london in one hour. you're a scientist who are trying to map the human brain. don't miss it. for viewers in north america, that's 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. eastern time next sunday, december 28th. thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. i will see you next week. >> this was a cold-blooded assassination like we haven't seen before. >> could this deadly ambush have been prevented? yes, north korea ups the ante claiming the u.s. government was involved in making that movie "the interview" and threatening an even worse cyber attack. >> happy holidays to you. >> and an exclusive interview

with president obama. nothing is off limits. how will the white house respond to north korea's escalating threats? hear it all right now. you're in the cnn newsroom. good afternoon, everyone. i'm randy kay in today for fredericka whitfield. we begin this hour in new york. a stunning ambush in broad daylight. two police officers murdered, shot and killed in their police cruiser. today new york is in shock. newspapers calling it an execution and tensions are mounting between police and the city's leadership. we are covering every angle of this story, including an interview with former new york mayor rude where i juliany. alexander field is in new york. erin mcpike is in baltimore where police say the suspect shot his ex-girlfriend, and michelle kazinski has the reaction from the president and his administration from hawaii for us. first, alexandra field is taking us through what happened in new

york. >> reporter: hundreds of police officers united in grief in a salute for two of their own. >> today two of new york's finest was shot and killed with no warning, no provocation. they were quite simply assassinated. >> reporter: with those words, a visibly shaken new york police commissioner, along side new york's mayor, talking about the deaths of officer rafael ramos and officer lu. lu, a seven-year veteran, married two months ago. ramos, a two-year veteran, turned 40 this month. he was married with a 13-year-old son. they were killed, ambush-style, saturday afternoon as they sat in their patrol car on a brooklyn street. >> the suspect who has been identified as 28-year-old ismael brinsley. he walked township the police

car. he took a shooting stance on the passenger side and fired the weapon -- his weapon several times through the front passenger window striking both officers in the head. officer liu and officer ramos never had the opportunity to draw their weapons. they may never have actually even seen their assailant, their murderer. >> police say officers chased ismael to a nearby subway station where he reportedly shot himself to death on the train platform. a semiautomatic they sent a warning to officers in new york that that message came almost at the same time the ambush happened.

>> these officers were shot execution-style. particularly despicable act which goes at the very heart of our society and our democracy when a police officer is murdered. it tears at the foundation of our society. >> there's blood on many hants hands tonight. >> the deaths of two officers have heated mounting tensions between police union officials and the mayor who they accuse of putting officers' lives at risk with his support for recent protests, involving the eric garner choke hold death and the police shooting of michael brown. >> those that insighted violence on this street under the guise of protest that tried to tear down what new york city police officers did every day. we tried to warn it must not go on. it cannot be tolerated.

that blood on their hands starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor. >> and in an apparent show of defiance, police officers gathered at the hospital where the explain officers were taken, turned their backs on the mayor as he entered for saturday's press conference. >> alexandra field joining us live. has the mayor responded to these comments at all? >> randy, we did hear from the mayor when he spoke at a press krch. he said he wants to keep the focus on the fallen victims. we have heard from the mayor's office, they're saying that threat rick coming from the union is overheated, and it will only serve to anger and divide people, and that is a concern right now. it's one of the reasons that just a short time ago out here at this memorial that it is growing. we heard from the presidents of the boroughs here in new york city. they made a request that they do

not want to see any protests on these streets until the two officers are laid to rest. that is their effort to keep people calm and respectful and keep people focus odd two nypd heroes who gave their lives. just a few moments ago, actually, randy, we saw secretary of homeland homeland security jay johnson come by. he is struck by this tragedy as so many people are. he said he came out here simply to pay respect, to pay tribute, and to show solidarity with the nypd, which is having a dark day in the city, randy. >> absolutely. it's all so senseless. >> thank you very much. one of the officers has a 13-year-old son. he posted a heartbreaking comment on facebook. he wrote today i had to say bye to my father. he was there for me every day of my life. he was the best father i could ask for. it's horrible that someone gets shot dead just for being a police officer. everyone says they hate cops, but they are the people that they call for help. i will always love you, and i will never forget you. rest in peace, dad. the violence came to a head

in new york, but it may have started several hours away in baltimore. the new york police commissioner says ismael shot a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend. erin mcpike joining us from that woman's apartment. what are police there saying today? >>. >> reporter: well, randy, police are saying he had no other connection to this area than this woman. her name is shaniqua nicole thompson. she lived in this apartment complex. she was 29 years old. police say from early interviews that they have conducted they believe that the two had a romantic relationship sometime within the last year. neighbors called the police shortly after 6:00 a.m. yesterday after they heard some gunshots. police believe that he shot thompson in the stomach and then fled. police also say that he stole her phone, which is how they were able to trace him in new york after he posted some threats on social media. now, police also say that thompson is in critical but stable condition, but because of

her condition, they have not yet been able to interview her. however, new york detectives are on the way here, and they hope to interview her later today, randy. >> and, erin, what do we know about the warning that baltimore police sent to the new york police? >> well, as they were starting to investigate yesterday afternoon and traced that phone to a location in brooklyn and got some pings, that's when they began to warn brooklyn police they sent a fax and a couple of different messages showing who they believed to be the suspect to the new york police department. it was, of course, though, as we are now learning, around this same time that she opened fire on those two police officers, randy. >> and brinsley does have a criminal history. what do we know about that? >> he does, randi, and we know from georgia law enforcement that he has been arrested some nine times since 2004 for a variety of things, including disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana as well

as a variety of other charges. obviously a very troubled person, randy. >> erin mcpike, thank you for the update from there. the white house and the judges department have weighed in on the killing of those new york officers. white house correspondent michelle kazinski with the president as he vacationed in hawaii. michelle, what is the president saying today? >> hi, randi. a few hours after the shooting last night, he put out a statement unconditionally condemning it, saying two brave men won't be going home to their loved ones tonight, and for that there is no justification. the officers who serve and protect our communities risk their own safety for ours every single day, and they deserve our respect and gratitude every single day. from attorney general eric holder, also in a statement, this cowardly attack underscores the dangers that are routinely faced by those who protect and serve their phil fellow citizens. our nation must always honor the valor and sacrifices of all law enforcement officers with a steadfast commitment to keeping them safe. also in a statement, the president urging americans to

reject violence and turn to healing through prayer, patient dialogue, and sympathy. >> michelle, the president may be on vacation, but certainly north korea is on his mind. what is he saying in his national security team saying about that today? >> all right. they're saying because north korea has now come out with this tsar and harsh statement saying they're going to be sharpening their bayonettes, and that's interesting considering north korea denied responsibility for the attack, but they're warning of more coming. the national security council says they're not going to respond to everything north korea says and engage in this back and forth, but the president has made clear, including in its interview with candy crowley this morning, that the u.s. is going to respond proportionally and in a time and manner that the president sees fit. he -- we know that he has received recommendations from his advisors and those could include more sanctions against north korea, randi.

>> michelle kazinski in honolulu, hawaii. thank you, michelle. >> what the regime will do to the u.s. next. 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.

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>> let's get back to our developing story in new york. two police officers shot and killed in their police cruiser. today the city is in shock. newspapers are calling it an execution, and there are growing tensions between police and the city's leadership and has left many wondering what now? let me bring in gale alba, he spent 28 years as a new york city police officer, including several years on the major case squad, and arol lewis, a cnn analyst -- they are both joining me from new york today. gill, let me start with you today. what is the gut reaction happening right now in squad rooms across the city? i mean, is it anger? is it sadness? what are the officers feeling? what are they talking about? >> when this happens, when you -- it's not the newspapers. it's an execution. it's obviously an execution.

they feel that the first thing that comes around is sorrow. sorrow and then the anger. anger takes over now, and that's why, you know, you have the mayor's issues going on with the officers. now they're trying to prepare the police officers for could this happen again. he has sent out a memo and having all the officers, the detectives on high alert. having their uniforms -- their vests on, you know, going into jobs with at least three other officers. prepare yourself. it's -- it could be an isolated incident, but then again, because of this particular guy and this particular person, premeditated all this, so he knew he was going to come up and kill two officers. he knew he was going to kill -- he knew he was going to die, so he had no fear. could somebody else come up and do the same thing, and that's a possibility. >> let me turn to you now.

in new york we know there's already been this polarized reaction to the killing of eric garner there by a police officer in that choke hold case. there has been some deep criticism of the mayor there. is this killing going to galvanize this side even further, or could it actually bring both sides together. >> some of the statements that you have heard. >> it encouraged the mad man to shoot his girlfriend in baltimore. he could travel here and xhet these other atrocities. the irresponsibility is running very high right now. i think it's going to be up to people outside of the leadership. not necessarily the political staff at city hall. not necessarily the union leadership, but the vast majority of the rank-and-file

cops, the vast majority of people of goodwill, whether they're protesters or not are going to have to pull the city back together because the leadership, it looks like, are in this kind of stranglehold against each other, and they seem unable to do the very basic thing we all expect from all of them, which is to keep the city safe, keep the city calm. >> for those that aren't following this as closely, the criticism of the mayor by the police officers, was that he allowed for these protests to take place and supported them is what the police are saying. some protests, gil, were so filled with hate, for people calling for dead police officers, is it fair to let people vent their anger or frustration. police feel bad or they know it. so, you know, he turned their

backs on the police officers so when he came in to give that particular speech, of course, they turned their backs on them. >> where do they go from here? >> we're in a difficult place. if the standard is going to be either say nothing critical of the cops for fear that it would excite some mad man hundreds of miles away, you know, then that's not the first amendment. that's not acceptable. that's not what's going to happen. we're going to continue to have a dialogue. this is supposed to be a candlelight vigil tonight by some of the people who had been protesting in the eric garner case. we're going to -- i'm going to hope for through the holiday

season, maybe a cooling off period, people can sort of maybe be a little bit reflective about what they have to say and done and that would include all of the players, including the folks at city hall and the police union. hopefully we'll go into 2015 with a new attitude. the crazy thing is we're at record lows when it comes to volt crime. we've never had a more safe city, and to turn on the television, it looks like we're in complete chaos. it doesn't make any sense. >> it certainly does. none of it does. thank you both very much. appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you. zifshgs meanwhile, north korea is accusing u.s. government of being behind the movie "the interview." you don't think much about it...

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north korea is leveling new accusations and threats at the u.s. for cyber attack on sony he pictures. today it claimed the u.s. government is behind the making of the movie "the interview," and in a statement released on state media the communist region i'm says "the dprk has clear evidence that the u.s. administration is deeply involved with the making of such dishonest reactionary movie, and it warns of new devastating cyber attacks saying "our toughest counter action will be boldly taken against the white house, the pentagon, and the whole u.s. mainland, the sess pool of terrorism." north korea denies it staged the hack, but it says the group that

has taken responsibility for tshg the guardians of peace, will continue to attack the u.s. and some other nations as well. president obama talked about the sony cyber attack with candy crowley earlier. >> do you think this was an act of war by north korea? >> i don't think it was an act of war. i think it was an act of cyber vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. we take it very seriously. we will respond proportionately. >> the white house is still weighing what that proportional response will be. it also says the u.s. won't be commenting on every new statement from north korea, including today's message. cnn talked with brian earlier today about what the threats could mean. >> the new writer for dprk -- we're seeing the saber rattling, the typical rhetoric of north korea, they are upping the ante. it is like whatever north korea attacks, whenever they lash out

spshgs they are at their very best here. a couple of things to note, it did come out in english, brian. you are right about that. it came out a couple of hours ago late here in korea. the audience is absolutely not the domestic audience. it is for america. it came from the national against commission. this is essentially the agency that as far as we know runs the military. the pentagon, if you will. speaking directly for kim jong un. the other thing i note about this is that they are trying to up the ante. north korea craves attention, and they are saying, okay, everyone is concerned about cyber attacks. we're going to make it worse. >> sony is getting a lot of criticism, even from president obama for shelving the movie "the interview" after theaters refused to screen it, but today the attorney for sony pictures entertainment promised the film eventually will be distributed. that is fueling speculation about what north korea might do if that movie is released. joining me now from washington,

joseph, the president of the nonprofit think tank intelligence and national security alliance, and a former special envoy to the six-party talks with north korea. joseph, nice to see you. first, i want to get your reaction to the latest threat from north korea. is this all bravado, or do you think that they might make good on their threats? >> north korea, this is typical. they threaten. they try to intimidate. will they follow through on something like this? i think north korea understands to follow through on something like this would be devastating to them. my view is they have to understand their consequences for what they recently did with the cyber attacks, the cyber terrorism. they have to understand that. if they have a case to make.

>> let me ask you about north korea's secretive group. it's called the bureau 121. apparently carries out cyber attacks overseas. what are their capabilities exactly? >> their capability from what we know, north korea has put a lot of emphasis on their missile programs, their nuclear programs, and also the asymmetrical programs and indeed cyber. i think the sense is they have good capabilities. not maybe the excellent capabilities that maybe china and russia and others have, but they have good capabilities. they've been at this for a number of years, and they put consider resources on this issue. >> as you said, these very hostile threats, they are considered pretty typical of north korea. there is this other threat, the nuclear threat, of course, that has a lot of folks worried.

>> with the cyber attack and cyber terrorism threatening u.s. movie theaters and the moviegoers. that crossed the line. i think they realized that, and i think they're scrambling right now to sort of make the case that they were complicity in this, and they're going to have a hard time doing this given the compelling evidence against them, and now they're upped the ante saying, look, we can do other damage to the united states. you mentioned nuclear. they have nuclear capabilities, but i think most analysts that look at north korea feel they're not suicidal. i mean, they realize the consequences of any -- going down a road like that. my personal view is -- they need to understand that they will be significant consequences. i think they realize that. >> reading some of the papers earlier, there's a general from china who spoke out saying that the relationship between north korea and china has soured. it really seems china is just flat out tired of cleaning up north korea's mess. i mean, how critical is china's

role here in helping the u.s. since we know now that the u.s. has asked china for help in fighting the cyber attacks? >> i think china's role is very significant, very critical. they don't want a nuclear weapons in north korea. they know that. the question is how far will they go in getting north korea to behave to stop this intimidation, to stop the threats, stop the missile launchers and nuclear tests? i think this is where our two countries really have to work hard to get china to do a little more and to convince north korea this is not the way to go? certainly on the cyber piece, i mean, we immediate to be working very closely, and we do have a dialogue with china on cyber issues, and i think china has a lot of influence on north korea? does north korea salute and take orders from china?

i don't think so. they need china. i think they listen. >> yeah. all right. joseph, appreciate it. nice to see you, and thank you for your time, as always. >> the former mayor of new york, rudy juliany, what he is saying about the killing of the two new york cops. type 2 diabetes affects millions of us.

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using invokana® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase risk of low blood sugar. it's time. lower your blood sugar with invokana®. imagine loving your numbers. ask your doctor about invokana®. welcome back. flags are flying at half staff after two police officers were shot and killed in their police cruiser. the new york police commissioner says there was no warning, no provocation. the gunman just walked up to the car yesterday afternoon and opened fire. nick valencia is joining me to talk more about this. nick, we have this brand new video from the scene. you just got your hands on it as well. what can you tell us about it? >> vept to show you this video. it appears to be shot by a nearby resident there in a high-rise. it shows the two officers just moments after they were shot by

the gunman. officers wenjen liu and rafael ramos. the media and the local press as well as residents there were told that there was simply no chance that they had -- they didn't have a chance to draw their weapons. some people are also pointing some of the blame at the baltimore county police department. they knew -- they sent this fax according to the police department warning this gunman is now -- that he was on his way to the new york police area, on his way to brooklyn area, and he had posted on social media that he wanted to shoot a police officer there were some ominous warnings. why wasn't a phone call made? >> a fax machine on a saturday

in new york, it's just unbelievable. you're right. let's talk about one of the two officers, rafael ramos. he leaves behind a 13-year-old son, and he has really posted some very emotional statements about his father on facebook. >> rafael ramos had actually two children. one in college, and another 13-year-old, and we saw his social media his facebook page. we want to show you some of the statements here. it says today i had to say bye to my father. he was there for me every day of my life. he was the best father i could ask for. it's horrible that someone gets shot dead just for being a police officer. everyone says that they hate cops, but they are the people that can help. i will always love you and will never forget you. r.i.p., dad. very emotional tribute by a young man there who is going to be spending this holiday season the rest of his life without a father. on the mayor as well. he was backing the i can't

breathe protesters, and the shut it down protesters in new york. that's what they came clsh especially the police union saying he enflamed this. of course to the family of rafael really yoes choosing to focus on grief rather than that. >> nick, thank you very much. appreciate that. here he is in his own words. >> police officers and the mayors, police officers. it makes a damaging thing to say, and it shouldn't be said. nor do i think the police officers should turn their back on them. my heart goes out to mayor diblasio and bill bratton. there's no question they didn't want to see something like this happen, and i'm sure they're going to learn from this and make some changes. but the part where i do disagree with the mayor is the way he policed the protest. let the protest gets out of

control. the city can move forward as normal. >> the city is in mourning. >> on his shied he should admit that some of the policies are wrong and some of his support for police maybe came from not understanding policing. this is emotional, and it's a horrible act, and there's no way to explain the grief and maybe just maybe it will give people a different perspective on the police that they've been given over the last four months for protest. >> with all the anti-police rhetoric, they are creating a misimpression and, in fact, they're engaging in propaganda. the reality is that the police kill very few people. killings take place among citizens.

there is a very heavy amount -- those are the things that have to be dealt with. i think most people realize, including people in the black community, hispanic community, doesn't matter any community, they all want more police, and they all realize that most of our police officers aren't just good people, they're heroes. a representative for sony speaking out about the release for interviews, and they have a message for american movie goers.

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all the controversy surrounding the release of the sony movie "the interview" is generating a lot of interest in the film. many people want to see it, and now it looks like they might be able to. here's what the attorney for sony pictures entertainment had to say today on nbc's "meet the press." >> remember, sony only delayed this. sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. it will be distributed.

how it's going to be distributed i don't think anybody knows quite yet, but it's going to be distributed. >> joining me now from new york, cnn senior media correspondent and host of "reliable sources" brian stelter. good to see you. how likely is it that sony will make good on that promise to deliver the movie? >> i think it's very, very likely. i will be shocked at this point if we don't see this movie some way somehow. the question now is how. one source at sony said to me today, we are pursuing all options. let's imagine what those could be. it could be netflix or youtube. it could be independent movie theaters, or it could be the big movie theater chains that originally decided not to show the film about four days ago at this point. i think we will by 2015.

>> sony we know has taken a lot of heat for shelving the movie. a lot of americans, including the president, they argue you can't let a dictator for another country dictate what we will or won't watch. wouldn't thb a great p.r. opportunity for sony and the major theater chains and on-line companies like netflix and hulu to show this movie. what do you think? >> that's what i think we're seeing. i think what we're sensing from sony is a bit of defiance. defiling the hacker's demands not to let the movie be shown, and now defiling the government of north korea, which explicitly said in their latest statement today that they don't think the movie should ever be seen. defiant does feel like it's in the air. there's even some protests that are starting to pop up. we're seeing some hollywood types organize some groups that are saying that they're standing against sensorship and for freedom of expression. the problem here is that anybody that agrees to partner with sony to help release this movie is going to be concerned about hacking. it is going to be concerned about threats. not necessarily physical attacks because the government here in

the u.s. was pretty clear there isn't credible evidence of any possibility for a physical attack on movie theaters, but for the possibility of more threats or the possibility of more cyber attacks. that's what youtube has to think about. that's what any movie theater chain has to think about, and that might be what they're weighing right now as they discuss this with sony. >> amazing how much attention this is getting. brian, thank you very much. >> thanks. >> sony says that it is going to release the interview as we told you, but could that add to the legal troubles the company is already facing? we'll ask our legal ladies in a moment. >> this is the home that i was born in. that was my candy store. before and after school. that's my kindergarten. little boris. little boris. these are the original courts when i picked up my first

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but the comfort it provides is it's justimmeasurable.ece the america red cross brings hope and help to people in need every 8 minutes, every day. so this season give something that means something. an attorney for sony said the company will release the movie "the interview" after all. he didn't say when or if it will

be in theaters or some other form of release. the cyber attack of the company has also created legal problems for sony. former employees have now filed four lawsuits. now, the suits claim that the company ignored warnings about the attacks and failed to protect their personal information. a group calling itself "guardians of peace" have claimed responsibility for its attack. it says it has social security of 47,000 current and former employees. let me bring in our legal ladies panel for this week, ashley merchant, a criminal defense attorney, and judge glenda hatchet is the star from the judge hatchet tv court series. welcome to both of you. >> thank you. >> let me start with you on this one.

>> it's too material to tell if 24e6 a case or not. >> they have to be more careful about security, or is it up to the employees to be worried about their own privacy and keep an eye on it? >> in this situation the employees can't. let me just say, radi, full disclosure, i may well be a member of that class because sony produced and distribute my show, and so i've had a 14-year long relationship with sony pictures. >> i don't know that employees can protect themselves in this situation. only sony can protect them from hackers in this situation, and ashley is right. it is too early to tell really what the shake-out is going to be, and the ultimate question is going to be what are my damages?

what are my damages? can i prove that i in fact was damaged because my information may have been compromised, and how do i know and when will i know? it may be years? >> if the company does release the movie and there is some type of reprecussion from hackers or anybody else, another group, does it open them up for liability? >> i'm sure it will. their lawyers i'm sure are going crazy weighing the risks and again fits here. at the end of the day it's free speech. if they wanted to produce this movie and stand by it, then they should release it, and i hope they do release it because that's one of the tenant this is country was found odd. >> you don't think it should stay locked nup a vault? >> no. this is just the beginning. we are on a slippery slope. if they back down now, then what will happen next? what will happen next? i think that's right. there is free speech. however, if it is released and if movie theaters show it, my concern is about the safety and those movies, and what is the

liability both for the theater owners and for sony in that situation going forward. >> getting back to sony and security measures, how would these employees if they did go ahead and -- how do they prove that sony was -- >> what they would have to do is have to basically show that sony should have known that their security were lax and that sewn where i could have taken reasonable steps. >> do they have to find emails and warnings? >> they have been hacked before, so we know there have been some soft spots in their security. >> criminal hackers, and so it's really hard to put it back on sony to protect against criminals, unless they should have known or unless they should have known that they were at risk because they're criminals. how do you protect yourself against being a victim of a

crime? >> we love the intbt, but, boy, the internet can cause problems. >> i feel bad. i really do. it's a tough -- >> the employees. >> thank you both. nice to see you. >> do you think this was an act of war by north korea? >> no, i don't think it was an act of war. i think it was an act of cyber vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. to the next level. i mean, if you're into that kinda thing. yeah, if you're into that kinda thing... watch out for that enemy turret, koshka! i got it, glaive! alright, now let's destroy the vain crystal! wait, i'm going to upgrade from barbed needle to serpent mask. i'm going to buy some minion candy too. don't forget an eclipse prism. why would i want an eclipse prism in a situation like this? stop playing like a noob, glaive. oh... really koshka? like the time you took on adagio with nothing but some journey boots and a scout trap? i knew you were going to bring that up! ♪

north korea's cyber attack, race relations in this country, and opening relation with cube wra. president obama talked about them all with chief political correspondent and anchor of state of the union candy rowley. he had a lot to say regarding his reaction of sewn where i disagreeing with him when he said that sony made a mistake cancelling its release of "the interview" movie after a cyber attack and more threats from north korea. >> i was pretty sympathetic to the fact that they have business considerations they have to make, and, you know, had they

talked to me directly about this decision i might have called the m theater chains and distributors and asked them what the story was, but what i was laying out was a principle that i think this country has to abide by. we believe in free speech. we believe in the right of artistic expression and satire and things that powers that be might not like. if we set a precedent in which a dictator in another country can disrupt through cyber, you know, a company's distribution chain or its products and as a consequence, we start sensoring ourselves, that's a problem. it's a problem not just for the entertainment industry. it's a problem for the news industry. cnn has done critical stories about north korea. what happens if, in fact, there

is a breach in cnn's, you know, cyberspace. are we going to say we better not report on north korea? >> the key is not to suggest that sony was a bad actor. it's making a broader point that all of us have to adapt to the soblt of cyber attacks. we have to do a lot more to guard against them. >> let me move you on to the other big story that we've had, and that is your reach out -- or cubans reach to you and your reach to cuba. >> cuba offers us an example of an opportunity to try something different. for 50 years we've tried to -- if we can overthrow the regime through isolation, it hasn't worked. if we engage, we have the opportunity to influence the course of events at a time when there's going to be some jaen ragsal change in that country,

and i think we should seize it, and i intend to do so. >> a question that i think arises to me is people say, well, is he in a special position, and so much is expected of him. you know, do you think that you look at race matters somewhat differently because, yes, you're the first african-american president, but your mother was white. you were raised by your mother and your white grandz parents. does that give you a different perspective, do you think? >> i think what it does do for me is to recognize that most americans have good intentions. i said a little bit about this in the press conference earlier today. i assume the best rather than the worst in others. it also makes me mindful of the fact that there are misunderstandings and mistrust, and there are biases sometimes over and hidden that operate in ways that disadvantage minority communities, and that's a carry-over. there's a long legacy in this

country that has gotten enormously better, but it's still there. when you look at what's happened in law enforcement across the country over the last several years, that's not news to african-americans. what's different is simply that some of it's now videotaped, and the question then becomes what practical steps can we take to solve this problem, and i believe that the overwhelming majority of white americans as well as african-americans want to see this problem solved. >> many thanks to candy crowley for that exclusive interview with president obama. we have much more just ahead in the newsroom, and it all starts right now. this was a cold-blooded assassination like we haven't

seen before. >> two of new york's finest gunned down. today more on the plan police say pulled the trigger and could this deadly ambush have been prevented? also breaking today, north korea ups the ante claiming the u.s. government was involved in making that movie "the interview." and threatening an even worse cyber attack. >> how are you? >> and an exclusive interview with president obama. nothing is off limits. how will the white house respond to north korea's escalating threats? hear it all right now. you're in the cnn newsroom. hello, everyone. i'm randy kay. we begin this hour in new york. a stunning ambush in broad daylight. two police officers murdered, shot and killed in their police cruiser. new york police are expected to hold a news conference in about an hour or so.