Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20150102

Stonerproduced satire. But the white house is certain that it is kim jongun. Hours ago, president obama swinging back going after north koreas digital terrorists. Well tell you how. And the pop culture lead welcome to the future. Reality has finally caught up with marty mcfly. 2015 is the year he shot to in back to the future and the sequel. If this is the future where is my hoverboard . Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. We begin with our world lead. Recovery teams scouring the most probable area where airasia flight 8501 went down and some new discoveries ending what little hope some families had left replaced now by pain and by grief. Today the team of rescue workers, divers, pilots, sailors from across the globe found some 20 additional bodies passengers and crew from the fated jet that crashed into the java sea, all but certainly early last sunday morning. Today the uss sampson aided in the search. Bad weather continues to slow the mission forcing divers to end their underwater sweeps early. Still the days somber returns runs the total number of victims reclaimed from the city to 30. Indonesian authorities said theyve only been able to identify four of the passengers. The fact there are 132 more people left to find and 158 to identify, its a little unnerving. Aviation and Safety Experts say the majority of the missing are likely all together still strapped into the the planes main cabin. Wednesday, an indonesian search official told cnn he thought sonar equipment detected something that looked like the main fuselage at the bottom of the sea. But now search and rescue officials are backing off that statement. Cnns Suzanne Malveaux has the latest on this. They dont know where this one big chunk of the plane is but they found something from the main cabin . They did, what appears to be a panel within the plane. It is now 4 00 in the morning there as daybreak comes, theyll start searching again for bodies and debris. Its a race against time now because searchers are desperately in need of a break in this bad weather. Day six of the search for airasia 8501 and only 30 bodies have been recovered of the 162 people on board. And from the plane, just a few pieces of debris. Today indonesian officials recovered this one resembling a window panel. The biggest obstacle searchers say, is the treacherous weather. Translator the main obstacle was the height of the waves and the strong current. It was enough to stop us from continuing the search. Reporter high winds threaten helicopters above and 13foot waves batter ships and divers below, making this search painstakingly difficult. The frequency of the waves is the big thing. Theyre just so tight together its too hard for boats to launch and recover equipment. The torrential rains happening every day, the divers are facing potentially zero visibility with all the dirty water. Reporter the International Search effort is in the shallow waters of the java sea, an area 2,000 square miles or roughly the size of delaware. Sunday will be the best day of the search. And that may be the day that they actually can find something because waves will be about two to three feet. Reporter but another two days adds to the agony for families who have been waiting for answers since sunday. Only four bodies have been identified. For those families they can at least begin to say goodbye. Like the parents of the 22yearold Flight Attendant who posted on instagram two weeks ago a love message to her boyfriend. Translator she knew the risk but she loved this. It was her dream. She loved traveling. Translator goodbye goodbye nisa. Heartbreaking goodbyes. You heard chad say the weather will be Getting Better on sunday. The analysts ive talked to said you only need two weeks of clear weather. Thats the window they need. Suzanne malveaux, thank you so much. Families of the missing remain huddled in surabaya. Its been a particularly difficult test of faith for a small group of worshippers from a church group that has only 45,000 congregants around indonesia. Cnns david molko is live in surabaya indonesia, outside the makeshift Crisis Center there. David, patience with the search with the airline wearing thin for some of these families. What are they saying . Reporter hi, jake from here in surabaya. Were about an hour from first light, from sunrise, the morning call to prayer just sounding across the entire city behind me a few minutes ago and certainly hopes and prayers from the 162 families of the passengers and crew on board flight 8501. There is a sense of frustration. The frustration is not necessarily with the airasia officials or with the search teams but how long its taking for the remains to come in. 30 bodies recovered as suzanne mentioned. Only four identified at this point. The mayor of surabaya, 78 people were from her city here the city of 3 Million People here in eastern java. The mayor says shes frustrated too, but she trusts the search teams to do the best they can and get everybody back as soon as possible. David, we learned hours ago that russia has pledged to send a team to help in the search. What will they be doing to help the effort . Reporter this just coming in to us from russian state media that russia is sending two planes. Theyre actually on the ground in jakarta, along with a couple dozen divers. Thats going to obviously add manpower to get more teams into the water in part to recover anything spotted from the air or ships and in part to take a closer look at the ocean floor. Depths pretty shallow out there. Were told in the 100 to 150foot range. But its murky and when you have choppy seas on top, that doesnt make it easy at all. Generally, weather conditions expected to get better after a couple of days. But i have to tell you, its rainy season here in indonesia, this is the tropics, its common to get cloud cover, afternoon thunderstorms. Well wait and see what happens in the days ahead. At this point, 158 families still waiting for answers. David molko, thank you so much. I want to go to cnns tom foreman to help explain where exactly the search area is shifting to and why the weather continues to really hold up the search effort. Tom . If you look at this this isnt a bad location here. This is only about 100 miles from the nearest major city out here to this location. And this is where, of course they have found this debris that has been paying a lot of attention its not bad. Wave talked about this area being about the side of rhode island. Lets say its an area about 45 miles on each side. Thats how you get your 2,000 square miles. So its not an unsearchable area. But along this weather persist, it is a serious problem. This is the depth out there. Its about 100 feet in the area theyre most looking at right now. Not bad. But as long as you have heavy chop up here you know from just being to the beach what it does it creates a cloud of sand and dust and particles down here. Thats hard for a diver down here, cant see anything. Hard for planes to spot from above and hard for vehicles like this because they have to be hooked to these things, guiding these things. Very hard to do if the ocean is going up and down and up and down. There may be help when they bring in devices like the poseidon. These are aircraft designed to do a lot more than just look. They can look in an electronic way below the water. Buff but even then can only cover so much ground at a time. They have to have not just a clear day but several clear days to let all of that get operating well. Then they have to have a little bit of luck. They still have some time if you look at the black box. Still plenty of time left until its going to be gone about 24 days left on the batteries. But you know they have to be watching that as they fight the elements and the water and all that uncertainty out there. Tom foreman thank you so much. In addition to the urgent task of recovering the passengers who are still missing, investigators are of course racing to find the flights black boxes, as tom just referenced. Officials need these recorders to determine what exactly happened to airasia 8501 and to try to prevent it from happening again. To get their insights on the next steps, lets bring in david soucie and les oben. Seems the prevalent theory is the plane stalled in midair. We dont have a definitive answer as to what happened but thats what a lot of experts think is most likely. What does that mean stalling, and how common is it . Well its very uncommon, especially in a jet airliner. But stalling basically means that the wing no longer is developing the lift that it should to keep the airplane airborne. This is something we do train for in the simulation. This is a serious situation. In reference to the climb that was purportedly indicated by air traffic control, a 20,000hour captain is going to know that this is hes reaching a point of the Service Ceiling of the airplane where its max certified that this potential is there if he subjects the airplane to unusual type situations. So im leaning toward the fact that something mechanical erroneous indications in the cockpit displays got to the point if this stall occurred. Because the captain had a lot of experience. Can we rule out definitely any theories about how this plane went down . What do you think is most likely to have caused the crash . I think with reference to your first question the only thing that we could potentially rule out is that it was a successful ditching or that it came close to being a successful ditching because hef clear evidence the aircraft broke up. The second thing is did it break up in the air or on the ground . Well know that as we find more evidence and as the evidence is released to us to analyze. But as far as ruling anything out, thats the only thing i can see ruling out. What i think caused this is just too early to tell at this point. Les, this particular plane is an airbus a320. Tell me about the mechanics of a plane like this. Anything about an a320 that makes it more susceptible, more risky to fly . No, not at all. This is a very reliable airplane. And it does have a system like most any type of commercial airliner. It has a system that prevents a stall from occurring even if a pilot is to let that happen. The airbus has a pretty serious system where it will take over and actually bring the nose down so that the stall situation is reduced to prevent it from even happening. So if they got erroneous indications that this was occurring from their instruments, then that system might have taken over at the wrong time. Thats a possibility. But, listen like dave soucie says anything is certainly possibility. David, weve had a lot of bodies discovered in the last day or so. Now a window pane. Sonar is maybe picking up where the tail is. Thats unconfirmed as of yet. Do you think investigators are close to finding out where the main cabin is where the main body of the plane is . It would appear that way, especially if the sonar is accurate. But, again, they say the sonar is picking this and that up. And then the ceo comes back and says no, we have no evidence of that. So im hesitant to jump with both feet on anything at this point. Like mh370 the data is sparse. And when it comes out, its contradicted. So im waiting to hear that. But i do think at this point theyre much much closer than we ever dreamed of being with mh370. And from this phase forward, they have to identify and find that main wreckage especially the tail and start retrieving these boxes. They have a lot of work to do particularly in the conditions that tom had outlined earlier. And hes right, one day of clear is not going to help them a whole lot. There needs to be three or four days of clear and they may not get that for quite some time. Hoping for good weather. Les, david, thank you both so much. In National News just hours ago, the u. S. Now issuing new sanctions against north korea. The punishment Just Announced may just settle any question of whos responsible for the cyber attack at least as far as president obama is concerned. Could this be the proportional response the president called for after the sony hack . Thats next. [ female announcer ] knows her way around a miniskirt. Can run in high heels. Must be a supermodel, right . You dont know aarp. Because aarp is making finding the career you love no matter what your age, a real possibility. Go to aarp. Org possibilities to check out life reimagined for tools, support, and connections. If you dont think ive still got it when you think aarp, then you dont know aarp. Find more surprising possibilities and get to know us at aarp. Org possibilities. Narrator these are the tennis shoes skater kid whoa narrator that got torture tested by teenagers and cried out for help. From the surprised designers. Who came to the rescue with a brilliant fix male designer i love it narrator which created thousands of new customers for the tennis shoes that got torture tested by teenagers. The internet of everything is changing manufacturing. Is your Network Ready . Welcome back to the lead. Im jake tapper. Our National Lead today, the u. S. Government firing back against north korea just hours ago. The white house announced president obama has authorized additional sanctions in response to the north korean regimes quote ongoing, provocative, destabilizing and repressive actions and policies particularly its destructive and coercive cyber attack on Sony Pictures entertainment, unquote. I want to go to jim acosta whos traveling with president obama in honolulu, hawaii. What do we know about these sanctions and what the u. S. Is targeting in north korea . Reporter the u. S. As you know already has sanctions in place against north korea. North korea, sanctioned to the hilt but these sanctions on top of whats already in place. They specifically go after what the white house calls any and all officials of the north korean government. And they specifically lay out individuals and groups that are being targeted in these sanctions, specifically talked about in these sanctions, the rgb, north koreas Intelligence Organization that is believed to be behind their Cyber Operations. Also a company known as comed and another company tied to north koreas Defense Research and development. So clearly not only going after the Cyber Operations of the north korean government but some of these firms that finance all of that. In addition to that we should point out that the white house and Administration Officials on this Conference Call earlier this afternoon really said this was just the beginning of what theyre going to be doing and going after north korea after that cyber attack on sony. And that was interesting because, as you know in the days after the president s comments on all this before he left for hawaii there was that vast internet outage in north korea and there was speculation the United States was behind that. One Senior Administration official said perhaps the North Koreans were behind that outage and seemed to say the u. S. Was not behind that attack but they were cagey about that. Jim acosta traveling with the president and trying to decipher what is said by Administration Official on this. The white house and u. S. Intelligence officials are standing by their assertion that north korea was behind the cyber attack against sony despite evidence presented by outside american experts this week that calls that into question and in some cases suggests that a former employee of the studio may have been at least partly responsible. What makes the fbi so sure that north korea was responsible . Cnn justice correspondent pamela brown has been talking to her sources and joins me live to discuss that part of the story. Will we hear more from the fbi about the evidence it has to back up this assertion that it was definitively north korea . Its possible but its unlikely that the fbi will be revealing any big rev lags behind this case anytime soon. The more incriminating evidence they have is classified. So highly unlikely that a lot of this evidence would be declassified and presented to the public. But we know the director of the fbi will be at Fordham University next week at a Cyber Security forum and we expect him to touch on that. Whether or not he will reveal any new evidence is unlikely. It would seem to suggest the actions by the president today, additional sanctions, more targeted sanctions against individuals in north korea, would seem to suggest that theyre just dismissing the skepticism voiced by other Cyber Security experts, some of them on our show many talking to other media, that north korea is unquestionably behind this. Theyre saying no no were 100 sure. Absolutely. They said they sent out a press release earlier this week saying we back up the fbi, undermining what they previously said. The fbi has been adamant ever since these naysayers have come out and the Cyber Security firm you talked about, believing it was an insider job. Fbi officials have reiterated the point that this is the conclusion we reached, it was a joint effort not just with us but with foreign partners, with the private sector with other agencies. And these Cyber Security firms making these assumptions and reaching these conclusions theyre not privy to the same mountain of evidence that we are, thats what theyre saying. They dont have the inside look at what really happened here. Are any of the people who were sanctioned today directly tied to the hack . Do we even know who the individuals are behind the hack . Law enforcement sources weve been speaking with say theyre still investigating that, still trying to figure out who the individuals are, who the players are. I think thats a big reason why we havent seen any criminal charges. Remember these sanctions theyre not criminal charges so the people listed the companies and the individuals, im told are not directly tied to the hack. They might have been indirectly tied to it. But i think the u. S. Is trying to get to what they can get to in this case. Interesting. Pamela thank you so much. Forget resolutions for this new year. Potentially president ial candidates are checking off their lists ahead of 2016 the work to be done. And the movie predicted you would be driving a flying car and riding a hoverboard by this year, how close are we to any of that futuristic stuff . Thats next on the lead. Nineteen years ago, we thought wow, how is there no way to tell the good from the bad . So we gave people the power of the review. And now angies list is revolutionizing local service again. You can easily buy and Schedule Services from toprated providers. Conveniently stay up to date on progress. And effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with our angies list app. Visit angieslist. Com today. Thanks. [ male announcer ] fedex® has solutions to enable Global Commerce that can help your company grow steadily and quickly. Great job. mandarin cut it out. See you tomorrow. Welcome back to the lead. Im jake tapper. In our politics lead today, the death of a political giant, former new york governor mario cuomo, passed away from Heart Failure thursday evening at the age of 82. The son of italian immigrants cuomo rose to the states highest office serving three terms in albany from 1983 to 1994. He first drew National Attention at the 1984 Democratic Convention when his keynote address underscoring the tenants of liberal politics during the reagan era brought the capacity crowd in San Francisco to its feet. We must get the American Public to look past the glitter, beyond the showmanship to the reality, the hard substance of things and well do it not so much with speeches that sound good as with speeches that are good and sound. The democratic ticket got stomp that had year. But the speech catapulted cuomo into a president ial contender. He flirted with a White House Run in 1988 and again in 1992. Then he suggested hed be interested in a possible Supreme Court nomination after that. But in the end, in all these instances, cuomo always demured. Just hours before his death, his son andrew was sworn in for his second term as governor and paid tribute to his fathers legacy. He couldnt be here physically today, my father. But my father is in this room. Hes in the heart and mind of every person who is here. Hes here and hes here and hes here. Mario cuomo died just a few hours after that. He is survived by his wife and his five children including our friend colleague and the anchor of cnns new day, chris cuomo who named his son after his dad. Our thoughts and prayers are with the cuomo family on this difficult day. Its time for resolutions. Eat right, go to the gym, quit smoking, divest your investments that last one isnt common but it was breaking news as the ball dropped. Jeb bush getting ready for his 2016 possible president ial candidacy. Lets talk about resolutions that he and the other wouldbe candidates need to make. Well make those resolutions for them. Joining me is chris moody and molly ball. Thanks for being here. Happy new year. Let me start with hillary clinton. Hillary clintons resolution perhaps should be dont act as if this is your nomination to take for granted. Work for it. Earn it. Act as if youre the underdog. I think thats right. I think in general, hillary has to make sure she doesnt make the mistake she made six years ago in 2008. Thats been a lot of what weve been hearing from her inner circle from her advisers as she gears up to begin this run officially is that she wants to make sure not to have the same sort of topheavy, consultantheavy infighting Ribbon Campaign that it was so cautious that it could never show her as a human being. So she needs to open up, talk to reporters. This is a selfinterested resolution by me. But i think she has to so a side of herself that isnt just clinton, inc. Let me ask you about jeb bush. One of his resolutions was a little bit of housecleaning. Im going divest. Jeb needs to make nice with conservatives but without compromising his principles. He cant pull a mitt romney and say, look at what i did in the past 20 years, pretend that didnt do. Jeb can have meetings with top conservatives, talk to them about his positions, on things that make them uneasy such as immigration or on education with his fullthroated support for common core. Hes got a long way to go with them. But as weve seen with polls, cnn did a poll this month that showed him pulling more than 20 among republicans. He has to set up those meetings. Do you have a resolution for jeb . I think chris is right. In a larger sense what hes done is smart in terms of getting in the arena. Thats a resolution that hes already committed to by getting out hes ahead of the pack d. Hes been one of the first to take some action. For someone who hasnt been in an elected office for nearly a decade he has to show he has the ability to make himself a part of the conversation. And the kind of political work is going to be the next step. One resolution for pandrand paul maybe the most forwardleaning in suggesting hes definitely going to run, came when i was thinking about steve scalise, the House Majority whip who is dealing with issues about this group he may or may not have spoken to in 2002. Bill crystal did a tweet about, if scalise did this what about the groups rand paul has been associated with . So perhaps not housecleaning. Rand paul i think, as a new years resolution should get it all out there. Otherwise, the other campaigns are going to be dripping it for the next year and a half. The democrats have a whole list of things theyre ready to drip on him. Rand paul has several decades as a libertarian activist before he became a senator. Hes evolved on certain issues as hes seen certain things change. He has to articulate those changes. Explain why hes changed on certain issues and what on the ground has changed . We saw it last year when he was talking about isis and with giving aid to israel or revoking aid from israel. And hes going to have to be very upfront about if hes changed, admit it and articulate your new position. He has to get better at dealing with criticism, too. When hes been confronted with some of these things by people in the past hes tried to deny theres been any change or gotten very defensive about the controversy involving a member of his staff who had some confederate writings. He has to get better at maintaining his equilibrium. And lastly Chris Christie quick take on his new years resolution . 2015, get the money. Im talking about the big money, the big gop establishment donors because jeb bush is coming in there and chilling a lot of the big donors right now saying keep your powder dry. Im coming in. Christie needs to come in and make the case that hes the one that should get their dollars. Christies got to get his groove back. I dont know how he does that. Bridgegate hit and ever since then hes never recaptured that appeal. But appealing to new jersey voters and national republicans. Hes got to figure out a way to turn back into that guy. Molly ball, chris moody, thank you so much. Neither of you need to make any resolutions. This just in the state Department Says it is deeply concerned by an incident in the west bank where Israeli Settlers today hurled rocks at american diplomats and blocked a u. S. Convoy. One witness told reuters that an American Security guard was forced to draw his weapon. But the state department refutes that claim. The episode took place earlier today near the west bank. Authorities are still investigating what happened and are coordinating with u. S. Officials. Hard hits at the rose bowl, especially for Jameis Winston. Can he ever escape the Rape Allegations that never officially manifested with charges . Well discuss that in our sports lead. And the big news revealed in a blog post that could be lifechanging for bono, his major concern ahead on the lead. [ male announcer ] this is the cat that drank the milk. [ meows ]. And let in the dog that woke the man who drove to the control room [ woman ] driverless mode engaged. Find parking space. [ woman ] parking space found. [ male announcer ]. That secured the data that directed the turbines that powered the farm that made the milk that went to the store that reminded the man to buy the milk that was poured by the girl who loved the cat. [ meows ] the internet of everything is changing everything. Cisco. Tomorrow starts here. Shopping online is as easy as it gets. Wouldnt it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple . Thanks to angies list now it is. Weve made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. Buy their services directly at angieslist. Com no more calling around. No more hassles. Start shopping from a list of toprated providers today. Angies list is revolutionizing local service again. Visit angieslist. Com today. [ female announcer ] knows her way around a miniskirt. Can run in high heels. Must be a supermodel, right . You dont know aarp. Because aarp is making finding the career you love no matter what your age, a real possibility. Go to aarp. Org possibilities to check out life reimagined for tools, support, and connections. If you dont think ive still got it when you think aarp, then you dont know aarp. Find more surprising possibilities and get to know us at aarp. Org possibilities. Welcome back to the lead. The sports lead now. Ever since he emerged as a redshirt freshman quarterback turned Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winstons career has been defined by two things success and scandal. While the Florida State University Stars winning streak came to an embarrassing end in last nights rose bowl in the midst of a 5920 rout courtesy of the oregon ducks, it was not just the loss that made headlines. Winston, as you may recall was accused of rape but never officially charged. After last nights game oregon players took a shot at the player saying no means no to the tune of the Florida State fight song. Winston has not said whether he plans to make himself eligible for the nfl draft this year. But if he does did those oregon players just give him a small taste of what he could be in store for in the pros . Im joined by usa today sports columnist, Christine Brennan whos in los angeles and attended the rose bowl. Your latest column about the players taunting of winston, you write, quote, we should be pleased they know the meaning and impact of the no means no phrase and shined a light on a famous man accused of rape. Explain what you mean by that. I do believe that, of course. The bigger headline for me is that the oregon players should not have done that and the coach has said he will be internally taking care of this and punishing them for it. The reason why is of course theyre wearing oregon uniforms representing their school at the rose bowl on national tv you dont taunt another player after the game as a representative of your school. So i do believe they should be punished. But, its a more nuanced thought here about, go for it anyway. And the idea being that the fact that they knew the term the fact that they were using it to mock Jameis Winston, the allegations of rape the fact that they were basically ignored for a year by Tallahassee Police and Florida State, it was really an awful turn of events of how Florida State and the Tallahassee Police as you know handled these very serious allegations against Jameis Winston. So the fact it was being brought up and mocking Jameis Winston, again, im not for that but there was a part of me that said, these players understood the issue. This is not like i cant breathe at all. But it was a little slice of what you said, what i think Jameis Winston is going to see moving forward for the rest of his career. Do you think this rape accusation could impact where he ends up playing professionally . I think it could, jake. I also think that lets take the Rape Allegation which of course he was very charged. Take that out of the equation for a moment. It brought a spotlight on to tallahassee and Florida State and Jameis Winston that i dont think hell ever jake. But these other things r shoplifting crab legs at publix stealing soda at burger king being in possession of a bb gun and the worst of all was screaming a vulgarity in the Florida State Student Union while standing on a tabletop as a leader of the football team. This guy has a body of work frankly, that is embarrassing appalling. We might chuckle a little bit about some of it. But its not funny. He is a role model and a young man representing a university. All of that aside from the allegations of rape i think absolutely are things that will follow him the same way Johnny Manziel deals with some of the issues that followed him into the pros. Christine, thank you so much. The pop culture lead, it is news that has u2 fans feeling like they are, quote, stuck in a moment they cant get out of. Bono has revealed he may never play the guitar again all because of a bicycle accident this past november in new york citys central park. Bono broke his arm in that accident in six spots. He hurt his shoulder blade and even fractured his eye socket. And in a blog post on the bands website last night he disclosed his recovery has been so slow he is now worried that his days of guitar playing may be over. In fact bono has canceled all upcoming public appearances. Instead he said he plans to dedicate his time planning to get ready for u2s new tour. If youre a nerd like me its the first question you ask when the clock struck midnight 2015. Where is me hoverboard . I was promised one in the blockbuster hit back to the future which came out 30 years ago. This, 2015 is the future. This is the year marty mcfly and doc brown zoomed off to visit in their soupedup flying delorean. It was about all the Amazing Technology we would have in the future, today. How did the team behind the movies do in their predictions . Dont touch anything, marty. Were finally here were at the future the year 2015. 2015 . Were in the future. Reporter and it is exactly as back to the future from 1985 where were going, we dont need roads. Reporter and its sequel foretold we were fortunate enough to have a time machine in our movie that we were able to stretch the sequel form. Reporter yes, that stretch included a future with hoverboards and flying cars i need to borrow your hoverboard . Reporter hoverboards arent exactly ubiquitous yet. This spoof from last year looked convincing. Even featuring doc brown and tony hawk. But just a few weeks ago, this video came out of hawk riding a prototype of an actual hoverboard. How about those flying cars . Cars these days are still a groundbased technology but there is something of a tech race going on to create the first flying car. The Massachusetts Firm has been working on a model as well as itech which sells a flying do you know dune buggy today. And there was a patent filed for the selftying shoes. So the film was a little optimistic and in some cases completely off. Theyve abolished all lawyers. Reporter 3d movies are big at the Box Office Even if we never got to jaws 19 or a hologramattacking movie poster. But on the small screen nailed it. And those teleconferences on flat screen tvs look like pure scifi fiction in 1989. But today flat screen tvs are everywhere and you can Video Conference on your cell phone, even, though phones were one area where the movie really whiffed. Pay phones dot the set but theyre almost nowhere to be found today. And fax machines though theyre still around barely played a huge role in that movies fake future. When it comescflys at dinner we did get kids preoccupied by their own Digital Worlds of course instead of iphones and ipads, the films used glassesbased devices. Nobody calls me chicken needles. Reporter a few years ago, michael j. Fox said it best about the trilogy. The irony of this movie about time is that its timeless. Reporter and one last thing cubs win world series. Against miami . Reporter miami does now have a baseball team. But i wouldnt hold onshore breath for either the marlins or the cubbies to make the series this fall. That is truly the work of fiction. Hello, hello, hello . Anybody home . Also making appearances in the 1989 film drones automation and biometric identification all of which are increasingly part of our lives today. Back in 1989, roger ebert called the film goofy and fun. Coming up next we preview the amazing documentary that looks at e betters life and his influence at the movies. Sir, were going to need you on the runway. vo theraflu starts to get to work in your body in just 5 minutes. vo theraflu breaks you free from your worst cold and flu symptoms. vo theraflu. Serious power. Yknow what my business philosophy is, reynolds . No. Not exactly. To attain success, one must project success. Thats why we use fedex one rate®. Their flat rate shipping. Exactly. It makes us look topnotch but we know its affordable. garage door opening sighs honey, havent i asked you to please use the. We dont have a reception entrance. Ship a pak via Fedex Express saver® for as low as 7. 50. Does a freshly printed presentation fill you with optimism . Then you might be gearcentric. Get a 15 gift card when you buy 75 in hp ink or any hp toner multipack. Office depot officemax. Gear up for great. 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. Welcome back to the lead. Im jake tapper. The pop culture lead now, before there were facebook likes, he owned the thumbedup. The man who could make or break a film or a filmmaker with just this single digit. This sunday cnn will showcase a documentary about roger eberts life behind the scenes from his early days to the legacy he leaves behind including that patented seal of approval. Thumbs up its the unmistakably simple sign for good. The fonz may have made it a sitcom staple in the 70s. But along with he was the most famous thumb in america in addition to being at the end of his life the most influential film critic this country ever had. Reporter critics argued the yesno model was too simplistic. He gave full metal jacket a thumbed down. This is a show where you give benji a thumbs up thats unfair. You realize these reviews are relative. Reporter ebert agreed with the limitations of the digit writing in his journal, quote, the problem comes with the movies in the middle. The only Rating System that makes any sense, he wrote, is the little man of the San Francisco chronicle which shows a range of emotion. Nevertheless they trademarked the two thumbsup approach. Whoever thought that was a good idea for a movie . Reporter or shine a spotlight on new talent with the single flick of a risk. Director steve james directs eberts support for helping to make the hoop dreams a timehonored film. If thats the first sort of gust of ind you have if your sails, i think its lasted many filmmakers an entire career. Reporter now nearly two decades later, james turned the camera on ebert for the documentary life itself, a look at the icon at his highest and lowest points. Ebert kept his thumbs held high throughout his brutal battle with cancer and up until his final hours, he flooded social media with the kind of candid commentary that made him a household name. There was real nervousness from any filmmaker that they would end up on the wrong side of that thumb because it was coming from someone who seemed as reasonable as ebert. Reporter his reasoning is what made even his most blunt reviews resonate with audiences and filmmakers. Hes a nice guy but hes not that nice. Reporter today, new films are flickering onto the screen without eberts critical assessment those made with one finger and all ten on his keyboard. Im joined now by a film critic for the Los Angeles Times and author of not to be missed 54 favorites from a lifetime of film. Thank you so much for joining us today. I really enjoyed ebert. But i have to say, i know that his thumbsup, thumbsdown Movie Reviews were sneered at by film critics for being too simplistic and dumbed down. What did you think . Well im a critic and obviously you spend a lot of time and effort crafting things getting nuance in there. And a thumb doesnt have a lot of nuance. But on the other hand, roger really used his positive thumbs to make small films, give them more visibility Foreign Language films, documentaries as in hoop dreams. It went both ways. You say eberts impact on film was much larger than the syndicated film he did with gene siskell . He reached people. This was his gift. Id be with him in all parts of the world and people would come up and say hello. E h liked that. He liked convincing people that films were worth seeing. This was a great thing. This documentary, i watched it a few days ago, it is really its wonderful. Its a wonderful celebration of film. I learned so much about the man. You knew him. Did you learn anything after watching this movie . You know, i did. I didnt think i would. I heard the film was coming. I have Great Respect for steve james. But i was surprised, i found out more about his illness and also seeing him battle the illness day in day out. You really got much more appreciation for kind of his courage and his stamina and his will and also even though i knew about the battles he has with gene siskell, to see it in the way the film portrays it gave me new insight into that. So i didnt really expect to learn something new and i did. That was also enjoyable. They really did dislike each other for a lot of their relationship although they did come to have a grudging brotherly love for one another towards the end when siskell tied. Yes. Begrudging is exactly the word. But its wonderful how you see that developed and there are outtakes of them bickering off camera that will freeze your blood. They really didnt like each other. But they came together gradually and got to appreciate each other. And thats a charming thing to see. What, if in your view is roger eberts ultimate legacy . I think its the popularization of difficult films, the popularization of documentaries like hoop dreams, Foreign Language films, because he brought this great credibility to everything he did, he could kind of go to bat for a small film a difficult film and people would give it a try. Once you see one of these films and you see it works for you, youre open to see others. Thats a great legacy. Thank you. Keep up the great work. Its an extraordinary mustsee roger eberts documentary. Dont miss it life itself, sunday night at 9 00 p. M. Right here on cnn. Make sure to follow me on twitter. Thats it for the lead. Im jake tapper. I now turn you over to Brianna Keilar whos in for wolf blitzer in the situation room. Happening now, breaking news punishing north korea, president obama slaps strict new sanctions on the kim jongun regime in response to the massive cyber attack on Sony Pictures. What impact will they have . Kims makeover how the dictator is moving to tighten his grip on power including increased propaganda. Whats different about his appearance now that may be trying to invoke his fathers legacy . Plane crash clue an apparent piece from the fuselage from that airasia plane is recovered along with dozens more bodies. Wolf blitzer is off today. Im Brianna Keilar. Youre in the situation room