now. hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. in washington, 6:00 p.m. in london and 9:00 p.m. in moscow. wherever you're watching from around the world, thank you for joining us. up next, new york's mayor addresses a charity organization with ties to the nypd. tensions rise over the assassination over two police officers. mayor bill de blasio speaks at a luncheon in just a few minutes from now. we'll bring you his remarks live. this is a sensitive moment. tensions are very, very high right now and we just learned a while ago that the mayor visited the homes of the two police officers who were killed, rafael ramos and wenjian liu.

mayor de blasio has been the subject of a lot of finger pointing since the officers were gunned down over the weekend. our reporter nick valencia walks us through how it all happened. >> reporter: the shooter's onslaught of terror began just before 6:00 a.m. in baltimore, maryland. ismaaiyl brinsley shot and seriously injured his girlfriend hours before he would kill two new york police officers. one of the last posts he put on social media was this. "i always wanted to be known for doing some right but my past is stalking me and my present is haunting me." the post followed, "i'm putting wings on pigs today. they take one of ours, let's take two of theirs." the posts were flagged by police in baltimore but a message to be on alert in new york was too late. at 2:47 p.m., brinsley walked up

to the patrol cars of wenjian liu and rafael ramos. >> while sitting in a marked nypd police car in full uniform, they were ambushed and murdered in front of tompkins avenue. >> liu and ramos never had a chance to draw their weapons. they were rushed to the hospital where later pronounced dead. nearby officers gave chase following brinsley in a subway station. >> brinsley shot himself in the head while on the platform. >> reporter: police recovered a silver auto gun from the shooter which they say was used in the killings. saturday night at the hospital, more tense moments. mayor bill de blasio pays his respect and while walking by police, officers turn their backs, demonstrating their anger towards a mayor who they say shares the blame for the

officers' deaths. >> there are blood on their hands and that starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor. >> reporter: for the family of mayor ramos was not on blame but on grief. late saturday, ramos' 13-year-old son said this, "today i had to say bye to my father. i will always love you and i will never forget you." and then bill bratton released a message that read in part "may god grant officer liu and ramos rest. be safe." nick valencia, cnn. a lot of krcritics point to protests over michael brown and eric garner. the former new york city mayor rudy giuliani says de blasio let the demonstrations get out of

hand. >> we don't want to silence it. it doesn't have to cost a person their life because an ambulance can't get through or a man can't get home from work. you can protest in an appropriate place and manner. that's first amendment law. that's why it's a place across the street from the president rather than right next to the president. they get to make their point but they don't get to take over the city. and when you see the protesters taking over the city, then all of a sudden the police have the impression that they are supporting them, not him. there's no question he was supporting the protesters and not the police. >> giuliani says he disagrees with the desilcision by the pol officers to turn their back on de blasio at the hospital and will yet bratton was asked if the mayor has lost the confidence of the confidence of the nypd police force. here's what he said on the "today" show. >> i think he's lost it with

some officers, that -- i was at the hospital when that event occurred. >> do you support those officers and the way they protested? >> i don't support that particular activity. i don't think it was appropriate, particularly in that setting. but it's reflective of the anger of some of them. >> the commissioner bill bratton says he hasn't seen this kind of tension in new york since the 1970s. while we wait to hear from the new york mayor bill de blasio, let's get a perspective on the rift between the mayor and the police department. joining me is tom fuentes and chris have you seen tension like this between the police and mayor of new york since the early 1970s when there was real tension? >> no. the closest comparison would probably be in the late '80s, early '90s, there was a police

demonstration on the steps of city hall that was loud, angry, vitrialic. rudy giuliani, in fact, was a participant in those protests but this kind of directi direction shunning of the officer turning their backs on the current mayor, no, we have never seen that. >> what does he need to do? >> well, it's a very difficult thing and, you know, it's probably impossible to talk about truly uniting a city of 8 million people but he can certainly try to bring more opinions together and he started doing that yesterday attending mass at st. patrick's cathedral with cardinal timothy dolan, in general, trying to lower the volume and trying to get in the

words of de blasio's aides, other responsible voices out there. a surrogate, somewhat. de blasio, of course, has to address this himself head-on and he would be giving his first public remarks since saturday night at the hospital at the police athletic league today and that's an event that was scheduled long before this. whether it's good or bad timing depends on your point of view. but it's very high stakes for de blasio. it's not us against them. it's not cops or community it's all of us. >> once again, the luncheon is designed to strengthen the

relations between the police and the community. and what he has to say about this, mayor arriving at the location of park avenue, right in manhattan walking in getting ready to what will be a significant speech. he knows the tensions are severe right now. there's a lot of anger towards him directly over the killing, the brutal killing of these two police officers, rafael ramos and wenjian liu who were sitting in their car in brooklyn when this other individual, ismaaiyl brinsley, walked up and shot both of these police officers and killed them both. tom fuentes, you're here with me. i understand, based on what we're getting froo new york, there are a lot of threats now picked up on social media against new york city police officers. i guess they really have to be

afraid of copycats. >> absolutely. travel to new york and expressly said he was going to kill police and several other threats that were followed up on. so it's not just a small amount. it's a large amount directed particularly at new york police right now. >> they have to be really careful and they are beefing up their patrols, if you will. we're standing by and waiting for the new york city mayor bill de blasio who is going to come to the microphone. you're seeing live pictures from this luncheon address that he's going to make at the police athletic charity group. it was scheduled a while ago but now he tries to restore confidence from new york city cops. we'll be right back.

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a luncheon. this event was scheduled a long time ago. the new york city police commissioner bill bratton will be there as well as the manhattan district attorney. tensions are on the rise significantly between the mayor bill de blasio and city's police force. overed weekend, some officers -- look at this video -- actually turn their back on the mayor of new york as he was at the hospital to turn his respects to the family of the gunned down policemen. all of these officers would not look at him as he walked by this corridor over there. it's a really, really devastating scene. and it underscores the tension between the mayor and the police officers right now. cnn's crime and skrjustice prodr is outside this luncheon.

tell us, first of all, what you are hearing. are we expecting a lengthy speech from the mayor, a short speech? he's got a lot of work to do to prepare his relations with the new york city police officers. >> well yeah, wolf. he's got a lot of work to do. this was the build-up of what his campaign was about, how are we going to fix the relationship between the community and the police department and now he has a much bigger issue, perhaps, how is he going to fix his relationship with police officers across the city? this is still expected to mostly talk about the community policing and how police officers in the community can get along better. this speech was written fairly recently after saturday when the two officers were killed and we're told that he will incorporate some of that.

he is still going to be mostly talking about community issues, is what we've been told. he just got here after visiting the officers' families this morning. he just got here and he got in the elevator and is now heading upstairs and the police commissioner a short time later and they are both upstairs. these are mostly donors, people who donate to this program which helps sort of support them and help reduce crime to keep kids off the street and that's what this program is about. i think he'll focus a lot about that. it's really to sort of work together. that's what we expect here, wolf. >> it will be an important speech and i know the mayor and police commissioner will hold a joint news conference later this afternoon.

we'll have live coverage of that as well. i think it's scheduled for 3:30 p.m. eastern. also, are there police officers in that event at this luncheon? yesterday we saw the ugly scene of the police officers turning their backs on the mayor of new york as they walked down the corridor and we're going to be watching closely if there are police officers at this police athletic league luncheon. i saw a lot of people -- these are like donors to the police athletic league. is that right, shimon? >> reporter: that's right. donors, community leaders. the manhattan district attorney and also a former mayor. it's a lot of community local people, local politicians. i don't expect to see any police officers in there. i've been to these events before

and police officers are not in attendance. so i don't expect that there will be any police officers. certainly not in uniform. and then the commissioner's senior staff will be there, the chief of staff, some of the deputy commissioners will be in there. but what we saw on saturday we will not see here. these officers are in uniform. >> shimon, stand by. once the mayor starts speaking, i want to listen precisely to what he's going to say. i assume he'll say he supports the police officers and see if he issue as regret for comments that he may have made. we'll see how far he goes in trying to repair this clearly tense relationship right now between the mayor and the nypd. i want to go over to brooklyn, though, as we await the mayor.

a makeshift memorial is in the neighborhood of where the two police officers, rafael ramos and wenjian liu were killed as they simply sat in their patrol cars. cnn's sara ganim is on the scene for us there in brooklyn. we've been watching the tensions between the mayor and the police officers. what is the mood there? set the scene for us. >> reporter: wolf, none of those tensions that you just talked about between the mayor and the police are occurring here. people say they believe those tensions are not a good thing that it's not a good conversation to be going on and tensions will only lead to more violence. you know, it wasn't that throng ago or that far from here that people were protesting from the

nypd in new york. today we're seeing members of the community and and one of the most touching moments i believe was when came up with a sign and a police officer son said, jayden, your father did nothing wrong and she was having trouble taking the message and it's indicative of the mood here. people are peaceful, respectful and there's no kind of tension that we've been seeing in new york city, wolf. >> that's the scene here. ismaaiyl brinsley drove up from

baltimore and announced that he was going to kill two cops and he went ahead and did so. we're standing by. the mayor of new york has a lot of repair to do. we're going to hear from mayor bill de blasio as soon as we come back. i have the worst cold with this runny nose. i better take something. dayquill cold and flu doesn't treat your runny nose. seriously? alka-seltzer plus cold and cough fights your worst cold symptoms plus your runny nose. oh, what a relief it is.

there's real tension in new york right now, tension between the mayor and the police force.

they are not happy with some of the comments he made over these past several weeks. as we await the mayor, he's speaking at this police athletic league luncheon in new york over the future of the community relations with the nypd. let's bring in reverend calvin butts from new york. pastor, thank you for joining us. chris smith is still with us, contributing editor for "new york magazine" and tom fuentes is with us as well. reverend butts, what do you think, what does the mayor need to do now? we'll take the conference live. people will see it in new york and around the country. we're being seen around the world right now. what does he need to do to fix the relationship between himself and the nypd? >> he needs to listen very carefully to the leadership of the nypd. while i don't always agree, mostly don't agree with a lot of the things that the pba

president says, i think that the morale is very low at this point and not only does he need to be a cheerleader, he needs to let the police know that he is on their side. now, let's delicate for me to say because we're in a kind of tug-of-war here between different issues. but where the police are concerned in the city of new york, we need them to be strong, we need them to be vigorous because they have a very tough job to do in protecting the entire city. and the mayor certainly needs to listen more to the police than he does to some of his other advisers. >> reverend butts, you know this mayor. is he up to the task? can he fix this relationship? he hasn't been on the job all that long. he's got a long tenure of ahead

of him. >> you're absolutely right, wolf, and i have my concerns. i'm disappointed that when called -- when i called the mayor's office to set up a meeting between several leading clergy people in this city and several prominent business persons, the mayor did not reach back. this indicates that he is slightly out of touch, he's getting bad advice and, as a result, the tensions in the city between police and community are heightened and i think it's a direct result of leadership. now, i haven't been able to talk to this man. he reaches out through his office but does not really connect with those of us on the ground and who have contributed greatly to the life of the city. i'm not sure who he is listening to but i would encourage him not

just to speak to this luncheon today but to sit down and negotiate hard. it's not only the mayor. i think there has to be more of a conversation with the commissioner. he cannot be left out of this equation. >> the commissioner bill bratton said earlier today, he hasn't seen tension like this in new york city between the nypd and mayor and city government, if you will, going back to the 1970s. you've been a long-time resident of new york. do you agree with bill bratton? >> yes, i do. i have been involved in many debates with the new york city police department but i was able to work very closely with ed koch and surprising with one major issue with rudy giuliani and michael bloomberg. it was not a better relationship between myself and a mayor and police commissioner. but that has deteriorated rapidly and i see it, most

importantly, wolf, in the lack of spirit among the rank and file police officers. that's a crisis of leadership. >> wolf, if i could -- >> go ahead. chris smith is still with us. reverend butts, stand by, tom fuentes, chris smith has covered these stories for a long time. go ahead, chris. >> i know you know this, i know the reverend knows it. just to be explicit, we talk about the cops. the new york police department is 30,000 men and women. it's important to distinguish between the words and the rage of the head of the police benevolent association and a larger maybe majority groups of cops who have anger, not necessarily directly from these shootings -- i mean, they are certainly sad and upset about

those but there is skepticism and wariness that de blasio has built up over time. it's a hangover somewhat from the coampaign last year where h was calling for reduction in the use of stop-and-frisk and now the mayor has tried to make the argument that he was against tactics, he was not against the cops. and that's a very nuance difficult point to make. and there's all sorts of folks in the media, in other political parties, in the unions with agendas to push who have distorted that message, to some extent. and so it's important to note here that there are a lot of cops who agree with where de blasio would like to take the department and others who are in the middle who want to see where he really wants to go. >> let me guess, i think the mayor is getting ready to speak,

reverend butts, but you've been a resident. do you remember a time when police officers refused to look at the mayor of new york city and turn their backs on him as they did saturday night when he went to the hospital to pay his respects to those two police officers who were gunned down? >> well, you know, i remember the days when the police officers made some very disparaging remarks about david denkins but i also know that police officers, as chris pointed out, are for the rank and file men and women who serve this city, they are good people. and they are willing to work with the mayor. but the mayor has got to come off of a kind of -- i know where i'm going and i don't know if you know where i'm going fully and he doesn't seem to be listening to the police. i think fairly he needs to hear

what his rank and file is saying. mr. lynch may not have it correctly because he's a union leader and he's pushing a very aggressive agenda. but at the same time, you can't ignore him because many of those officers are listening to him and he seems to have more of this spirit than the mayor does. >> no doubt. >> it looks like the mayor is standing. now he's sitting down again. we assume this is going to begin very soon. you know what, let's take a quick break. we'll resume our coverage. hopefully we'll hear from the mayor when we come back. stay with us. i've always loved exploring and looking for something better.

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oh yeah? if they can't give us faster internet or save us money, they'll give us 150 bucks. sounds like a win win. guys! faster internet? i have never been on the internet and i am doing pretty well. does he even work here? don't listen to the naysayer. take the comcast business speed test. get faster speeds or more savings, or we'll give you $150. comcast business. built for business. welcome back. the mayor bill depl blasio is going to be speaking about the relationship between the police and the community. he's got his own issue right now. a lot of the police officers in new york city, the more than 30,000 police officers in new york city. they are very upset at the mayor

for some of the comments he's made in recent weeks and the anger has surfaced over the past 48 hours with the brutal shooting of two police officers in brooklyn, rafael ramos and wenjian liu brutally shot down by ismaaiyl brinsley who came into new york from baltimore, simply took out a handgun and these two police officers were in their car and he shot them both dead, shot them in the head. the mayor is at least, by some of these police officers, being at least partially blamed for some of the statements he made, statements that were seen as critical of the new york city police department. there's a new poll, by the way, as we await the mayor that came out, we asked the question, does the u.s. criminal justice system treat whites and blacks equally? yes, 50% of whites said yes. 42% of whites said no. there's a very, very different answer from nonwhites, only 21%

said yes. 69% said "no." we're awaiting the mayor, calvin butts, reverend calvin butts, is joining me, a pastor of a church in new york. let me get your quick reaction to that poll, reverend. 50% of whites think the u.s. criminal justice system treats blacks and whites equally. what do you think about that? >> well, i think it's about right. those of us who are not white know statistically that we are treated unfairly by the criminal justice system here in this nation. most of the drugs are not purchased by black people. most of the drugs in this country are not sold by black people but yet black people are the ones mostly incarcerated because of the sale of drugs. crime rates. if you look at the crime rates

in most cities, most of the crime is not perpetrated by people of african descent, though it would seem that that is the case. but yet most of the people incarcerated for crime are people of african descent. it's unfair and i think that book by michelle alexander points this out very well. i would encourage everyone to read it because the prison system is now akin to what slavery was many, many years ago. so i agree with you. >> yeah. let me move on as we await the mayor bill de blasio getting ready to address this group, this police athletic league lun luncheon on this personal subject. let's bring in cnn commentator paul begala joining us from arlington, virginia, the former speaker of the house, newt

gingrich. what do you think the mayor needs to say right now, newt? >> well, i think he needs to say that, you know, whatever past statements he wants to work with the police, he wants to reinforces the police and he wants to make clear that the kind of assassinations that we saw this weekend are totally, utterly completely unacceptable. but he has to take some responsibility for the rhetoric and language and the attitude which has so alienated the new york city police department. it's a huge department, as you pointed out, wolf, and they are deeply alienated from the mayor, more than any i can remember in history. >> paul begala, does he need to formally express regret for his comments, his actions? does he need to apologize to the nypd? >> wolf, there's a lot of pain. i'm not sure which comment you're referring to but there clearly is an enormous amount of pain there. he should say all of the things that newt just suggested. it's good advice.

i'm much more troubled not by what he says but what he doesn't do. i heard calvin butts say that the mayor had refused to meet with him. well, that's just wrong. he needs to listen more. yes, he needs to say the right things but he needs to listen more. at the same time, this was a horrific, vicious murder and i think it's much more befitting of isis than any american to murder officer liu, officer ramos that way. and we cannot live in a society where that happens. nor should we live in a society where we're not free to criticize authority figures without worrying that we'll be blamed for what some deranged subject does. i think we need to assign more culpability to the murderer, not to any statement that the mayor or anybody else said. >> let me ask chris smith because you've been covering this story for new york magazine, chris. what statement did the mayor make that so angered the new

york police benevolent society, that angered so many cops in new york in the aftermath of the eric garner death? >> well, a couple of things. the mayor has supported the police both materially and verbally in the ways that newt just asked him to do. he has disavowed violence and disruption in the city. he's been criticized, in particular, by some of the police unions for his speech in a staten island church after the grand jury decision in which he talked about his bi-racial son dante needing to be careful, wary in his potential encounters with police officers. in that poll you showed, reverend butts, really gets to the heart of the matter here. the police for all their good work? driving down crime over the past decade or longer, now many of them feel that they are being blamed. they are the ones being held responsible by a lot of people

and partly they attribute this to the mayor for racism in this country and that's a painful and complicated thing. has there been police misbehavior? sure. but they feel like they are being the ones, in many instances, pinned the blame being made guilty for the racism and the larger problems that exist. >> we have some video of the mayor earlier today going over to the homes of the two police officers who were gunned down. i'll show you some of that video the two police officers, rafael ramos, wenjian liu. there's the mayor and police commissioner bill bratton going inside the home. i'm sure once the mayor starts speaking in a little while, he's going to be talking about what he said to the families and how he's dealing with this crisis in new york and here are the mayors emerging. this is video that just came in courtesy of our affiliate wabc in new york city. this was earlier, the mayor and

police commissioner bill bratton were there and paid their respects to the families of these two police officers. let's take a quick break. we'll resume our special coverage. we'll hear from the mayor when we come back. ♪ (holiday mhey! is playing) i guess we're going to need a new santa ♪(the music builds to a climax.)

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all right. we're standing by, the mayor of new york is now being introduced by the former d.a., district attorney in new york. we're going to hear what the mayor has to say. tensions are obviously very, very high right now between the mayor and nypd t. the mayor has a lot of work to do, in fact. we saw the virtually unprecedented picture of the mayor of new york going to the hospital saturday night to pay his respects to the two police officers who were gunned down and you saw two columns of police officers simply turning their backs on the mayor of new york refusing to look at him, refusing to look at him in the eye. they simply turned around, refused to look at the mayor. so the mayor knows he's got work to do. earlier he met with the families of rafael ramos and wenjian liu, the two police officers who were gunned down. tom fuentes, as we await the mayor, here's the concern in new york city and it's demonstrated.

police officers are new rules now. they are not going out by themselves, they are being joined by others. they are afraid, and for good reason given the social media out there, that there could be copycats and other officers could be in danger. >> wolf, there are already people on social media desiring to be a copycat. it started on saturday and it's continuing today. there are people who want to come out and do what happened in this case and they are concerned about that. >> reverend calvin butts, you're a pastor and you're a community leader in new york. people have relied on your wisdom for many years. a lot of us were really outraged when we heard some of the protesters, though most of the protesters were peaceful, organized, they did what they had a right to do, but you heard those chants from some and it's

very disturbing when you heard them say what do you want, dead cops, when do you want it, now. they kept repeating that over and over again. that's so awful to hear that and i wanted to get your thoughts. >> i'm outraged by those comments, wolf. i think they are dangerous, divisive and they put many of our police officers at risk. all of our police officers at risk. we cannot tolerate that rhetoric. and we must be very careful to separate a few provacateurs and not led the bad behavior of some tank the whole police department in new york. many of our members are members of the new york city police department. they are hard-working men and women and they deserve encouragement and protection and

they should be very, very, very careful because we do know that there are copycats out here and we do know that these men and women's lives are at risk. so we have to decry that rhetoric whenever we hear it, we have to stand up against it but we know it's out there and, in this country, we have to make sure that we have the kind of leadership that will not be swayed by those who seek only to make political hate or progress their own particular agenda. >> pastor calvin butts, stand by. we're going to hear what the mayor has to say right now. >> while the d.a. returns to his seat, i want to start by thanking all of you for supporting our police, for

supporting our children. those two missions go hand in hand. it's expressed most powerfully by the work of the police athletic league. that work couldn't happen in neighborhoods all over the city if it weren't for all of you. i want to thank you for doing the right thing by our city by helping us come together and move forward. and i have to say, bob, i love that story you just told. i love that you kept that quarter for that young girl. you're an honest to good man and it epitomizes a life that you have given in service for this city, for the rule of law, for the healing of people, the service to your nation in world war ii. i can't think of a man who epitomizes public service and all that we hope to build together more than bob. let's thank him again. [ applause ]

i want to talk about this organization and some of the people that are here but i have to first talk about what's going through our hearts right now, what we're all feeling but no one is feeling it more than two families today. commissioner bratton and i just came from visiting the family of officer ramos and then the family of officer liu. and we began that journey with them a few nights ago in a hospital when they experienced the worst possible moment any family could with no warning their loved one was gone. their father, their husband, their son, their brother, just one moment and then they were

gone. and commissioner bratton has gone on this mission many times to console families. it's newer in my life but it's one of the most difficult elements of the jobs we do, is to try and help these families that have suffered so wrongly to try and help them in that moment and to let them know we'll be with them every it's something the nypd believes in. these families are now our family. and we will stand by them. they're suffering. they're suffering an unspeakable pain right now. it's impressive when somehow people can put on a brave face but in the conversations we had, you can tell there's a lot of fear what the future will hold. and we let them know that we would be there for them, that people such as good people in

this room would be there for them, and we would never forget them and never forget the sacrifice of officer ramos and officer liu who stood for all that is good in this society, and we have to understand the attack on them was an attack on all of us. it was an attack on our democracy, it was an attack on our values and attack on every single new yorker and we have to see it as such. there's a lot of pain, and it's so hard to make sense of it. one deeply troubled violent individual could do this to these good families. and i think it's a time for everyone to take stock that

there are things that unite us and things we told dear as new yorkers and as americans. we all see the prism of the world through our own families. it's time for people to take stock of this moment. our first obligation is to respect these families in mourning. our first obligation is to stand by them in every way we can, and i call upon everyone to focus on these families and these next days which so painfully are also a time that we usually think of as one of the high points of the year. a moment of celebration. a moment of faith. in these days we still have to find that goodness. i think it's important that regardless of people's viewpoints, that everyone recognize it's a time to step

back and just focus on these families. i think it's a time for everyone to put aside political debates, put you put aside protests and put aside all of those things we'll talk about in due time but in coming days, two families prepare for funerals. two families try to think about how to piece their lives back together. that should be our only concern. how do we support them. i would ask that any organizations that were planning events or gatherings for politics or protests, that could be for another day. let's accompany these families on their difficult journey and see them through the funerals. then debate can begin again. until that time, it is our obligation to respect them.

let's see this attack not only on all of us citizens, an attack on all police and the family of the nypd is feeling this deeply. not just their comrades in arms, two officers in the 84th precinct but beyond every member of the nypd. every retired member of the nypd are feeling this so personally and so deeply. let's respect the family of the nypd as they go through their mourning and take a moment when you see a police officer to thank them and console them because it is personal for them. take a moment to console them as you would one of the members of the families of officer ramos and officer liu. i want to talk about this organization because i think in

the work you do is a message to all of us -- >> there's the mayor of new york city. mayor de blasio making a very heartfelt statement expressing his deepest condolences to the families of these two police officers who were so brutally gunned down as they sat in their patrol car in brooklyn. i want to get some quick reaction. reverend calvin butts is join us. he's the pastor of a baptist church in new york. what did you think, reverend? >> i thought it was correct to express our concern, love and support for the families of the police officers. but certainly this was not a barack obama speech. to say we are to stop protesting really does not touch on the fact that not only are the families of the police officers grieving, the family of eric garner is grieving and the

protests are a separate matter from this heinous crime that's been committed against these new york city police officers. and moreover, giving leadership to the police, encouraging them, was not something that came across strongly for me. these men and women have been demoralized. what you need to do is begin to assume a position that says, you know, i am your leader. i am telling you i am with you. we fight all kinds of crime in this city but we will not tolerate your blood or anyone's bloodshed on the streets unjustly or criminally. i didn't get that. it seemed to be a brief introduction where he moved over the most important issues of the day and he went onto talk about a great organization. they don't need him to speak. they need to put up their track record and everybody says that's great organization. i wasn't moved by it, wolf. >> p.a.l. is the police at lhlec

league. >> what did you think? >> i couldn't agree more. his commentary has been so eloquent and exactly correct about what the problem is and what needs to be done to address it. i completely agree with everything he just said. >> is this going to work? you're the contributing editor of "new york" magazine and covering new york for a long time. what the mayor just said, is that going to start a process at least of easing the tensions that have exploded in recent weeks especially in the past 48 hours between new york city police officers and the mayor? >> i think in the short-term it's going to help lower the tone of the discussion. it's very interesting that this morning commissioner bratton connected the shootings to the demonstrations and now the mayor is calling for a pause in protest. this has been one of the hardest things for bratton and de blasio

to square. bratton is a believer in broken windows. you take care of the small problems so they don't become bigger problems. protests have escalated and a week or so ago we had an attack on police officers on the brooklyn bridge connecting that to this deranged individual shooting two officers is another step. this is a very difficult, very emotional moment and the mayor is trying to take the air out of the situation. i don't know that the protesters are going to stand down. >> chris smith of new york magazine, thank you for joining us. tom, thanks to you as well. and especially thanks to reverend calvin butts, the pastor. a major community leader. thank you for spending so much time with us, reverend butts. we really appreciate it. let's hope tensions calm down in new york and calm down soon.

especially during this christmas season. it's a bad way to go into christmas. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." for our international viewers, "amanpour" is next. for american viewers, "newsroom" with brooke baldwin starts after a quick break. wonder have we done enough to plan for them. a reverse mortgage is a great program that could help you live a better retirement. plus, there have been a lot of enhancements made to the reverse mortgage ...it's new, it's improved and it's safer for you, your spouse and your heirs. a reverse mortgage allows you to live comfortably in your home without the burden of a monthly payment. want to know how it works? call one reverse mortgage now to get your questions answered and ask for your free guide. some people ask me "do i still get to keep my home?" and the answer is yes.

you remain the owner of your home. it's worth a call to find out how you can benefit from the new and improved reverse mortgage. we're going to take it now. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me on this monday. you were hearing from the mayor of new york, mayor de blasio, referencing the atrocities that happened over the weekend. some say like never been new york's finest is at odds with new york's leader and at the absolute worse time. two of their officers were "assassinated" video of mayor de blasio visiting the explain officers' home just came into us at cnn. now all officers are on alert for further