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@THISHOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA

Tensions Between Police, Protesters Continue Despite De Blasio Call for Unity; Gun-Smuggling Operation at Atlanta Airport; Dow Hits 18,000; Bill de Blasio Versus the NYPD

Aired December 23, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Tensions high in New York. Now comes word the NYPD will increase security around the New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square because of threats -- you guessed it -- against the police. We've got the very latest on that story.

Also, guns on planes. A Delta baggage handler stands accused of smuggling them on commercial flights. Seven of them were loaded. You heard right. The details of just how they got away with this minutes away.

And it's ho-ho uh-oh as a big storm threatens to unleash wind and snow on your perfect holiday get getaway. We are tracking mother pitch that ear's wrath, mother nature's path, it all begins right now.

Hi, everybody, I'm Ashleigh Banfield in for John Berman and Michaela Pereira. They have the day off.

@THISHOUR in New York, police beefing up security, protesters threatening to march in the streets of Harlem despite Mayor Bill de Blasio's appeal for a halt to all of the demonstrations for now, that is, until after the funerals for those two NYPD officers who were gunned down in an ambush.

Last hour, Mayor de Blasio and his wife visited the memorial for those two officers. The mayor is asking for everyone to stay calm, and he is rejecting claims that he is anti-police.

All the while, we are learning more about the man who killed those officers in cold blood. Investigators say this brand-new surveillance video shows the shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, about three hours before he unleashed his deadly rampage at a mall in Brooklyn. They think that the gun he used was actually inside that white bag that he's carrying.

Our Alexandra Field joins me from Brooklyn. So the family of the shooter is telling us more about him. What more are we learning and does it make a difference to what's happening now?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think people want to know. I think people have questions, I think in these cases you don't often get answers that will satisfy you, but there is some explanation coming from the family, Ashleigh. Ismaaiyl Brinsley's mother made a statement to local media, talking about how troubled her son was. She said his life was out of control, that he was in a downward spiral. She said she had become estranged from her son.

He was estranged from the family. She'd had very little contact with him in the last few years. She went on to offer her condolences to the families of both of the officers killed out here in the street corner.

Brinsley's sister also speaking out and she wanted to make one point clear. She said that her brother's actions had nothing to do with police retaliation. She said her brother was suicidal, that he was ill, emotionally troubled, a sick person who simply did not get the help he need.

BANFIELD: So Alexandra, is there something that's planned later for city hall in? This is holiday week, a lot of people are taking down time. But it seems to me that they have a big job and they have to deal with this now at New York's city hall.

FIELD: And you've heard the mayor call for peace in this city. He's trying to set the tone today with what they're doing at city hall this afternoon at 2:47, the exact time these officers were executed, assassinated out here. There will be a moment of silence at city hall.

People are not stepping away from this, Ashleigh. You just said it was a holiday week and, yes, we know people are with their families or loved ones. I think that makes this resonate a little more deeply, the fact that there are two families, two wives will who will not have their husbands home for this holiday season.

It's the reason why so many people are out here in the rain. They've been coming out here for two days lighting these candles and leaving flowers and it takes your breath away to see people come here to grieve, to reflect on something that was so horrible.

Nothing strikes you more, though, Ashleigh, than to see the officers who are still out here. We see them come in dozens all day long.

They've been out here for a few days, they though this is a place where they need to be. These two of their comrades and they are taking a moment to pay their respects and reflect on what's happened here.

BANFIELD: I was just peeking over your left shoulder because I can see two of them in the frame shot right now. It made me wonder, what are they doing, and what is the actual police force doing to protect the force?

I know it sounds bizarre, but they have to have some different protocols given the fact they're getting actual real tangible threats.

FIELD: Right. You have a few things going on here. You have these officers who are out here grieving, and we're seeing them sort of connecting with the community out here. This is a place where people come to pay tribute and respect. This is a tense place. This isn't a political place. This is where people are coming together. These officers who are here to reflect the loss must be feeling their own sense of concern or fear about their own safety. This is something that the city has taken seriously.

They've taken a number of steps for the last few days, perhaps most significantly, most pointedly we're talking about the celebration of New Year's Eve in Times Square. It's a celebration that every year draws so many people.

It's always a big security concern for the city and it's the NYPD who is in charge of making that a safe event. This year they say they're going to take extra precautions to keep themselves safe when they're throughout with the pub public.

BANFIELD: No matter you how you look at this issue, murder is wrong.

Alexandra, thank you.

We got this just in from New York. A foundation established to honor the first responders after 9/11 has decided it's going to pay off the mortgages for both of the families of these two men, these fallen officers.

I got a statement here from Governor Mario Cuomo and it says -- I just said Mario Cuomo, that dates me, doesn't it? Pardon me, folks. The statement says, "In times of need and pain, the family of New York always comes together to support each other."

The website for the Tunnel to Towers Organization is going to be up and running at 5:00 p.m. today for anyone who wants to donate. That's the Tunnel to Towers Organization, accepting public donations to help pay off not only those who suffered after 9/11 but now these two officers as well.

And, later this hour, this is one of the controversial cases that helped to spark all of the tension over the alleged police brutality. Talking to an attorney for the family of Eric Garner. Hear what he says about the shooting of those two NYPD officers and about the city's stop-and-frisk policy and also what that family wants as this city tries to move ahead in healing.

With millions of people who are going to be traveling for the holidays, the last thing you want is someone getting on your plane with guns, much less loaded guns. So I know that sounds like it's just really not possible, but according to federal prosecutors, it's not only possible, it happened, and it happened multiple times.

An arrest two weeks ago in New York exposed an alleged gun-smuggling operation. In this day and age of heightened airport security, without question it should not have been possible, but according to a criminal affidavit, a Delta baggage handler in Atlanta and an accomplice, an alleged accomplice, were somehow able to smuggle 129 handguns and two assault rifles on five flights since last May.

Seven of those guns were actually loaded and actually in the cabin with passengers. How they pulled this off is mind-boggling, and we expect to learn a whole lot more at a live news conference by the Brooklyn d.a. That's coming up at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time, so stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, our aviation correspondent Rene marsh has been working the phones, trying to hammer down how they could do anything like this.

So, Rene, ever since 9/11, I have watched as the TSA has been put into place. New security measures have been established. I've had to take off my shoes. And I watch pilots, and I watch flight attendants, and I even watch the girl from Starbucks who works in the concourse go through security and actually get her bags X-rayed.

So how on earth could this have happened with a baggage handler?

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: You know, it really is an alarming breach in airport security.

Having said that, this is how investigators say this all happened. The gun supplier, according to investigators, was that Delta Airlines baggage handler. Apparently, this individual by the name of Eugene Harvey, he would drive his vehicle into the employee parking lot, and then, with his badge, he would let himself in to the secure, restricted airport area.

At that point, he does not need to go to -- through TSA or through the security checkpoint. This is all according to the documents from federal prosecutors.

Now, his accomplice was a former Delta Airlines employee. That person went through TSA like you and I would, did not have any weapons on him. Once the accomplice cleared security, he waited in the waiting area in the secure area. We're talking about at the gate where you would wait for your flight.

He would communicate with the baggage handler, let him know he is there. The two men met in a bathroom within the airport, and that's where the transfer happened.

And this apparently happened multiple times, at least five flights where weapons were transferred from Atlanta to New York City, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Pretty shocking. It certainly does raise a lot of very disturbing questions.

Rene, stand by for a second. I want to bring in CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo. She joins me on the phone.

You were the first person I thought of when I heard this story break, Mary. You seem to have the answers why we make such big mistakes and where we could be better. And this one seems to scream for answers.

How does a baggage handler have the kind of clearance to be able to come to work with a bag full of guns, park in the employee parking lot, and somehow get those guns on the tarmac. How does this happen in this day and age? Why is there this loophole?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST (via telephone): What's unfortunate is the reason I have the answer is this has all happened before.

This the subject of a tremendous amount of debate after September 11, 2001, when they were setting up the new TSA and deciding how it should be done. And if you recall, there was a debate about whether the pilots and the flight attendants had to go through security, and then they decided yes, of course, they do.

But this loophole persisted, and that is employees of the airlines and airport who work in the secure areas of the airport, basically I'll call it the bowels of the airport that you don't see -- the tarmac areas, the baggage-handling areas, et cetera -- they report to work through gateways into the secure area, but they do not have to clear metal detectors or TSA security checkpoints.

And so that's been a big loophole. And it was discussed way back when, when we set up TSA, and they were decided that if they had the rudimentary background checks they would be exempted.

BANFIELD: This is ridiculous. This doesn't make any sense. What do you mean "it was discussed?"

here's a glaring opportunity for anyone to basically get a job on Friday and show up to work on Monday with nary an FBI eyeball on his background and take whatever he wants on to a tarmac to be loaded up through the ramp onto a plane?

SCHIAVO (via telephone): That's just about it. And, you know, surprisingly, it was the aviation industry, the airline industry and others who did not want this additional layer.

Now, they do have background checks but not the kind of background checks you have to get a top-security clearance. In those background check, the FBI really does go out, and they talk to your neighbors and they see what kind of mail you get, et cetera.

For these kinds of background check, it's basically an arrest check, an NCI/CO, an arrest-record check. And they make sure you're a lawful worker, et cetera, and then you can report to work.

And so obviously that does not get the kind of information you'd want to know if they would be likely to be involved in a criminal operation, and they took advantage of all of the known loopholes, even the bathroom loopholes because there aren't security cameras in the stalls, and everyone knows that.

BANFIELD: It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. It is ridiculous.

So "known loopholes," you just said the words on national television. I have about 20 seconds left. You've got to answer this.

Now that we have a nice criminal affidavit for all to read, a public document about how they pulled this off, tell me this is going to change. Tell me that this is going to be a wakeup call that we should have been 13 years ago and that this won't happen again and someone with a far more nefarious motive than gun smuggling won't be able to do something much, much worse.

SCHIAVO (via telephone): I'd like to tell you it's going to change, Ashleigh, but sadly I think it won't because this has happened before. We've had baggage handlers pilfering things and misusing their bags, and the airlines and others say it's just simply too expensive to close the loophole.

But hopefully with you shedding the light on it and others, the government will see how truly ridiculous this is. But this is even the plot of a Baldacci novel, by the way. They transferred backpacks in the background, and that was ten years ago, that novel.

So it needs to close. This loophole needs to go away.

BANFIELD (via telephone): Unbelievable.

Mary Schiavo, I wish I could say thanks for the information, but it's even made me more angry. But you are the person, as I knew right away.

Have a good holiday, my friend. Hopefully you're not getting on a plane.

SCHIAVO (via telephone): I am, sadly.

BANFIELD: Oh, my dear, I'm sorry. See you in the new year. Got my fingers crossed.

SCHIAVO (via telephone): OK.

BANFIELD: So, as we mentioned, by the way, while Mary gets ready for her trip, the Brooklyn d.a. is going to be holding a news conference today on this gun trafficking arrest. It's a doozy. That's coming up at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time, so either set your DVR or just leave your channel on.

I have an early Christmas present for you. Are you ready? Ding ding ding ding! Wall Street, Dow, 18,000. That is one a milestone that it hit for the first time ever and it happened today.

This has been a heck of a year for stocks. One big reason? You may not know it if you listen to the people screaming on Capitol Hill, but the economy is actually making a recovery. And this recovery is staying on track, too. Consumers starting to feel good about the economy, going to shed some of the Benjamins out there, 51 percent saying economic conditions to me seem good in the United States.

Compare that to just back in October when only 38 percent said that, 38 in October, 51 percent now feeling better. Even people who make less than $50,000 a year are saying that this is a good sign. They're actually agreeing. About 49 percent of them saying they think the economy is on the upswing. So there you go, merry Christmas.

Still ahead @THISHOUR, New York's mayor calling for unity and a halt to protests as tensions continue to rise.

The attorney for Eric Garner, the man whose choking death sparked this tension, is going to join us live with the reaction, and also some thoughts moving forward, especially from that family.

And, quote, "It's as if North Korea got erased from the global map of the Internet," end quote. Who done it? Who went ahead and just shut down North Korea's interwebs?

Was it the United States government? Did Kim Jong-un pull the plug himself? And is this the beginning of a real cyber war? The latest still ahead. She's still the one for you.

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BANFIELD: No mayor, big city or small, can govern effectively if he doesn't have the local police as his backup. And New York Mayor Bill de Blasio most definitely, right now, does not have the support of New York's finest. The animosity has been simmering below the surface for months, but after two NYPD officers were gunned down in cold blood on Saturday, tempers certainly did flare. Fingers were pointed directly at City Hall. Police unions and others said the killings were the result of de Blasio being, quote, "anti-cop," end quote.

And here's why perhaps they felt that way. Mayor de Blasio campaigned against the police tactic known as 'stop and frisk.' It stopped after he became mayor, as well. He told his biracial son to be extra careful in his dealings with police because he's non-white, and he announced that publicly. The mayor is accused of allowing recent anti-police demonstrations to get out of hand and not punishing those who broke the law during those demonstrations. He referred to two police officers who were roughed up by protesters as an "alleged assault," not as an assault. And he's been close with protest organizer Al Sharpton who's been extremely critical of the New York City Police Department.

My guests today are Jonathan Moore, who is the attorney for the family of Eric Garner, who, of course, you'll know, died after being put in a police chokehold last July. And former NYPD Captain Mark Novak who has been a guest just this week, as well, on this program.

I'm glad the both of you are here because this is one of those weeks where the mayor is calling for a moment of Kumbaya. Look, everybody just take a deep breath, it's a holiday week and we haven't even buried the dead. For the protests to go forward, everyone needs to just have this moment. Is that what Eric Garner's family wants?

JONATHAN MOORE, GARNER FAMILY ATTORNEY: Yes. I think they've made a conscious decision to not be involved in anything while these families grieve for their lost sons. They spoke very eloquently on Saturday expressing their deep condolences toward the family. They've experienced the loss of a son, his mother experienced the loss of a son, she understand what that is. They're not interested in ratcheting up the emotion. They're not going to give up their struggle for justice for Eric Garner and for other victims of police abuse, but I think we all would benefit by a cooling off period. BANFIELD: But, Mr. Moore, after the funerals -- and that will be soon

-- then what?

MOORE: Well, then we have to begin to deal with the issues, again, of what caused the death of Eric Garner. We have to begin to tell the truth about why New York City is in the situation it is. For roughly the last ten years, the police department has been engaged in a policy of stopping and frisking people without reasonable suspicion and because of their race. That's not me saying it, that's not the Garner family saying it, that's the Federal Court and the United States District Court for the Southern District in New York, concluded that after a ten-week trial, after hearing over 100 witnesses, after having 400 exhibits, concluded that the police department, not the officers, the police department, had maintained a policy and practice of racial profiling. When you have that kind of culture within the police department, you're going to have problems like what happened to Eric Garner.

BANFIELD: So Mark, what does this mayor have to do? If this is true and the critics are writing it at length today that if you don't have the support of your police department, you can't govern a major city or a minor one. What does he have to do to fix this?

MARK NOVAK, FORMER NYPD CAPTAIN: He's going to have to try and restore that trust with the police department.

BANFIELD: How?

NOVAK: By -- what the officers want to see and what the officers feel is that when they are correct, when the officers are doing the right thing, he wants them to have -- they want him to have their back. The officers understand that if something went wrong, if there is any kind of things that need to be addressed then so be it. Let's look at what happened, we'll take our lumps and move on. But what the officers are not feeling right now is that anybody has their back. They feel under attack. They feel they're being painted with one broad brush stroke.

I hear over and over again how we're not supposed to judge an entire community or an entire organization by the actions of one or two people. Well, this is what the officers are feeling right now when you have these protests going about with the signs for racist police, all police are racist, KKK, NYPD, you know, calling for the death of police officers. They feel under attack and they feel that no one, including the mayor -- in fact, some of the officers, whether rightly or wrongly, feel that the mayor has fostered this.

BANFIELD: Jonathan, has the message reached the public? Certainly the public -- when I mean the public, those who are taking to the streets and calling the NYPD racist or calling the policies racist, has the message reached the streets? That -- Mayor de Blasio is the first mayor to preside over a city as it has now shifted to majority, minority. Meaning there are more black people, Asian people, Hispanic people than there are white people in this city and that is also reflected on the force. This police force in this city is majority, minority. Is that known? MOORE: No, I think that's a good point and I think people understand

that the city has changed. That's why we now have a new mayor who has spoken quite eloquently of his own personal experience, his family's experience, and the need to begin to address some of these issues. We have been in the process over the last several months of meeting with the police department. We, I mean the lawyers and the (INAUDIBLE) case, the stop and frisk case, meeting with the police department, meeting with community members, meeting with representatives of the city to try to come up with ways to begin to change the culture within the police department and the culture within the community, in terms of how they see the police.

We all have a lot of work ahead of us. But we have to start from the basis of acknowledging what has happened over the last few years. We've had very aggressive policing that has created a rift between communities of color and the police department. That's a fact. That's not going to be -- you can't ignore that fact. You can't ignore the truth if you want to really have reconciliation.

BANFIELD: Does the Garner family want to be the face of the protests in New York? Michael Brown's family in Ferguson was okay with being the face. I mean, they went to Geneva to be the face of that movement. Do the Garners want to be the face of this movement?

MOORE: No, I wouldn't say they want to be the face. I think they were thrust into this situation and they didn't want it and wherever they speak about it they say they wish they weren't here to have to speak about it. They've spoken very eloquently, I think, particularly his mother and his wife, about the pain they feel. And they've actually gone out of their way to say over and over that they're not anti- police, that they support the police. And this movement, to the extent that I can speak for the movement and I certainly wouldn't pretend to do that, but in all the events I've attended, the message hasn't been very clear. We're not anti-police, we're about effective, fair, bias-free, constitutional policing. That's the standard that should apply to all citizens of this city. All residents of the city.

BANFIELD: Jonathan Moore and Mark Novak --

NOVAK: And I'd like to say that's the goal. What most police officers go out on a daily basis and do.

BANFIELD: Somehow they have to figure out how they still have the same message and actually show that they still have the same message to one another. I appreciate the both of you being here. Thank you and happy holidays to you.

Ahead this hour, www.noservice.com. No kidding. North Korea's Internet service is out again. Second day now, according to DIN Research. And Kim Jong-un is pointing a finger directly at the United States of America. Ed Royce, who's the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is going to be here with the reaction. He's got a couple of suggestions for Kim. You're going to hear what they are next.

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