcement analyst and former fbi assistant director and vincent hill a former Police Officer and private investigator. Nice to see both of you. Two more people have been charged with threatening new York Police Department officers including one who called in the very same precinct where the two officers were killed. How is Law Enforcement dealing with these threats . Theres going to be a lot of boastful bad behavior and then there are real threats against Police Officers. Good morning christine. Well the problem is how do they distinguish. When they get word from either a citizen who is reading postings or another measure, you know they have to follow up. They have to look at it. Because you cant take it as idle. The instagram that was put out by brinsley the other day last week turns out to be true. He shoots and kills two Police Officers. So they have to treat anything like its another person intending to kill Police Officers. Tom, nypd says there have been 40 threats to that precinct since the two officers were killed. They deemed about half of them not to be credible. Theyre investigating the other half. 40 actual threats, half of them under investigation do you recall a time when the antipolice sentiment was so high . No i know back in the 70s when i was on the street you know it was a time of extreme disrespect and hatred almost for Police Officers. And the military at the height of the vietnam protests. But i dont recall it being so targeted and so pointed as now, addressing threats against nypd officers. You know Police Officers face these threats every day of the week and in fact a couple of days after ramos and liu were killed we have an officer in tarpon springs, florida, shot and killed in the line of duty who ironically had been a new York City Police officer for more than five years. So these shootings and killings of police go on. The shootings and killings of people who assault the police or point guns at the police, thats going to go on. And i think its going to be a difficult time to turn this around. So vincent, lets talk about how you turn it around. Youre going to see 25,000 people at the funeral today. Youre going to see joe biden, jetblue, making the gesture to support police in Getting Police here. How do you take this moment and change the conversation from antipolice to healing between police and the communities . Well i think one thing we have to do is we have to remember what caused these deaths. I mean if you look at the shooting in berkeley missouri you look at Michael Brown, you look at eric garner they were doing something that caused the police to be there. And the more we ignore that the longer this problem will go on. You say protesters are ignoring that. Theyre ignoring everything that led up to a moment when the gun was discharged. You pulled your weapon before. Correct. The moment that you pulled your weapon out, are you thinking about potential proportionality of your response . What are you thinking about . I dont see color i dont see size i dont see anything. If theres a threat my job is to take care of the threat. When you look at the berkeley missouri shooting two miles from ferguson one thing thats so different about that case is you have a Police Officer responding a Police Officer coming to a place where a gun they say was drawn on the officer. But then the response of the crowd, throwing fireworks into the crowd, into the gas station there is Something Different among these protesters and people in these communities. Well again, it goes back to what i said. We cant ignore what happened. He pulled a gun on an officer. So we can say its racial all we want. But at the end of the day he did something that caused that officer to use deadly force. Tom, i want to ask you something about the difference in that berkeley missouri case. Police very quickly released Surveillance Video from three different sources, three different angles a great deal of transparency, within hours of the policeinvolved shooting. Should that serve as a model as we go forward here. If there can be more information right away . Could that be an important way to change how we respond to these things . Well you would think it would have been important enough to not have the protests and not have what happened after that shooting. You have what appears to be a completely justified shooting. You have the mayor of the city who is black, come out on the scene, and then quickly announce to the public his belief and his findings that the officer was justified in using the force he used. And in spite of all that, and its against an individual who is not a kid with a toy or something, he was with a loaded ninemillimeter pistol. And at the ripe old age of 18 had already previous arrests for armed robbery, weapons charges, other thefts so youre talking about a situation, there will never be a time i dont care if one Million People protest, there will never be a time hopefully in this country, that someone can point a gun at a Police Officer and expect a different outcome. Do you expect that there will be a Chilling Effect in how Police Respond to crime in their communities . Could it be that they are going to be less likely to go to some neighborhoods or rest likely to try to do their job . You look at nypd these are officers that ran into the world trade center. But now you have a situation where those that are appointed to protect us are afraid for their safety then what . Then you have mass chaos on the street because theyre not going to go into these calls. Theyre not going to go and risk their life. Do you think, tom, Chilling Effect in how Police Officers do their job . Are they going to be in the moment of trying to decide pulling their weapon are they going to be thinking about what its going to look like in the papers . I dont think so. They may say that and voice that concern. But i have a feeling that you know doing the right thing and their sense of duty will kick in the training the discipline the years of being a good Law Enforcement officer will kick in for good Law Enforcement officers and theyll do what theyre going to do. I think youre going to see a lot of new kinds of training. I think youre going to see a lot of new kinds of training at Police Academies across the country. Because this is part of the company and part of the relationship between Law Enforcement and the communities no question. Tom fuentes, thank you, vincent hill thank you for coming in. Poppy . An important conversation. Lets turn to the fight against isis in iraq. A christmasday Coalition Air strike killed the isisappointed governor of mosul. He had actually only been in office there for 25 days. He took office after his predecessor was killed by a Coalition Air strike. This as the family of a jordanian pilot taken captive by isis when his plane goes down, pleads for his safe return. The u. S. Disputes claims by isis that it shot that plane down. Barbara starr from the pentagon joins us with the latest. The Jordanian Parliament warning of grave consequences if this pilot is not returned. If his safety is not insured by isis. Jordan the u. S. And the coalition all on the same page on this. They want isis to insure the safety of this young jordanian pilot. What brought him down oversyria, though remains the big question. The coalition very adamantly saying he was not shot down by an isis heatseeking missile. Isis contends they shot the plane down. The coalition not saying what brought the plane down. And thats becoming a bit of a mystery now. What brought this plane down . Was it mechanical trouble . Was there some other issue . The pilot ejected very quickly. There were airborne rescue forces in the region. They saw him go down. But they couldnt get to him in time. Because isis picked him up so quickly. Once he ejected and landed on the ground. We have two serious issues here. The safety of the pilot. Getting him back to jordan. How is that going to happen . No one really has a public solution if you will yet. No word on whether theres going to be a rescue mission that would be highly classified of course. And what brought the plane down . Is there a mechanical problem . Is there some problem with the f16 . That is a workhorse for a number of air forces around the world. A lot of people want to know what brought that plane down. Its interesting barbara, because we heard jordan come out this morning and say yes, this was not shot down by isis and we had the u. S. Yesterday saying our intelligence tells us this was definitely not shot down. Do we have any indication of why they are so sure . Well you know, no is the answer but theres a couple of reasonable things we can look at. Did the pilot perhaps, we dont know make a mayday call back to the command center . Did he say, im, im having engine trouble . Im having mechanical trouble . Do they have some word from the pilot before he went down . They track all of these aircraft in command centers, did they see some technical problem it . Was there a wing man flying nearby . Another aircraft close enough nearby to perhaps see something . All of these are the questions to which right now we have no answers. And we will likely hopefully get more answers in the coming days and hopefully see the pilot released safely. Barbara starr at the pentagon live thank you very much. Lets get to pamela brown for other top stories. Happy holidays 0 to you guys. This is like the Perfect Group of people i want to be sitting with on the day after christmas. On a friday morning. Lets take a look at your headlines on this friday. President obama spending christmas night paying tribute to the u. S. Military. He visited a Marine Corps Base in hawaii to mark the end of the war in afghanistan and thank the soldiers for their sacrifices. The vast majority of u. S. Troops will be out of afghanistan by the end of the week. 13 years and 1 trillion after the conflict began. And Online Gaming networks playstation and xbox live are still offline this morning. The networks were targeted in the hack attack on christmas, a group called the lizard squad took credit for the takedown. Both playstation and xbox are run by companies with the hand in streaming the comedy flick, the interview. Get this two people who grabbed cash off the street in hong kong after it fell out of a security van are facing charges this morning. Look at this video right here. As you see, its a frenzied scene on christmas eve, a money transport spilled 2 million worth of bank notes onto the street. People scrambling to pick up the cash. Police had warned that anyone who followed that rule Finders Keepers rule could face charges if they didnt return the money. 29 people who voluntarily returned cash will likely not face charges. All right. Heres a question how many of you plan to watch what you eat this Holiday Season . Well as it turns out, not tomorrow of you. This is according to a new cnn orc poll. When asked about your approach to food this time of year 62 of you said you planned to indulge and eat whatever you want. Thats a big 15point jump from eight years ago when 47 ago chose the eat until you drop approach. And nearly 6 in 10 of you say you have no plans to go on a diet after the holidays. Theyre all liars. They say what theyre going to do and you do it, anyway. I watch what i eat very carefully as i eat it. I watch what i eat, i eat whatever i want. Its the holidays dont worry about it. Thats what its for. Not to say youre going to go on a diet. I feel like when you say it around the holidays it never happens. I think your birthday for pnl finance and weight loss your birthday is the time, start fresh. Its too late for this year too much pressure. Now to meteorologist Jennifer Gray keeping track of the latest forecast for us good morning. We are watching our next storm system brew in the west. In fact dumping quite a bit of snow in the rockies. It was a fantastic day in the east yesterday. That drier air is pushing offshore. We are going to see moisture return just in time for the weekend. So a lot of snow in the rockies, like we mentioned, we have the Winter Weather advisories winter storm warnings in effect and this is your snowfall totals through saturday could see an additional two to four inches right around north platte, des moines sioux falls, minneapolis could pick up an additional three to five inches and then that is going to be pushing to the east. So as it does so well pick up a lot of moisture from the gulf of mexico bring in some rain for the weekend, for the south. That will push into the northeast. And then another round by the end of the weekend. So a couple of waves of rain for the south and the east as we go through the next few days. One to three inches of rain from south louisiana through portions of alabama. It doesnt look like were going to see quite as much rain in the northeast, could pick up about an inch in some areas less than that. If you are planning to hit the malls, maybe do some returns, redeem those gift cards, we are going to see a nice forecast for today and tomorrow in new york city. The clouds and rain do return on sunday high temperatures around 51. In chicago, temperatures will be dropping 33 degrees by sunday. So get out today or tomorrow. Ladies . Im just excited theres snow in minnesota. My niece and nephew are flying there this morning and i promised them snow. So aunt poppys Christmas Gift just came true thanks to Mother Nature thanks jennifer. You know weve all been talking about this. And pretty much only this for a number of days. Did you see it . Soldout crowds went to watch the interview in select theaters across the country. Others watched it online. Did people like it . Heres a big question has sony stumbled into a new era when it comes to releasing these films . Plus the top Ten Political stories of 2014. Republicans seizing control of the senate. Hillary clintons potential president ial run. Are we still saying potential . What do you think topped the list . Well have a rundown. Wellllll. Earlyfit latefit risefit fallfit ballfit wallfit pingfit pongfit pingfit pongfit rowfit throwfit slowfit olliefit oopsfit otisfit thiswayfit thatwayfit daddyfit pappyfit datefit weightfit goalfit gooooooalfit stepfit stairfit smartfit heartfit spinfit bikefit hikefit yikesfit wheeeeefit wowfit whoafit findyourfit its all fitbit the Holiday Season is here, which means its time for the volkswagen signthendrive event. For practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a germanengineered volkswagen. Like the sporty, advanced new jetta. And the 2015 motor trend car of the year allnew golf. If youre wishing for a new volkswagen this season. Just about all you need is a finely tuned. Pen. Hurry in to the sign then drive event and get a fivehundred dollar new years bonus on select new volkswagen models. Offer ends january 2nd. In my world, wall isnt a street. Return on investment isnt the only return im looking forward to. For some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. Which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. Our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. Start investing with as little as fifty dollars. It might not be an oscar contender, but the interview is all the buzz for the coming holiday weekend. It debuted at over 300 theaters across the country. Wm saying theyre happy to support the film as part of their quote patriotic duty after the massive sony hack. Just as the film hit theaters, another issue for two companies streaming it online. Sonys playstation and Microsofts Xbox live both apparently targeted by another hacker group last night. What do we make of it . Lets bring in cnn media correspondent Brian Stelter and contributor editor to Atlantic Media thank you for being here. Brian has been nonstop on this story. Its a huge story. Lets talk first, youve seen the interview. A, what do you think . And b, how is it being received . I thought it was good for what it was, a raunchy comedy perfect for family viewing, as long as kids are above a certain the Russian Foreign ministry. This coming from the Foreign Ministry spokesman, he said the concept of the movie is so aggressive and scandalous, that the reaction of the north korean side and not just it is quite understandable. Whats your reaction . And do you think also the u. S. Is going to have to explain their reasoning, show concrete evidence that north korea is behind the hack . Because because. Russia is saying wheres the evidence . Russia han trying to position itself as the leader of an antiamerican access. Its been wooing china in that regards. We have these very heavy sanctions on russia now that are hurting the economy a lot. I dont think that domestically the administration is under very much pressure to provide more evidence. I do suspect that the next time next time this kind of thing comes along. That the administration will be more proactive about suggesting to film makers that maybe they not make another movie that shows the assassination of a sitting head of state. I dont imagine thats going to happen any time soon. But i think on the other hand i think weve shown that we as a culture still have a very very strong instinctive tendency to believe that whatever the artistic merit of a movie, that it shouldnt be able to be shut down because of foreign pressure. You bring up an important point i want to you weigh in brian. When the story broke, i asked you, is this censorship. Is this going to mean that will dictate what we produce in this country. Do you think on some level it is . I think there are still legitimate worries about that. The head of one of the Biggest Media Companies in the country other than sony said i understand the movie, i get it i get the plot. Why not just call it a fictional dictator. Now that the movie is out, people can see it its more comfortable to say that and bring it up not naming it for an actual living human being. Thats not necessarily selfcensorship, it might just be common sense to avoid this mess including potentially hundreds of millions of dollars from the actual cyberattack. Hackers are promising a Christmas Day surprise. Nothing, nothing. But i dont think sony is out of the woods yet and the ceo has acknowledged as much. There will be more trouble down the road. Maybe it involves more leaks maybe not. Im going to watch the interview this weekend. Have a glass of wine or something, the perfect kind of movie. When the kids are asleep. Thank you, guys appreciate it. A turbulent year on capitol hill the senate changing hands, the president sidestepping congress on Immigration Reform and cuba which political story finished number one on our top ten list . Jake tapper breaking it down. And how many zoo keepers does it take to get an adorable baby panda bear out of a tree . This is not a joke. How this panda predicament at the national zoo ended. Thats ahead. Welcome back to news room lets get to pamela brown for some of the days top stories. Happy friday to you guys. Its seven people have been arrested accused of making threats against the nypd. Two of the suspects are accused of making threats to the precinct where the two officers killed last week were stationed. And the wake for officer rafael ramos public wake will be held today. Hell be laid to rest tomorrow. Meantime the citys mayor is asking people to be on heightened alert to stop future cop killings. And the United States and jordan say the evidence is clear that isis did not shoot down the coalition plane in northern syria. The pilot from jordan has been taken hostage by the extremists. The jordanian government insists he crashed. Meanwhile, in iraq the ice iceappointed governor of mosul has been killed by a u. S. Led air strike. Since august the u. S. Has conducted more than 1300 airstrikes in iraq and syria, with the cost now topping 1 billion. George h. W. Bush remains hospitalized this morning. The former president was taken to houston Methodist Hospital tuesday, suffering shortness of breath. A spokesperson said thursday the 90yearold had another terrific day and is in great spirits. Earlier statements have said the elder bushs prognosis is very positive. And that doctors are keeping him hospitalized only as a precaution. Reunited and it feels so good. This video has to make you smile. If it doesnt, i dont know somethings wrong with you. The National Zoos panda cup right here is back with her mom. After spending more than 24 hours in a tree as we see, little one climbed up there after she panicked when she hit a hot wire in her yard. Designed to show animals their boundaries the panda bear who just turned one in august is said to be perfectly fine. Like all small children when testing her boundaries, she freaked out and didnt do what anybody thought she would. Lebron james took his talents back to south beach for his first visit since leaving the heat. Brian mcfayden has more. After winning two titles in four years, lebron james was greeted with cheers and standing ovation by the miami crowd. After lebron said he had buffering in his return and he got to reunite with his good friend dwyane wade. Lebron scored 30 points dished out eight assists, it wouldnt be enough on this very emotional night, heat win 10191. John wall and quincy acy wont be exchanging christmas cards any time soon. They exchanged pushes on the knicks game at christmas. Walt took exception to a hard foul that pushed him to the ground. Cooler heads prevailed by acy was ejected from the game. The wizards won 10291. If you ever wondered who would win between a Christmas Tree and Shaquille Oneal . That wait is over. During halftime of the warriors trippers game. Kenny smith and shaq raced from the deck and kenny gave shaq a little nudge and the shaq went right into the tree. Thats got to hurt, poor tree. Those reflexes he wouldnt get very far on the Basketball Court with those sort of reflexes. I just keep thinking about the person who spent hours and hours making that tree and so beautiful all to see it laid out. Shaking their head for sure. Thank you, brian. Well over the last 12 months weve witnessed a political upset for the ages a series of secret service screwups, a congress that cant get much of anything done. Were counting down the top Ten Political stories of 2014. What a year it has been. Now that the Holiday Shopping season is winding down. Time to start counting up the receipts. Making some returns. How did retailers do and how strong is the American Economy . Were going to have a look. Yeah, im married. Does it matter . Youd do that for me . Really . Yeah, id like that. Who are you talking to . Uh, its jake from state farm. Sounds like a really good deal. Jake from state farm at three in the morning. Who is this . Its jake from state farm. What are you wearing jake from state farm . [ jake ] uh. Khakis. She sounds hideous. Well shes a guy, so. [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. Get to a better state. The Holiday Season is here, which means its time for the volkswagen signthendrive event. For practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a germanengineered volkswagen. Like the sporty, advanced new jetta. And the 2015 motor trend car of the year allnew golf. If youre wishing for a new volkswagen this season. Just about all you need is a finely tuned. Pen. Hurry in to the sign then drive event and get a fivehundred dollar new years bonus on select new volkswagen models. Offer ends january 2nd. Well from isis to the republican wave in the mid terms to the battle over Police Violence it has been an intense and very busy year in politics heres a look back at the biggest political stories of 2014 with the host of cnns the lead jake tapper. Politics grabbed big headlines in 2014. With criticism and praise for the president s Foreign Policy. Some stunning congressional dysfunction and a crushing defeat for democrats in the midterm elections. Here are our top Ten Political stories. Number ten, 2014 offered a preview of what the 2016 president ial campaign might look and sound like as Hillary Clinton hit the road to promote her latest book. The media blitz and bok tour looked a lot like a president ial candidate gearing you. Number nine republican incumbents kept feeling the heat from the tea party which showed it isnt going anywhere. The conservative resurgence for this country starts here in mississippi. A Tea Party Campaign by Chris Mcdaniel nearly cost a longtime senator from mississippi his seat. Primary runoff created one of the strangest political coalitions of the year. Republican cochran courting black democrats in the magnolia state to bail him out in the runoff. Cochran survived but others werent so lucky. The number two republican in the house did not even make it to election day, House Majority leader eric cantor lost his primary to this guy economics professor david brat in what may be the political upset of the decade. Obviously we came up short. Number eight, the u. S. Does not negotiate with terrorists but we will do a prisoner swap. Sergeant bo bergdahl the only u. S. Priver of war in afghanistan or iraq was brought home after the u. S. Traded five taliban fighters from Guantanamo Bay for his release. The celebration had one huge footnote not everyone was thrilled with the exchange rate. For the the president to decide that these five hardest of the hardcore, in return for Sergeant Bergdahl i think was wrong. The administration broke the law by not giving congress 30 days notice. Number seven, a fence jumper who sprinted across the white house lawn and let himself into the front door exposed major Security Breaches with the secret service. Dont let somebody get close to the president. Dont let somebody get close to his family. I take full responsibility. The security gaps led julia pearson, the first me mail director of the secret service, appointed after a prostitution scandal, to step down. Number six, accusations that u. S. Veterans died while waiting for treatment at Veterans Administration hospitals was a national embarrassment. A monthslong cnn investigation showed altered death certificates and secret waiting lists. I want to know the full scope of this problem. Secretary of Veterans Affairs shinseki was sacked. And the system repairs still seem to be a long way off. Number five president obamas Foreign Policy under attack. An offthecuff phrase uttered by the president dont do stupid stuff was criticized by none other than former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. As inadequate defining principle. The israel gaza war, the civil war in syria the russian invasion of ukraine, the prisoner swal for alan gross in cuba the president s Foreign Policy was criticized by even Many Democrats as feckless. Number four 2014 marked another year of congressional gridlock on Immigration Reform. There was no greater example of the broken system than the thousands of unaccompanied children from Central America flooding across the texas border. President obama opted after the midterms to go it alone. Using executive action in an attempt to reform the system. Critics call his actions unconstitutional. Number three, any notion of americas first black president ushering in a postracial era of healing got squashed. After white Police Officers in missouri and new york killed unarmed black men, protesters around the country took to the streets. Following the grand jurys decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown in ferguson president obama delivered a speech urging calm. So we need to accept that this decision was the grand jurys to make. And the splitscreen on your television showed the depth of the disconnect. A city burned and the president s pleas going up in smoke. Number two, the u. S. Went back into iraq. This time to fight isis. Just a few months after president obama dismissed the terrorist group as a jv squad, isis took huge swaths of land along the lawless iraq syria border. The president finally changed his tune and ordered targeted attacks in iraq and syria against the terrorist group. And the number one top political story of the year on election night, it was a red wave as republicans won control of the u. S. House and the senate. We crossed the finish line. We took the hill. The politics of 2015 might just look a lot like a giant stack of promises made in the race for the white house. In 2016. Well have to wait and see if a lame duck president can work it out. With a deadlocked congress. Im jake tapper. It will start to get interesting. Its been interesting,get even more interesting. How is your Economic Health now that the Holiday Shopping season is winding down . Did you stay on budget . How did the retailers fare . Did they convince you to part ways with your money . A closer look ahead. In my world, wall isnt a street. Return on investment isnt the only return im looking forward to. For some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. Which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. Our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. Start investing with as little as fifty dollars. Push your enterprise and you can move the world. But to get from the old way to the new youll need the right it infrastructure. From a partner who knows how to make your enterprise more agile, borderless and secure. Hp helps business move on all the possibilities of today. And stay ready for everything that is still to come. Numbers out this week show the u. S. Economy growing at the fastest pace since 2003. This interesting new cnn orc poll shows a majority of americans think the economy is in good shape. A majority for the first time in seven years, a big improvement since october, when only 38 of americans felt like the economy was in good shape. Did this optimistic outlook inspire americans to go out and go shopping this Holiday Season . Joining us is personal finance officer and columnist, terry savage and executive Vice President of shopper track bill martin. Americans say they feel it. The economy is back americans feel it im a little cynical. I think its gas prices. They feel lower gas prices so theyre feeling better about things am i right . I think thats absolutely the first part of it and a stream of other news thats very good about the economy, about jobs. 2014 i think well look back and say that was the year of the markets, the records in the stock market low Interest Rates. Think as we look ahead to 2015 well say this is the year of the consumer. Because the Lower Energy Prices not only gasoline prices but home heating bills, especially compared to last years devastating winter will be lower. Well see it in costs for everything from food energy is a big component. It will give consumer reason to be optimistic for the first time in a long time. I think time heals all wounds as the old terrible cliche when youre talking about the consumer they remember what happened in the economy like it was yesterday. Especially if their wages arent growing. Bill, let me ask you, we saw black friday sales down a little bit disappointing. Are people feeling the better economy . Did they go out and shop and spend money . Or are they still being frugal at the mall . Well i think they did go out and spend their money. We saw some pretty strong sales in november. Even despite black friday being a little bit soft. November showed a 5. 4 lift. Which was pretty good rolling into december. Now that the holidays are over. Theres still a couple of pretty important days left today being one of them the sixth largest sales day of the year. We expect them to come out and look for bargains do their returns and try to redeem some of the gift cards they may have received during the holidays. The returns and the gift cards, theres still a frenzy of the lastminute behavior. Terry, you know and i say it too, you shouldnt buy something you cant pay off in the next round of the credit card bill. How how much are people digging in . Are they being smart . I think consumers are being smarter now. First of all, the lenders, the merchants are being smarter. You remember a couple of years ago, you walk into a store and say, take out a store credit card and well give you a discount. Theres a lot of concern about credit card security so there wasnt so much credit pushed on consumers. I think consumers are being smarter, looking for lowerrate cards, recognizing that the bills will come due in january and thats a lesson learned. We dont want the economy to grind to a halt. But its not every individuals job to go into debt to support the economy. I think were at the sweet spot now where consumers recognize the dangers of debt. But they also have a lot of pentup demand for the few years of not shopping so much. Were at a nice sweet spot coasting into the new year thats the optimistic viewpoint. We saw car sales in november were just fantastic. I know weve got big sales coming up on bigticket items like tvs and furniture as they roll over into the next who hadal year for furniture. Do you think youre going to see consumers out there, 2015 is there their year the way 2014 was for stock market investors. The think it is the one area of the economy thats been lagging, but slow is new home sales and sales even of existing homes. More people choosing to rent. Many people not having the Credit Reports that will justify getting a mortgage. But now you see theyre loosening up on mortgages on procedures and down payments and even if Interest Rates do go up just a bit. Which the fed will do i think it will spur people into saying if were going to buy we better buy now. The good momentum from car sales and shopping and optimism continues, think youll see it in the housing market. It leads to other good things in the economy. Thats my hope and i think my estimation for what will happen in the new year. I agree with you on the housing front. Think younger people are going to be getting in the game. Rents are going to be rising if you can get the lending standards loosened a little bit. Its young people young genex and also the millennials. It sounds like consumers are getting some confidence. Just for this weekend, this week what is your advice for people going out and returning or trying to get something really cheap . We think doing your research is important. We have seen the consumer has really changed the way they shop. Now they do a lot of research online. If fact they do more research than they actually do buying online. With 90 of the commerce still taking place in the brickandmortar stores. So its our advice that you take a look online try to figure out what you want and where you can get it. This is what the consumer is doing without our help at all. What we see is them showing up at stores with cash in their pockets, you know cash that comes from reduced gas prices. And theyre ready to make a purchase. We advise retailers, once the consumer walks in there, its important to deliver a good experience in order to convert that to a sale. Do you agree with terry, that 2015 is going to be the year for the consumer . It will be but i think its going to be bill would you, do you agree with her . Yes. I do. I think its i think it will be a time when theyve, finally gotten to the point where theyre comfortable theyre going to continue with their employment. Were seeing low energy costs, i dont think that landed in the Holiday Season. But i think it will carry through into the First Quarter. And what retailers are really interested in is a sustained growth and we see a 3. 8 lift this Holiday Season. But they would like to see that carry into the First Quarter and i think the consumer is ready to do that. Bill martin terry savage. My Christmas New Year holiday wish is that wages will go up in 2015. I would like to see everybodys wages go up. To keep the economic recovery really firing. Thanks, guys nice to see you, happy holidays. Were following a lot of news this morning, we want to get right to it. Any statement suggesting Violence Towards police need to be reported. A growing number of threats against the nypd. Its a great loss. These are heroes. And it hurts. The terrorists appointed governor of mosul was killed in an airstrike. At the same time isis has a valuable bargaining chip. The u. S. Would support any effort to recover the pilot. The interview has finally made its debut. It wasnt for theaters like this and for people lying you guys i think i got what i paid for. This literally would not be happening right now. Good morning to you, welcome to news room im Christine Romans along with poppy harlow and pamela brown. The new York City Police department on heightened alert following the arrest of seven people accused of making threats towards the nypd. Two suspects even targeting the very precincts that was home to two officers who were shot dead in their patrol car last weekend. A public wake will be held this afternoon for one of the victims, officer rafael ramos. People paying their respects at a growing memorial for the slain officers in brooklyn. Let me get straight to Miguel Marquez, hes at the church where the wake is being held. An outpouring miguel. Enormous outporing, were only beginning to see the start of it. From 29 00 p. M. The wake will be for the funeral for officer ramos will be nypd is expecting up to 25,000 Police Officers alone, to blanket this area. Another several thousand friends, families there may be as many as 30,000 people here. All of this as nypd is on alert against other threats. Nypd in mourning and on heightened alert. Any statements suggesting Violence Towards the police need to be reported to the police so we can stop future tragedies. 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 eldest son justin calling his father a hero said im going to miss his loving presence and i cant 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 city wide. Police have come, sometimes alone, others in groups. All in a show of respect, their grief unmistakeableunmistakable. This is sad, its really hurting me. Even though im not a Police Officer, but it just it really got to me. To watch this on tv with my family. Like nypd funerals before an enormous display of respect and grief will blanket the glendale section of queens as officers from across the country remember one of their own. Now bow our heads in memory of officer ramos and officer liu. Wenjian lius funeral is still being planned as the city and country grieve. Jetblue airlines is working to fly family members from china and has offered to fly two officers from any Law Enforcement agency along its route to the funerals. Jetblue says that they have now some 600 individuals that theyll bring from different departments around the country here to new york, that will add to the number that nypd is preparing for here. Organizations across the city have raised thousands of dollars for each of the families. The new york mets even extending an invitation for the ramos family to come to a spring training camp. All of this as we wait for this neighborhood in queens to be transformed into a wall an absolute ocean of blue. Poppy . Remembering them and thanking them for their Extraordinary Service to the city. Lets talk more about the shooting deaths of those two new York City Police officers followed by months of protests. Against police over what deem as harsh tactics. Too harsh tactics being deployed in black and minority communities. The National Debate has connected different cases, different shooting deaths across the country. In milwaukee, the decision not to indict a Police Officer for the shooting death of a mentally ill black man back in april has sparked anger and pro thefts week. Lets talk about that and more. Joining me to discuss this is Milwaukee County sheriff david clark. Thank you for being with me and thank you for your three decades of service, we appreciate it. Its my pleasure, its been a pleasure to serve. Let me ask you this seven people in new york city right here arrested in connection with 40 different threats, online against new York City Police officers. This following the assassination of those two officers. Last week. Have you seen any similar threats in your community . Well Police Officers on a daily basis live in a state of hypervigilance. About their exterior surroundings. But whats going on in new york right now, and many other cities across america, here in milwaukee as well is this unjustified, if you will hatred toward the police. And that pathway was created recently by some very powerful people in the United States who have made some very inflammatory comments about our american Police Officers, that being mayor de blasio that being president obama and that being eric holder. So im not going to engage in hyperbole and say they caused whats going on. But like i said they created that pathway for purely political purposes and i think thats what the shame is here. Let me ask you this. I watched live on cnn as the news unfolded over the weekend about the two officers being killed i watched mayor de blasio speak at the press conference and ive seen him in the days after going to the memorial site et cetera and my question to you is see ive also watched the video of the Police Officers, some turning their back on the mayor, believing that he has no the been supportive of them. What would you like to see happen . What would you like to see from mayor de blasio from the president , from attorney general eric holder . Well both of these individuals have had several chances to come out of the gate and Say Something responsibly and Say Something to calm things down. What id like to hear from mayor de blasio right now. Think theres a way forward for him. The first thing hes going to have to do is disavideo any further association with race hustler al sharpton. Al sharpton is a vulgar human being, hes divisive and he spews hate. I think that would be a huge first step and it would be a goodfaith gesture toward the new York Police Department where the mayor could exemplify that hes going to change his tune hes going to start supporting that police department. And if it werent for the nypd officers that city would collapse into utter chaos. Politics trumped reasonableness from the mayor and now the chickens are coming home to roost. The case in milwaukee and the protest of the shooting of dontre hamilton back in april. The d. A. Just decided not to press any charges here. This was a mentally ill man, that is officer says grabbed the officers baton struck him with it and the officer shot and killed the man. You call these protesters anarchists groups exploiting tragic situations to create chaos. Are you saying theres no merit in these protests . None whatsoever. Unequivocally, none whatsoever. Let me give you a brief statistic in milwaukee, wisconsin in 20122013, 80 of the murder victims in our city are black. 75 of the suspects in those murders are black. Its the blackonblack homicide we ought to be outraged about and we ought to be protesting instead of the wait a minute wait a minute. The things that happen with Law Enforcement officers tragic. No doubt about that. But they are a sliver of whats going on in americas ghettos today and its the blackonblack crime if we want to have the discussion. Lets have an objective one. But cant we have both of these discussions side by side . Looking at this data from a brand new cnn orc poll it showed that 42 of the nonwhite community believe that most or some Police Officers are prejudiced against blacks. Given what the numbers bear out, do you not think that there is a basis to have a conversation about this alongside of a conversation about blackonblack crime . Why cant we have them both . Why are they not both important . Im not saying we cant have both. But many of the individuals who are in this thing for nefarious purposes they dont want to have the other one that im talking about. So the 42 id say show me the data that supports your position. And lets have objective reasonable conversation, strip away the emotion. Strip away the distortions, strip away the lies and the myths about america Police Officers and we can have that discussion. But until somebody shows me ill give you another piece of data here. Since 1999 Police Deadly use of deadly force against black males is down 75 . In 2011 2012 386 people were killed by white Police Officers 140 black people were killed in that same time period. Lets put the data out there. Lets have an objective discussion minus the emotion and the rhetoric. Sheriff, let me ask you about this. On december 23rd, mitch smith a reporter for the New York Times tweeted he followed you and within hours you blocked him and sent him this message. Im going to read the tweet he says was a direct message from you to him. Quote if only these faux protesters were asked by media about all the blackonblack killing or black babies aborted in the u. S. Every year. A, is his reporting correct . Did you send him that message . And b if so, what did you mean by it . Yes i did. When i hear the things that black lives matter. The only people that really believe that statement are american Police Officer who is go into american ghettos every day to keep people from killing each other. Yes, i did send that and i meant it. The abortion, black lives, if they really mattered thats where the outrage would be thats what we would see protests about. When you see the blackonblack homicide that happens on a very frequent basis, we dont see protests we dont see marches, we dont see demands for change. So this has been a oneway conversation that im just trying to present a counternarrative to balance this thing. And so that we can have that discussion. But what im sensing from the media, i mean when you started out this thing, you talk about a mentally disturbed man in milwaukee, wisconsin. Yes, hes mentally disturbed. The fact is he was attacking a Police Officer with a nightstick made out of hickly thats designed the Police Officers nightstick thats designed to break bones and if used in the wrong area like a head and we train our officers dont use this thing toward the head because you could kill somebody or cause great bodily harm. So this individual took that nightstick and was wielding it in an offensive manner against a Police Officer and we want to brush that aside and talk about the fact that he was died and 14 shots were fired. That stuffs all true. But that officer was under attack and he responded appropriately. Under the rule of law. And what i said at the outset was that he struck the officer with the baton. Let me ask you this because were going to have the memorial today for officer ramos. And then a funeral tomorrow in new york city. The Vice President , joe biden will be attending the funeral. Youve accused the white house as were you telling me earlier, fanning the flames of political discourse. Are you encouraged to see that the Vice President is going to go to this funeral . Are you encouraged at what youre seeing in reaction from the white house to these two slain officers . Not at all. I think theyre offering up the jv team as the president phrased it. Hes used recently at some world events i would like to see the president of the United States show up at this funeral. Come back from hawaii for this . That would be a yes, i do. Continue what you were saying. That would be a goodfaith step and that would be a goodfaith step toward calming the waters if you will here. Sending a surrogate, i dont know i got a little respect for joe biden. Joe biden has been a supporter of Law Enforcement for many decades. Think leadership is needed from the top and the top would be the president of the United States that would be powerful if he showed up at the funerals today or this weekend, i should say. Sheriff clark thank you for your service and your time this morning. We appreciate it. My pleasure, happy new year. Great conversation. Sony pictures controversial comedy the interview enters its second day in theaters after sony pulled the satire over the huge cyberattack and threats of realworld violence against anyone going to the theaters to see it. So far the interview selling out in many of the 300plus independent movie houses that have decided to run it. Online, its the number one seller on google play and youtube. Sonys playstation and Microsofts Xbox Gaming Networks experiencing widespread problems no evidence that the hack is related to the interview. Rosa flores is here with what people are saying about the movie. Good morning, rosa. Good morning, christine. A lot of people i talked to said this was probably the best thing that happened to the interview. Why . Because of basic economics. Low supply high demand, lots of people flocking to these independent theaters to watch the movie. So what about the controversy versus the comedy . I talked to a lot of folks yesterday. Here in manhattan and they said all they wanted was a good laugh. Take a listen. Anyone who should take this thing as being anything more than satire. It was very cartoony. Funny humor. What about the Box Office Numbers . These are industry estimates, reported by variety today. One Million Dollars for the interview. Which is huge for a movie that released in 331 theaters around the country. Some theaters only had one showing. So that is absolutely huge. So what about the rentals . Thats the other big question. Thats up to the company to release and right now we dont know if the numbers will be released. If the numbers are good the company is going do want to release those numbers, so they can brag about it. They would really like it to be in 3,000 screens, not just 300. The best thing that could have happened is it recouped more of the 44 Million Investment in the film. What about the apparent hack on sonys playstation and Microsofts Xbox live. Do we know if its related . Some of my family sat down made the decision to watch the interview and couldnt do it. Lets start with this what a mess for parents who had cranky teenagers on christmas. Who were stuck without gaming. This is one of the biggest gaming days of the year. Heres what we know. The Hacking Group lizard squad took responsibility for this. They said that they overwhelmed servers. Of course users went to twitter. They were angry, pissed off that they couldnt use their gaming machines. Heres what we do know. Woo do know it has nothing to do with the interview. It was not related. So there you have it. Its kind of an inconvenience on Christmas Day, especially for parents who wanted to just keep their kids busy and they couldnt do it with gaming. Darn they had to watch tv on Christmas Day. Thank you so much rosa. Lets get to pamela brown for the days other top stories. Lets take a look at some of the headlines on this friday morning. President obama marking the end of the war in afghanistan by spending christmas night with the troops at a Marine Corps Base in hawaii. He thanked the soldiers for their sacrifices in the months and years after 9 11. Going so far as to declare afghanistan will never be the source of another terror attack. Most of the remaining u. S. Combat troops will be out of afghanistan by the end of the week. The costs of the conflict by the way just over 1 trillion. Russian president Vladimir Putin is playing scrooge this year. Canceling the holiday vacations for government ministers. Most russians can still take new years holidays off from the 1st to the 12th but putin dropped a humbug on the kremlin saying the government cannot afford such expensive holidays. Russias economy has been battered by Falling Oil Prices and the plunging ruble. Police in hong kong say they arrested 37 pro democracy protesters overnight for disorderly conduct. And criminal damage. Thats on top of the dozen arrested the previous night in the central commercial district. And the first demonstrations since a huge protest camp was torn down earlier this month. And talk about a special christmas delivery two pennsylvania transit workers jumped into action when a woman went into labor on a subway train. With their adrenaline pumping you can only imagine they helped deliver the infant right there on board. On board the train. The mom and baby were taken to a philadelphia hospital theyre said to be in good condition. And doing just fine this morning. And video of all of that. Video of all of that. I know right . The officer look sod happy carrying the little baby around. Having a baby. It seems like, wow. Thanks for that pamela. Jordanian pilot part of the u. S. Led coalition against isis is being held hostage this morning by isis militants, his family pleading for his freedom. Whats being done and what should be done. And we dig deep near the latest ebola scare in the United States. A cdc workers exposed to the disease without knowing it. How did a mistake like this happen at the cdc . Thats next. holiday music is playing hey i guess were going to need a new santa the music builds to a climax. more people are coming to audi than ever before. See why now is the best time. Audi will cover your first months payment on select models at the season of audi sales event. Visit audioffers. Com today. I take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn. Because it gives me. Zero heartburn prilosec otc. The number 1 doctorrecommended frequent heartburn medicine for 9 straight years. One pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. A Coalition Airstrike has killed a governmentappointed governor of icesis in iraq. It comes as isis holds a jordanian pilot who is plane came down in syria this week. The u. S. And jordan reject isis claims that the u. S. Shot down the plane. The family of the pilot is left pleading for his freedom and the Jordanian Parliament is threatening grave consequences should he be harmed. Were joined by retired general james spider marks, so nice to see you this morning, happy holidays sir. Hi christine, happy holidays. Lets talk about this shootdown nonshootdown. A plane working with the coalition, hammering on the isis positions, for whatever reason the jordanian pilot is in the hands of isis thats got to be terrifying for the jordanian military and all the allies trying to root out isis. What do you make of the claim that they somehow shot this thing down . The government saying its not possible. Well christine, i think the real point is the one that you made which is we are where we are now. Whether he was shot down or not. I think is important in terms of our ability to continue to assess isis in their capabilities and oh boy the way, isis has a surfacetoair capability. Which means they can probably go after targets like this. You think they could take down a plane . They have the ability to take one down. Just maybe not in this case . They do yeah they do. I think whats important is what happens at this point going forward. Clearly what we realize is any operation like this is not without its risks. We have a view of what weve been doing in this ungoverned space of iraq and syria for the past many months as being somewhat abt septic. We can go after these targets and isis is going to try 0 disperse and were going to go after them as best we can. Clearly theres risk regardless of the type of operations we take on. Clearly military planners must have sat down at some point and said the number of strikes that were going to undertake, the yurmnumber of planes in the air, if theres an accident that happens or this is how we should respond. How should we respond . There are plans in place, there are tactics, techniques and procedures there are capabilities that the coalition has, theres a capeability called d. A. R. T. Downed akt restircraft rescue team. If theres a downed aircraft and theres a possibility of recoverying the members of that aircraft the coalition will go after and execute that mission. Obviously it has toeb done in a safe way, there has to be a risk mitigation, there are factors to go through but the capability exists to return the members back to the brothers and sisters in the units. If youre holding the jordanian pilot youre sleeping with both eyes open not question there will be an attempt to get him back. What about a blow to the Coalition Forces . Is it a blow to the Coalition Forces . Or does it show that the coalition has been successful in these air strikes, theyve been bombarding these positions. It is certainly a blow to the coalition. These are the types of calculations that go into the execution, the decision to execute these missions and the execution, is certainly challenges happen things go bad. This pilot . Bad guys hands, everything will be done to try to get him back. Im not sure what that will be other than what we discussed. Clearly there are risks associated with this. The key thing is how long will the coalition be able to sustain this type of new activity it has. Christine, its not unlike a new form of containment. Its geographically bound this ungovernored space, within it do we let this barbarity occur . Or do we continue to go after targets one by one. If i was the next guy up. And mosul appointed by isis talking about sleeping with both eyes open. Or maybe passing on that assignment. Kurdish and iraqi forces gearing up for another offensive to take mosul. What are we doing there, its been taken by isis since june. Youve got another mayor of that area taken down. Is that a sign that were making progress, that perhaps mosul could go back into the hands that the Coalition Wants do see . Absolutely. If the iraqi forces didnt want to reclaim this major city in the north. Wouldnt be taking this mission on. It wouldnt be in iraq back in iraq providing the assistance necessary in order to get this job done. Clearly progress something made as has been assessed. Its probably years before the isf, the Iraqi Security forces are in a position to do something against threats like isis. And isis is going to morph. If we were to eliminate isis tomorrow it would morph into Something Else radical islam, this form of terrorism has an endurance thats going to baffle all of us this is a new type of an engagement that were part of. Specifically lets talk about mosul. If youre talking about the iraqis being able to retake mosul. What should the u. S. Do to help that process . What the u. S. Should do and what the u. S. Can do at this point are essentially two separate things. U. S. Certainly could lend much more of a military hand to the Iraqi Security forces. That has not been the position moving forward. I dont think the Iraqi Security forces are in a position to absorb that type of help right now. Whats taking place is air strikes, lots of great intelligence theres some additional command and control type capabilities. The United States and Coalition Partners have an immense amount of resources that can be used in order to effectively help the iraqi and Kurdish Forces as they go after mosul. Theres a lot of outside as well as inside type of support that can be used. And still as you talk about the mutating cancer that is the radical islam, the terrorism, you worry about the lone wolf attacks in the United States even as you try to contain whats happening in the borders, well talk about that next time. Spider marks, nice to see you, thank you. We hope though the pilot gets released. Coming up a cdc worker being monitored after, he is posed to ebola, having no idea that it happened. How does Something Like this happen . Especially at the cdc . What needs to change to present it from happening again . Were going to speak live to a former cdc disease detective. And whats the latest innovation in science that will leave an indelible mark on all of us . Well get Fareed Zakarias takes next. They say i never thought you would quit. but chantix helped me do it. Along with support Chantix Varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. It gave me the power to overcome the urge to smoke. Some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. Some people had seizures while taking chantix. If you have any of these stop chantix and call your doctor right away. Tell your doctor about any history of Mental Health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix or history of seizures. Don take chantix if youve had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. If you develop these stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be lifethreatening. Tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems or if you develop new or worse symptoms. Get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. Decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. Common side effects include nausea trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. Im a nonsmoker, that feels amazing. Ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. Lets get to pamela brown for some of the days top stories. Happy holidays good morning to everyone at home. The new York City Police department on heightened alert following the arrests of seven people. Theyre accused of making threats toward the nypd. Two of the suspects allegedly targeted the home precinct the very home precinct of two officers shot dead. A public wake will be held today for one of the victims, officer rafael ramos, who will be laid to rest tomorrow. The online Sony Playstation network is still struggling to get back online this morning. After apparently being the target of a hack attack. Xbox live was also knocked offline, but appears to have recovered this morning. A group called the lizard squad took credit for the hack. Both playstation and xbox are run by companies with a hand in streaming the comedy flick the interview. So far, theres no evidence tying the hack with that. Meantime former president george h. W. Bush waking up once again this morning in a texas hospital. Hes been there since tuesday night, when he complained of shortness of breath. Aides are saying the 90yearold is in great spirits and doctoring are keeping him hospitalized only as a quote precaution. A navy ship featured in some major movies including top gun is set to be scrapped for a single penny. Officials were hoping the uss ranger would be transformed into a museum but without takers it will be sent to texas to be dismantled. It was commissioned in 1957 and earned battle stars during the vietnam war and operation desert storm. Its been out of use since 1993. Back to you, poppy. Lets talk about this remarkable thing that just happened at the cdc. A worker there will be monitored now for three weeks, 21 days after handling live ebola. Without even knowing it. The cdc says the virus samples were improperly sent to the wrong lab. Then the technician was exposed, they have no symptoms at this point. But the cdc says theyre going to monitor and theres no chance of public exposure. The thing is this is not the first time that Something Like this has happened. So how does it happen . Why does it happen . How could it be prevented . Especially with the risk of ebola reentering the United States being very real . Lets talk to dr. Simi yasmine, a staff writer at the Dallas Morning News and a former cdc detective. You have a unique perspective. You were with the cdc, a disease detective there. Heres what theyre saying seema. Theyre saying that the samples were switcheded a sample of live ebola virus was sent to the lowrisk lab, instead of a dead virus sample. How significant is this . Its huge mistake, poppy and its one that we cant afford right now. Because cdc is one of the agencies leading the fight against the ebola epidemic in west africa. This lab where the mistake occurred has processed hundreds of samples from west africa already this year and in fact the experiments theyve been working on before they had to shut down were looking at that strain of ebola thats spreading like wildlife right now, trying to learn more about it to answer some questions about it like how to fight it better. Because of the mistake, the lab has been decontaminated twice and its been closed down unacceptable that its not doing the work we need it to do. Its not only putting a Lab Technician at risk its hindering progress in terms of fighting the disease abroad . Absolutely. The cdc is doing such good Work Overseas and protecting us here by doing that work. And this detracts again from the good work that theyre doing and the protection theyre offering us and as you mentioned, the third mistake this year. We learned from the bird flu mistake earlier this year. That mistake probably happened because of an overworked lab worker and having worked there. I know the cdc has a strong culture of service and commitment and working really hard. Thats why you cant have safety hinge on one person, there have to be protocols in place. The first example earlier this year the cdc accidentally sent live anthrax to labs unequipped to handle it. 62 people were monitored, none infected and the bird flu regular sample was extently contaminated with a h5n1 a deadly strain. What needs to change . We need to have better protocols in place. We need to make sure that staff are trained in how to adhere to these protocols. In this instance with the ebola mistake, recently. The lab worker should have realized that the color coding was wrong. That he the should not have been seeing a test tube of that color in the lab. If people are make those mistakes there needs to be more training. We were assured by dr. Friedan, there would be a point person at cdc who was held accountable for all safety so really this shouldnt be happening. Is there yet . Do you know seema, is there yet . We havent heard much about what happened in the wake of those earlier mistakes and there were two similar mistakes in 2006. Another mistake in 2009. All involving deadly bacteria. So something needs to change. And it needs to happen immediately. The cdc is saying with the live ebola debacle, in terms of the sample being sent to the wrong lap, they say look this shouldnt have happened but the public is not at risk. Do you agree that the public is not at risk . I know theyre monitoring the Lab Technician its unclear if theres a quarantine. Thats probably correct because of the way the sample was sealed and also we think it was just the one person that had contact. But again, thats good that the public isnt at risk and its good that there arent more people having ton mored for 21 days, but its not the first mistake and we need it to be the last mistake. One thing that i think that we dont talk about enough is the fact that this epidemic is still raging in west africa. Many medical experts have said theres no way to get out of the woods globally maybe theres no case here in the United States right now. So the media headlines arent all about this. But how critical is it to keep the focus, the pressure, the funding on on curbing this epidemic in west africa right now . If we dont stop the outbreak at its source in west africa were likely to see more imported cases, poppy. And its disturbing nearly 20,000 people have been infected with ebola. More than 7,500 have died. Since were talking about the cdc. It seems that every year theyre fighting more epidemics, epidemics keep getting bigger. Yet their funding hasnt gone up to reflect the battles theyre fighting for us. If were hearing that more lab workers are tired, stressed, making these mistakes the agency needs more resources to fight the Public Health battles. Obviously things need to get better safetiwise et cetera, this shouldnt have happened. But this is an agency that does incredibly good work to help all of us. Youre saying they need more funding, they need more help . Not just them, the nih as well has suffered funding cuts, were behind with an ebola vaccine possibly because the nih had funding cuts. Thank you so much for joining us. How close are we to the next big scientific innovation like a 3dprinted heart . We may be closer than you think. Fareed zakaria will tell us coming up. Plus spent too much cash on Holiday Gifts this year . Were here to help. Weve got tips on how to get out of holiday debt. After the break. So i can reach ally bank 24 7, but there are no branches . 24 7 its just im a little reluctant to try new things. Whats wrong with trying new things . Feel that in your muscles . Yeah. I do. Try a new way to bank, where no branches equals great rates. The Holiday Season is here, which means its time for the volkswagen signthendrive event. For practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a germanengineered volkswagen. Like the sporty, advanced new jetta. And the 2015 motor trend car of the year allnew golf. If youre wishing for a new volkswagen this season. Just about all you need is a finely tuned. Pen. Hurry in to the sign then drive event and get a fivehundred dollar new years bonus on select new volkswagen models. Offer ends january 2nd. So ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts . Thats right. Its just that im worried about you know hidden things. Ok, whys that . No hidden fees from the bank where no branches equals great rates. Hey what are you doing . I was thinking about taking this speed test from comcast business. Oh yeah . If they cant give us faster internet or save us money, theyll give us 150 bucks. Sounds like a win win. Guys faster internet . I have never been on the internet and i am doing pretty well. Does he even work here . Dont listen to the naysayer. Take the comcast business speed test. Get faster speeds or more savings, or well give you 150. Comcast business. Built for business. Welcome back everyone there was a time not long ago when American Ingenuity reached for the stars and landed on the moon. But its been four decades since the original moon shot the Apollo Program ended. And the Shuttle Program is now on the shelf as well. What could be the next big innovation to have all of us marveling with our families and friends . Fareed zakaria talked to Cnns Alisyn Camerota about his yearend special, moon shots for the 21st century. Highlighting the next frontiers in science and innovation. Great to see you. Have you been able to identify some equivalent groundbreaking experiences today . It is amazing how many things are going on. And we had an incredible list to choose from. But we picked five that really are gamechangers in just the way that the original apollo moon shot was. Lets look at your list. Number one, putting human beings on mars. How close are we to that . Were closer than you might think. Its obviously a huge challenge. It would take the trip is three years. And one of the things that nasa is trying to figure out is how to make sure that people dont go crazy on the trip. One of the things they do is they put five people in a volcano for four months in kind of an extreme stress condition. And just see how they would interact. And theyre learning a lot. We have a clip of that very thing, lets take a look. This is the main living space right here. There was a 020minute communication delay with the outside world. Similar to what mars astronauts would face. This is the only window that we have in the habitat. The only time they were allowed to leave the habitat was in space suits. Okay. Were in motion. Thats incredible. But by the mid 2030s, nasa believes there will be men on mars. Okay next 3d printing of a human heart. How does this work . Well this is incredibly important. Because one of the easiest ways to solve a number of really difficult medical conditions would be organ replacement. But organ replacement is very hard. Because you know you try to get somebody elses kidneys, liver or heart, it wouldnt match. Imagine being able to make a kidney out of your own dna. So youre never going to have a problem of finding it. Theres never going to be a problem of organ rejection. Well turns out just the same process of 3d printing that takes place now a days with gadgets or Little Machine parts, can be applied to human organs. And a leading scientist and medical researcher says were probably just ten years away from being able to print a human heart. Heres something that would change the face of travel. Hypersonic flight. What is that . If you think about it this is the one area where there has been very little innovation. The amount of time it takes you or me to go from new york to london or paris, is about the same as it took 40 years ago, 50 years ago. Here we have an attempt to try to drastically short than time. The idea would be that you would be able to get from any point in the world to any other point. In four hours. Any point in the world . Now it would be about 18 hours, it would, it would be a third, it would be a third the time. And its in order to do it you almost have to try to make the planes into rockets. The next is another medical breakthrough mapping the human brain. What does that mean . This is the most mindbending of all of them. Youve got the only analogies i can give you are movies. Think total recall with Arnold Arnold schwarzenegger think the matrix think the avatar. If you wanted to go to paris and didnt have the money. Imagine if you could go to your local clinic and they could implant the memory of a lovely parisienne vacation that youve had. In other words if you can get to the point where you can really understand what part of the brain has memory what part of the brain has emotional sensation, and target specific things into it,. Are you blowing my mind fareed thats some crazy stuff. Last creating a star right here on earth to power the electrical grid . To power everything. If you think about it the we are a solarpowered planet. We get all our energy basically from the sun the plants animals, we everything takes sunlight and uses that energy. So the idea is if thats the ultimate source of energy why not try to create a star on earth. The process that you use is essentially nuclear fusion. But the question is can you make it work can you sustain the action . Nuclear fusion is a very tough reaction to sustain. Can you guard it, because the heat that it produces is incredible. The one point i want to make about all of these projects which is very interesting, which is true of the original moon shot even if they dont work you get huge benefits in science and technology. You dont know what theyre going to be. The apollo space mission, it turns out the single most valuable thing that came out of it was that they needed to have very small computers. And so they they created a market for the microchip. Which created the market for essentially the whole world of personal computers that we have today. If not for nasa its not clear that that would have happened or certainly happened decades later. Fareed thanks so much for sharing this with us. You can watch the endoftheyear special moon shots for the 21st century on december 28th. Well tune in. Were talking about Holiday Shopping of course the day after christmas. All your Holiday Shopping it adds up. Wait until you get your credit card bill. If you are in over your head with holiday debt weve got you covered. Tips on how to get out of the red, next. Get two lines of unlimited 4g lte data for just 100 bucks a month. Thatll get your holiday bell ringing. Suffering from the flu is a really big deal. With aches, fever and chills theres no such thing as a little flu. So why treat it like its a little cold . Theres something that works differently than overthecounter remedies. Attack the flu virus at its source with prescription tamiflu. And call your doctor right away. Tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people 2 weeks and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. Before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if youre pregnant, nursing, have Serious Health conditions, or take other medicines. If you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. Children and adolescents in particular may be at an increased risk of seizures confusion or abnormal behavior. The most common side effects are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. Ask your doctor about tamiflu and attack the flu virus at its source. Welcome back. Millions of you are headed out the door this morning to return gifts that didnt meet your High Expectations this year. Retailers largely met their expectations. Sales up 16 over the last year good news for creditors and pad news for your wallet. Here to help us with ways to get out of that holiday debt George Goodman from moneyanswers. Com and great book master your debt. We are Kindred Spirits here. We both think you shouldnt spend money you dont have and if you do you have to be smart about getting out of it. This is a tempting day, leftovers in the refrigerator. My blackberry my phone is full of offers. Right now, get here 50 off. Yes. You dont have to pay 25 , 30 on credit cards. There are better credit cards to be had. Make sure youre using the right credit cards. Free website to find the best deals, creditcardperks. Com. Frequent flyer mileage, you got to get them not wait for what shows up in the mail. What i tell people is if you cant pay it off in 30 or 06 days you really need to think about whether you need it. Correct. The whole industry is geared toward making you spend money you dont have. Youre unamerican, christine. How do you say im not here to tell you have to hold the American Economy. Take care of yourself. Get under control and nonprofit credit counsels, say you have 17 and 25 credit cards, Credit Card Companies are not going to help you. They have deals with the creditors you cant get on your own, 6 7 much lower rates. You got to close the accounts and get this under control and pay the debt off, instead of just getting more debt. If youre in distress but an awful lot of debt they could end up not getting paid. Theyd rather get Something Better than nothing. Cambridgecredit. Org have helped many people for a long time. Theyre not giving you a new credit card, you make one payment to cambridge, they pay the credit cards. Credit card surfing, might seem safer to transfer your balance to a lower extra rate. If you have a habit of zeroing out the balance and get in trouble, you shouldnt do that. Zee percent for six months or 1. 9 , this is called surfing but realize theyre charging you a fee, typically 3 to 4 of the amount youre doing. You may get a low Interest Rate but the fee is higher. No someone doing anything to you out of the goodness of your heart. Also if you pay late you still got to pay, then the rate shoots up. Dont sign up for 10 store discount credit cards. All the retailers if you go in, sign up for this card you get 10 off and if you dont have the money to pay when it comes in and paying 18 youre going to pay more than in the first place and hurting your Credit Report. Somebody who works at one of the Credit Rating agencies told me thats a sign of financial weakness to have a bunch of store cards. Youre in the mall and sign up for macys blooming dales and nordstroms your credit number will drop points. Were sorry to be the buzzkill as you get ready to have a nice breakfast on your way out the door to go shopping. Be careful. You have the rest of the year to worry about. Poppy . Coming up the nypd on high alert following the arrest of seven people in new york city accused of threatening Police Officers athis as the Department Prepares to lay one of their own slain members to rest. Weve got the latest on that also the rising tension between communities and police what can heal the rift . Were talking with the mayor of berkeley missouri where a teen with a gun was shot dead by a Police Officer. Why do i cook . Because i make the best chicken noodle soup. Because i make the best chicken noodle soup. Because i make the best chicken noodle soup. For every way you make chicken noodle soup, make it delicious with swanson®. Hey what are you doing . I was thinking about taking this speed test from comcast business. Oh yeah . If they cant give us faster internet or save us money, theyll give us 150 bucks. Sounds like a win win. Guys faster internet . I have never been on the internet and i am doing pretty well. Does he even work here . Dont listen to the naysayer. Take the comcast business speed test. Get faster speeds or more savings, or well give you 150. Comcast business. Built for business. Online terrorististic threats a growing number of threats against the nypd. Its a great loss. These are heroes and it hurts. The terrorists appointed governor mosul was killed in an air strike and isis has a valuable bargaining chip. The u. S. Would support any effort to recover the pilot. The interview has finally made its debut. I got what i paid for. If it wasnt for theaters like this and people like you guys this literally would not be happening right now. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com good morning to you. Welcome to newsroom this morning, friday december 26th, 8 00 in the east. Get up im Christine Romans along with poppy harlow. Weve been up for a while. A lot of work to do a lot of big stories were following today, the new York City Police department ramping up patrols after seven people were arrested accused of threatening cops after the execution style murder of two officers while they were sitting in their patrol car. Now the officers and officers from around the world are arriving in new york and the department gets ready to bury one of their own, that funeral will be held tomorrow also a growing memorial for the slain officers in brooklyn and complete outpouring and Miguel Marquez has been corg this. I know as the morning proceeded more people have come. This is going on for days and gets bigger and bigger by the day. Reporter this funeral is going to be enormous. This area of queens will be turned into literally an ocean of blue, the reasons in new york will get better notwithstanding the eric garner controversy. And the new hires to the new York City Police department yor de blasio. He has blood on his hands. Thats so unhelpful and wrong. None of this is going to change overnight. But you know, what people see in the streets is the most important thing. And new yorkers see a more diverse and Inclusive Police force and thats whats going to matter more than anything that a politician says. Mayor, go ahead. And if i may add to that, we have a tendency to very quickly lay the blame. We look at each individual statement. We come to the conclusion that theyre not supportive of the police department. I can assure you that is not the case in the city of berkeley. We are very objective. However, the protesters that initially came to the site theyre not objective. They have come to the conclusion that any time an incident occurs the police are at fault and im not supportive of that position. My position is you review each individual separate and be objective. Thats why we have an independent investigation of this incident. We have to go but very quickly, since we had the sheriff from milwaukee say on the program he doesnt think the attorney general or the president have been supportive of Police Officers do you believe that the attorney general and the president have been supportive of Police Officers . I totally disagree with that. I think the attorney general and the president has been totally supportive. You know, we are a country of laws and each individual incident is different. And the president or the attorney general are not going around saying Police Officers are always wrong. Theyre looking at the incidents so i disagree with the chief of milwaukee that the president s not supportive of Police Officers. Mayor, thank you very much for your time this morning. Merry christmas, thank you for coming on the program. Jeff toobin, thanks. Well for the second time in less than a month, Coalition Forces have killed the isis appointed governor. This as the u. S. Rejects claims by isis that it shot down a coalition plane over syria and jordan and they plead for the safe return of the pilot. Lets bring in Barbara Starr with the very latest. They dont think this plane was shot down, but that jordanian pilot is in the hands of isis. The parliament is warning of grave consequences if the pilots safety is not ensured. His family pleading for his return and now today the queen of jordan is putting up a message on her personal social media account calling for unity, essentially saying we are all moaz, the name of the pilot. The jordanians are concerned about getting him back. You see that from his social media account. Heres where we stand. The u. S. And jordanians in agreement that the plane was not shot down but not saying what did bring it down. Were not sure if the u. S. Or the coalition know what brought it down. Was it mechanical trouble, did the pilot run into a problem . What we know is when he ejected from the f16 it all really happened so quickly that the isis fighters on the ground, the ones you see in the photos grabbing him they were on him so quick that rescue forces on stand by in the air and they always have them up here. When there are combat missions. Those rescue forces couldnt get to him in time. Now the question is how to get him back and whats the issue. What brought down this airplane . Christine . Thank you, Barbara Starr. Lets get to the other top stories. Good morning to you. With the official end of the war in afghanistan just days away, president obama decided to spend christmas night paying tribute to the u. S. Military. He visited a Marine Corps Base in hawaii as we see in the video to thank the soldiers for their sacrifices saying that afghanistan will never be the source of another terror attack. The vast majority of u. S. Troops will be out of afghanistan by the end of the week. Meantime a very special Christmas Gift for an american tourist. She has been free from jail after spending four months detained in east timor. She said she was detained in a misunderstanding because she shared a taxi with someone carrying a methamphetamine. Im glad shes coming home. And it wasnt exactly a homecoming fit for a king. Number 23, lebron james. Lebron james did get a warm welcome from heat fans and scored 30 points during his first visit back to miami on Christmas Day, but his former teammates played the part of grinch to perfection. Miamis dwyane wade scoring 31 points leading the heat to the 10191 victory. Nothing like a little basketball on Christmas Day. I was surprised. I know they have football on thanksgiving but basketball on Christmas Day . Wheres john berman when you need him . I know. Exactly. It got more free publicity, but did people fill up the seats to see the interview . Also a big lump of coal from the kremlin. Why Vladimir Putin has cancelled holiday vacations for government workers. Is he trying to steal christmas or save his country . I guess were going to need a new santa the music builds to a climax. more people are coming to audi than ever before. See why now is the best time. Audi will cover your first months payment on select models at the season of audi sales event. Visit audioffers. Com today. The controversial comedy the interview making a big splash on Christmas Day. It remered in only 331 theaters across the country, not the 3,000 hoped for after sony pulled the film after the cyber attack and threats of violence against audiences. Online its the number one seller on google play and youtube. Playstation and xbox Gaming Networks recovering from widespread problems Christmas Day, slowing peoples efforts to watch that film online. Rosa flores is here with what people are saying about the interview. Good morning. Some people calling it the best Christmas Gift that sony could have ever received on christmas, why . Because so many people flocked to these independent theaters to see this movie. Some of the people i talked to said they didnt want to watch the movie, they felt it was their patriotic duty to go and watch this film. So what did people say and think about it . Take a listen. It was hilarious, pretty much what i expected it to be given its a seth rogen movie. The gore wasnt too much not as much as i thought it would be, it was pretty funny and well executed. What about Box Office Numbers . Variety reporting industry estimates a whopping 1 million, huge for a movie that released in 331 independent theaters across the country. Now, christine about rentals we dont know if well receive the numbers but if theyre good the Company Might want to release them just to brag a little bit. We published the story on cnn money about how it was a big hit among pirates, some 750,000 people downloaded it for free. What about the apparent hack on sonys playstation and Microsofts Xbox live. Plenty of people went to watch it and couldnt. Who was behind it . For parents this was like getting coal on christmas, they were stuck with a lot of cranky kids. The Hacking Group lizard squad taking responsibility for this for overwhelming servers. We dont know that it is related to the release of this movie. We dont know its related at all but of course well see later, christine, whats revealed. Thanks rosa. Pamela . Thanks so much christine. Codirectors seth rogen and Evan Goldberg making a surprise appearance at the midnight screening of the interview on Christmas Day thanking moviegoers. If it wasnt for people like this and people like you guys this literally would not be [ muted ] happening right now. There you go after all the controversy, how was the movie and should we be wary of troubles for sony and microsoft as the movie was being streamed Christmas Day . We bring in senior media correspondent and host of reliable sources Brian Stiller it and don, from recode a tech news website. Brian, weve been covering this for so long and now the movie finally out. I know you watched it. What were your thoughts after covering it so much . It was good enough it was what i expected. I think kim jongun might have enjoyed it parts of it are really funny but i can see why it might be upsetting to some in north korea. The pirated version will be available. The stoner head if you will. Totally. Don, im curious, this is a seth rogen comedy, didnt do so great among critics, its safe to say that. Do you think in a way all of this controversy surrounding, dawn helped it and even though it wasnt released into 3,000 movie theaters all of the publicity driving people to watch it . I think certainly youre right, people wouldnt normally go to the theaters to watch a seth rogen film audiences have a clear expectation what theyre going to get and this film delivers on the expectations. I think brian artfully captured that. This what is it north korea thought was so dangerous or perhaps they want to support Free Expression and watch the movie which is what i did. The possibly it makes more money online than theaters is interesting. 1 million is strong considering it was only in theaters the idea it could make more millions on youtube and xbox could be a landmark moment. I dont think a lot of people realize you could rent movies on youtube and this is really impressive that the movie was released online before it was released in theaters. Could this be sort of the wave of the future here prybrian . Partly a desperation move. Sony would rather have the movie in 3,000 theaters it would have made a lot more money, but the idea is there is this alternative, other way to release a movie was a harbinger for the future. Well see it more in the future if People Choose and argue thats the way they want it. If people keep going to see the big movies the theater also do fine. If people want them at home movie studios like sony have to go in that direction and some of the movies are perhaps better on the big screen. Two different experiences. What are your thoughts . Brian makes a great point. The industry has been wrestling with this issue. Winstream has a practice of windowing, a Clear Strategy of releasing in the theaters, then to dvd and on demand and i think that modern audiences have grown accustomed to watching video delivered via the internet. Eventually were going to get to a place where movies are released simultaneously maybe not in this moment. Brian, youre completely right, this is a desperation move by sony. Itd rather have 3,000 theaters showing the film than a few of us streaming it on our computers, the Playstation Network not an option yesterday. It is perhaps in the future brian, well also see Companies Like netflix continue to push this forward so there will be time ul tapious releases of films in the home and in theaters and audiences get to choose. It was interesting the ceo of Sony Pictures in his message to the staff on wednesday said theyre still trying to find more platforms for the movie. Maybe it will come on netflix weeks and days to come. It will be interesting to see how much they end up making when this is all said and done 44 million to make the movie and even though it isnt showing in 3,000 theaters as of now that could change. Quickly i want to go to north koreas response to all of this. Dawn im going to go to you for this. The u. S. Blamed north korea for an attack. The hackers threatened a surprise and physical attack if the movie was released. We heard from north korea yesterday who condemned the movie in an interview with the ap basically saying there would be no physical response though and the statement stopped at that. So im curious, do you think they sort of left the door open to the fact that we could see more potential hacking attacks . Well certainly the North Koreans have been doing a bit of threatening using the internet to deliver threats and it had these hollow, what turned out to be hollow threats of violence on Christmas Day so perhaps were hearing a bit more saber rattling and perhaps it will be more cyber attacks, but its hard to know at this moment. Unpredictable. No Christmas Day surprise, right, broi anian . No, the Network Problems yesterday were unrelated, foreshadowed weeks ahead of time by a different hacker group. The servers are getting online. Sony has to contend with future leaks of more data and even whats out there has been devastating to the company. Interesting how the conversation changed from the leaked emails to all about the movie being released so whether that was intentional or not the conversation has changed. Sony had 30 bad days in a row since the hacking november 24th and Christmas Day was the first good day they had, the movie was out and they were no longer so much on the defensive, they were finally on the offensive. It was a show of defiance answer that was valuable for them in terms of publicity around what the company has gone through. Absolutely. I have a feeling this sony saga is not quite over with yet. What a wakeup call this has been to major media companies. A wakeup call is absolutely right. Dawn and brian, thank you very much for coming on to talk about this. Thank you. Christine, back to you. Thanks, guys. Im sure they like the response but im sure theyd rather have not had this. They want it to end. Christmas doesnt come for two more weeks in russia but nobody is taking time off. President Vladimir Putin canceled holiday vacations for government employees. The amazing story of how one woman made it to america, a talented woman if i say so myself and the gifts she gave her family thats been passed on for generations. She gave it to us. Christine romans, this is an amazing story, her roots coming up. Why do i cook . Because i make the best chicken noodle soup. Because i make the best chicken noodle soup. Because i make the best chicken noodle soup. For every way you make chicken noodle soup, make it delicious with swanson®. Ive always loved exploring and looking for Something Better. Thats the way i look at life. Especially now that i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib a type of irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. I was taking warfarin, but wondered if i kept digging could i come up with Something Better. My doctor told me about eliquis. For three Important Reasons. One, in a clinical trial, eliquis was proven to reduce the risk of stroke better than warfarin. Two, eliquis had less major bleeding than warfarin. And three, unlike warfarin theres no routine blood testing. Dont stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Those three Important Reasons are why eliquis is a better find for me. Ask your doctor today if eliquis is right for you. And welcome back to newsroom. Time for the five things to know for your new day on this friday. Number one, the nypd is on tight heightened alert after seven people were arrested for making threats against officers allegedly. Public wake is being held for officer Raphael Ramos who was murdered last weekend. In iraq an air strike killed the governor of mosul. He lasted for three weeks in that position. His predecessor was also killed by a u. S. Air strike. Online Gaming Networks playstation and xbox live starting to come back online after being the target of a hack attack on christmas. The networks are run by companies in hand with streaming the comedy the interview. Former president george h. W. Bush spent the third night in the hospital. Tuesday he complained of shortness of breath. Aides say doctors are keeping him only as a precaution. And tis the season for returning. Many of you are probably racing to the malls today to return and exchange some of the Holiday Gifts. Retailers saw about a 4 jump in holiday sales compared to last year. Were always updating the five things to know go to newdaycnn. Com for the latest. Government employees in russia might say president Vladimir Putin is the man who stole christmas. Hes canceled holiday vacation for the kremlin because of sorry state of russias economy. Rare point of humility from putin. Good morning. Good morning, christine. Thats right, theres this joke making the rounds here in moscow that the ruble, the currency here is so low that these government ministers couldnt afford to party anyway but jokes aside, russian president Vladimir Putins latest announcement really does highlight the critical state of the russian economy. Now traditionally, russians celebrate the Holiday Season between january 1st and january 12th. The celebrations really kicking off with the new year but yesterday in a televised speech president putin announced hes canceling holiday leave for members of his government so that they could keep working on the Economic Situation which, by all accounts is pretty dire. In middecember the ruble reached a record low in part due to western sanctions and in part due to fall oil prices. Its managed to rebound somewhat since then but inflation here in russia persists, and ordinary russians tell me theyre struggling to make ends meet. They tell me they want their government to focus on solutions. President putins announcement seeming to play well in moscow. That is something people feel no question although Vladimir Putins approval rate something still high. All right, coming up, my part of the show how did one womans brave journey across the ocean help bring Christine Romans to us what she found looking into her past that brought her to tears. That story next. All right, welcome back to newsroom. This year some of cnns anchors were given an opportunity to zof our roots. I went an emotional journey to trace my history back to denmark. I uncovered the story of my great, great grandmother. She left everything behind. She was 20 years old. She left everything behind to start her life over in america. This is iowa. This is where im from cornfields family and every few years we all get together. All the grandkids and Great Grandkids and my grandma. This is the picture you gave me. And what i love thats a lot of years ago. How old do you think you were . Probably 17. My grandmothers name is shirley Jean Peterson and she remembers her grandma, anna Jacob Peterson very very well she calls her the danish word for grandmother. I know how much you loved your grandma and i loved my grand ma. So tell me your best moment to you . She was a second mother she was a great grandma. I just loved her dearly. Weve grown up with a lot of stories about anna jacobina peterson ordinary woman, simple means, took a chance and basically built my family. I would have nothing, i wouldnt be here if it werent for a chance for a poor girl in denmark 150 years ago. We followed in the footsteps of your grandmother and i wanted to show you the book we made. Its here in iowa with my grandmother, where i reveal what i learned about her, something i could only find out by going back to her homeland. Goodbye new york. Were going to bestemores town. Denmark denmark, here we come. This is in copenhagen. I couldnt visit annas country without any younger sister, april. A place central to our family history. Delicious. I liked that one. Our people were sustained by this. I liked that one. But its here inside the Danish National archives where i learned the most. This is the former royal hall of curiosities in the danish archives and they were all of the information and this woman walked us through. Charlotte jensen works in archival development. The archives can help you find a past that didnt existed. Lets tang a look at this. Lets take a look. This is actually her baptism in the parish. Anna spelled ane in danish was baptized in 1866. In a Beautiful Church about an hour outside copenhagen. Denmarks rich countryside where she would spend the first 20 years of her life. Building 1100s, the earliest part of it. Thats where she was baptized. This is from 1650. 1650. Yes. When the baptism is finished then i say the prayer. Tell me about how, when you would pray together when you would sleep with her and pray together . Oh wed get on our knees by the bed and both say our prayers, and bestemore said one night, i was about 10 at this time she said lord, im ready to come home call me any time. I am sitting beside her with my hands folded and im saying not tonight, not tonight. She was ready to go to the lord and you were not ready to have her die in your bed. This is the kind of house she would have lived in. Yes. They would have rented a little room there. This is a laborers home. A laborer, yes. All right let as go inside. So this would be typical, this would be the kitchen over here and everyone would eat and sleep and dress all in one room. Yes. Something like a table, an oven a bed, a cupboard, stuff like that very basic things, they didnt have much. She would have had a bible and a candlestick probably for sure. Its like going back in time. If you went through time travel and go back to the 1800s, i think we need some accessories. Let as do it. Put that on first. We dont want you to get old out. Now you are ready to go back to 1880. And then we have a wonderful dish of cold porridge. Here you go. And you might have had a little milk if you had milk. Theres not any variety. I could use help here. Honestly. They had fresh vegetables in the summer but didnt have much you know they didnt. I love this story. Its a great one and it is not over. More of christines family journey after a quick break. And the precisely engineered passat tdi. Ah, the gift of clean diesel. For the new volkswagen on your list this year just about all you need, is a pen. Festive, isnt it . Hurry in to the sign then drive event and get a fivehundred dollar new years bonus on select new volkswagen models. Offer ends january 2nd. I was just looking at your Credit Report site. Do you guys have Identity Theft protection . [ male voice ] im sorry did you say identity distribution . No. Protection. Identity theft protection. You have selected identity distribution. Your identity will now be shared with everyone. Thank you. No, no, no [ click, dial tone ] [ female announcer ] not all Credit Report sites are equal. [ male voice ] were good in here, howie. Yeah, have a good night, brother. Experian. Com members get personalized help plus Identity Theft protection. Join now at experian. Com. With enrollment in experian credit tracker. Welcome pack to newsroom. Were looking at my roots and how my great, great grandmothers generosity and risk got my family to where we are today. This was her school. This was her teacher. This is where anna would have gone to school. It is almost like it was at that time. Sometimes they would work half a day and come home to take care of the geese. When she was 5 she lived with the neighbor people and take care of the geese to keep the geese out of the garden. Can you imagine that . Shed cry for her mother. It was a tough life. We learned a lot from annas brothers and sisters. From 18 0 to 1890 she had ten brothers and sisters. Three died when they were very young. They died from the croup. From the croup, oh they both got sick and both babies died. Both died. Anna would have been 10 years old. This is more about annas father. By the time anna was 12 her father made a living by breaking stone. Breaking stone is not making a career. Hard labor. Not very well paid and not very well looked upon which is the kind of job that you would get if you couldnt get anything else. We can also see that got an extra ten so he actually got welfare. This explains why in 1886 she left the country. She had to make a living for herself. Here is her immigration paper. Anna arrived at the port of new york on october 14th, 1886 when she was just 20 years old, two weeks before the dedication of the statue of liberty. She was a single female one bag with her. Can you imagine come with one bag to a new world . I cant. My great, great grandmother eventually settled in western iowa and married hans olsen, this guy with the handlebar mustache. Hi its so nice to meet you. Im christine. Back in new york michelle urkinbrach found for me the most moving document of all. Theres still today after all these years this identity of her buying tickets. They called is bestemores traveling ticket. But they had to wait at Council Bluffs and stay at her house and learn english and learn a trade, and then they returned the money for the ticket and another ticket went to denmark. It asks who paid your passage. Reporter she recovered a 1930 passenger list for annas nephew, carl pepesens ticket to america paid for in full by his aunt, anna, proof of her generosity for years to come. Wow, thats so i always heard about the ticket for all those years but then to see it. Do you think bestemor, do you think anna would be proud of the family that has grown up behind her . She would be very proud. I often wish she could see my kids. Reporter anna lived to be 92 years old. As a reporter, as a journalist, i interview, write about newsmakers all the time but in my family the real newsmaker is just an ordinary girl who had the courage to leave everything she knew and start all over again in america. Amazing story. The history books are full of poor young people who are risk takers and built this country and built their family behind them and im proud to be part of that. Nice to learn so much of you. Merry christmas grandma. Merry christmas, everyone. Newsroom begins after a quick break with randi kaye in for carol costello. Have a great weekend. [vet] two yearly physicals down. Martha and mildred are good to go. Heres your invoice, ladies. A few stops later, and it looks like big ollie is on the mend. It might not seem that glamorous having an old pickup truck for an office. Or filling your days looking down the south end of a heifer but. I wouldnt have it any other way. Lo ok at that, i had my best month ever. And earned a shiny new office upgrade. I run on quickbooks. Thats how i own it. Hey what are you doing . I was thinking about taking this speed test from comcast business. Oh yeah . If they cant give us faster internet or save us money, theyll give us 150 bucks. Sounds like a win win. Guys faster internet . I have never been on the internet and i am doing pretty well. Does he even work here . Dont listen to the naysayer. Take the comcast business speed test. Get faster speeds or more savings, or well give you 150. Comcast business. Built for business. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com good morning everyone. Im randi kaye in for carol costello. Thanks so much for joining me this morning. We begin at a place that you are likely headed today, the mall that is. Today is a critical day for retailers across america as businesses slash prices and millions of us head back out looking for some deals. This is the second busiest shopping day of the year after retailers did not see the blockbuster sales in the buildup to christmas. But when you head to the stores today, are you more likely to spend or return those gifts that were maybe just wrong . After christmas exchanges and returns are a 65 billion tradition according to the National Retail federation. Cnn Business Correspondent alison kosik joining me to talk more about this. Good morning to you. Good morning to you, randi. This is an Epic Exchange day, you can Exchange Return and regift those gifts that you got that you dont want but this is still the