great to have you. thank you all so much. my friend and colleague brianna keilar is next and she's live. hi there. i'm brianna keilar in for wolf blitzer. wherever you're watching from around the world, thank you for joining us. police officers from all over the united states were preparing to travel hundreds, some even thousands of miles to pay their respects to fallen new york police officer rafael ramos, the 40-year-old father of two gunned down in his patrol car on saturday along with his partner, officer wenjian liu, as many as 30,000 people are expected to attend ramos' funeral in queens tomorrow. in massive turnout, that will include several dignitaries. these are images of ramos' casket being carried into the church draped in the nypd flag.

ramos' wake will be held there one hour from now. a memorial service is planned for tonight with a funeral to be held tomorrow. funeral services for officer liu are still being worked out. liu just got married two months ago. this morning, his widow wept as a nonprofit foundation announced that it will assume mortgage payments payments of the homes of officer ramos and liu. ismaaiyl brinsley posted threats

on social media before he committed the crime. miguel marquez is joining us live outside of the church where officer ramos' service will be held. miguel, set the scene there for us. it must be very emotional. >> reporter: it is. it is always hard to watch grown men cry, to watch police officers show such emotion. it's really, really tough to see that casket come in earlier, to see the seriousness with which they take this is amazing. already, hundreds of officers from the 84th precinct where ramos and liu worked and ceremonial officers from nypd have arrived and for hours now, we're still an hour off from the wake starting but for hours there have been people lined up. this line snakes all the way down and around the block. these are people from the neighborhood, these are police officers, these are friends and families of officer ramos if you

go all the way down the block, they have blocked off streets here. you can see that there are a large number of police officers, most of them from the ceremonial division of nypd but lots of people from the neighborhood, also, who have come out here to watch what is happening. i'm watching now down the streets because we believe, we know that officer ramos' family will be arriving here at the church before very long to begin this wake which will go from 2:00 until 7:00 and then there will be a church service that was prescheduled but now it will be in his honor from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., so it will be a very long period from which period can come through this church in order to say their final good-byes. it's going to be the beginning of an extraordinarily emotional time. nypd preparing for 25,000 police officers alone to be at this

funeral. brianna? >> and miguel, in the midst of all of this, as this nypd community is dealing with their loss of their comrade, they are also having to focus on new threats. what are you learning about this? >> reporter: yeah. look, they've had dozens of threats, some of them real, some of them bogus. john miller told "the new york times" yesterday that they are checking out all of these things. some of these are just pranks on the internet and others are drunks texting stupid stuff but they have made seven arrests. two of those for individuals who made false 9/11 calls and three of those for individuals who posted threats on social media. one, somebody was overheard making threats against the 104 precinct and another one somebody called into the 84th precinct where officer liu and ramos works and they made a threat directly to that precinct. seven arrests so far.

nypd says that they are watching everything across social media and other threats to make sure that there's no copy cats owe nobody gets a bad idea to do something stupid. >> miguel marquez, thank you so much. i want to bring in tom fuentes, a cnn law enforcement analyst and also the former fbi direct for. this is what floors me. you can only imagine how emotional this is for the police officers and yet, at the same time, they have to be hyper vigilant because they are dealing with potential threats to themselves as well. what do you make of the threats? >> i think the emotion at this time, it's running higher because of all of the other things going on and the appearance that many police officers believe of the public no longer respecting police officers, no longer regarding what they do as important or proper and, you know, they feel

that in many ways they have been under this kind of criticism nationally for a long time and now you have two officers that were absolutely targeted, ambushed, assassinated. >> sitting in their squad car? >> it wasn't a wrestling match. it wasn't a traffic stop, it wasn't an encounter with a criminal or a bank robber. they were just sitting, you know, being available on patrol in a difficult neighborhood, a high-crime neighborhood, as commissioner bratton has said. and this happens. and, as if that's not bad enough, the threats keep coming. and some of them credible. and i think it just heightens what police officers already know, that they are already under this. more than one police officer per week is killed in the united states somewhere. we had an officer killed, shot to death in tarpon springs, florida. ironically, he spent more than five years on the force in nypd.

>> what does the nypd do? what do the other police departments do to protect their officers? >> they have to be as vigilant as ever. they have to take the threats now that there's a constant drumbeat of threats to public officials and we've seen the isis threats come in because you already have that. you already have nypd officers attacked by a man with a hatchet and then you have those who are mentally ill and then you have this, this extra heightened threat level of someone like brinsley who shoots his girlfriend in baltimore. what led him to go all the way to new york city, to brooklyn, and then assassinate these two police officers. i think that's where the extra difficulty comes in.

it's bad enough on a daily basis you might not come home from work on that day but in this case, way more tragic than normal. >> tom fuentes, thank you so much. and now to the movie that north korea wanted no one to see but many of you did. the seth rogen movie "the interview" was shown in just over 300 movie theaters nationwide. meanwhile, sony's playstation and microsoft's xbox live have been hit by hackers but we're learning that the hacker has nothing to do with the cyberattack on sony. dan simon is joining us live. many people thought this may have been the christmas surprise that sony hackers were warning about. that may not be the case though, right? >> it's not the case. this is a group called lizard squad and they said they wanted to expose the security holes in

the playstation and xbox networks and to that i say mission accomplished from this hacking group. so brianna, a lot of people are unhappy who are unboxing their brand-new consoles and can't get them to work properly and at this point it appears that xbox may be up to par at this point, that it's working normally. but playstation is still down and this is a group that is notorious, that it's done this in the past and we'll see how the dayca carries on. >> tell us about "the interview." are you hearing anything about it being pirated, perhaps? >> well, at this point, 750,000 people have downloaded "the interview" illegally. that's according to the stats that we are seeing. it's probably a lot more than that and that's just indicative

of the times that we live in, brianna. the fact that it wasn't available for legally purchased to go online outside of the united states i think, you know, shows that there is an appetite for this internationally. but the bigger question is, how many people actually did pay real money to watch this and will that factor in to hollywood's decision maybe in the future about simultaneous releases online and theaters at the same time? i know a lot of people want to see that happen and people are willing to pay good money for that. so we'll see if those numbers come out later today. brianna? >> we'll wait for those numbers with you. still ahead, the president makes a holiday visit to troops stationed in honolulu and thanks them for their service in afghanistan. and later, president obama will take executive action on immigration reform. it's one of the political stories of 2014. we'll be counting down the top ten. i have the worst cold with this runny nose.

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afghanistan. obviously, because of the extraordinary work of the armed forces, afghanistan has a chance to rebuild its own country. we are safer. it's not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again. >> let's bring in our white house correspondent michelle kosinski. she is in honolulu. michelle, this was obviously a feel-good visit that the president pays every year to troops there in hawaii. but the president said as well, afghanistan is not going to be the source of terrorist attacks again. but 2014 was the bloodiest year in the war. you had a high civilian casualty count. how will they shift away from this leading role to a supporting one? >> reporter: it's shocking to see that statement, that it was the bloodiest year. these are civilian casualties. when you look at the kinds of attacks happening there on a weekly basis, including in the capital, attacks on convoys.

those would include contractors and law enforcement. there's an attack on a french school not long ago. these continue and that's going to continue to be a problem but it's considered to be more of a problem for the afghan government. what the u.s. has tried to do is cement the relationship with the incoming afghan government. they signed the bilateral security agreement only weeks ago. that was a big deal. the u.s. wants to leave some troops there, continuing to draw those down there. but hopefully that's going to be the security buffer to keep things stable for the long term. training has been a big deal. continuing to train afghan security forces. but that's a big statement. during this feel-good visit, that it's not going to be a source of terrorist attacks. i mean, we hope it's not going to be a source of terrorist attacks. not only within that country but without that country and we hope that stability will continue there. it's been a long time of

building up that security and building up the government that is there now. but remember, that government is new. and it's still going to take work moving forward, brianna. >> and it certainly will be tested, no doubt. we heard the president saying the combat mission is over. you know, you can't really miss the fact, though, that there are still 11,000 troops going to be remaining in the country. >> definitely. i mean, and as the president often puts it, not only in the case of afghanistan today but also in terms of the troops that were put in iraq to fight isis, they are not really on the front lines of battle, as he says it's not a combat role. it's more of training, stability, helping the government, helping protect u.s. assets in those places. so, yeah, they are boots on the ground, absolutely. and if absolutely necessary, they would defend themselves and whatever assets they are defending. so it's not a traditional combat

role. they are pushing the line forward but, you're right, they are there and it remains to be seen how that role will evolve and hopefully end in the future, brianna. >> michelle kosinski for us in honolulu, thank you. pakistani intelligent officials say that seven people were killed in two suspected u.s. drone strikes. this happened in a mountainous region where they have been battling militants. jordan's queen is taking to social media to show her support for a coalition pilot captured by isis. she published the hash tag we are all moa sgrchz. his plane was shot down and then

he was later captured by isis. a warning has been issued to isis saying that their militants would face grave consequences if the pilot is harmed. and up next, after a massive tsunami rocks the shore of an indian coastline, one survivor accounts for his ordeal. you're here to buy a car.

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a somber day across coastal cities lining the indian ocean. ♪ here, families and friends in indonesia remember those killed ten years ago by the indian ocean tsunami. the 2004 tsunami was triggered by an earthquake off the coast of indonesia and swelled into deadly waves, as tall as 100 feet. in the aftermath, entire towns were flattened, businesses and homes crushed and more than 225,000 people lost their lives. a city on the southeast coast of india, one of the many hard-hit areas, is paying respects to those lost with a march through the center of town. ten years on, most of the city has been rebuilt but the devastation of that day remain fresh and painful. american duane meadows was on

vacation in thailand when the tsunami hit and after his bungalow washed away, he was sure that he was going to drown. ten years later, he relives the trauma of that day. >> as i was in my bungalow, poking through my backpack and looking for my stuff, the first sign of a tsunami was taking place but i was completely unaware of what was going on at the time. the folks on the beach who were out there had noticed that this kind of white line that they saw on the horizon was growing and being built into a wave and people really realized that this not really tall looking wave was actually very dangerous and powerful and the people started to scream and turn around and run away from the beach. i realized that it was a tsunami. the water was way away from the shoreline where it should be and i realized there was no way for me to go down the steps out to the front and it was going to be

upon me in a matter of seconds and i was just thinking i really need to hold my breath for as long as i can because this is going to get kind of big and kind of scary. and then it started to come into the building and i could feel the building collapsing and i remember the water coming in at the same time and diving and sliding into the water and hoping i would get away from the building and the roof kind of collapsing on me, spinning and twisting and my body going in every which direction. it was completely black and i had no idea what was up and what was down. i was clawing for what i thought was the surface but i really had no idea and i was running out of air and i wasn't getting any closer to the surface and eventually i just sort of accepted that this was the end. lo and behold, i popped up to the surface and was able to take some breaths. i quickly realized i was in this fast-moving white water that was going like a white water river and all i could do was look in front of me and try not to hit

trees as it turned out was the first thing i realized i was hitting. eventually i slammed into a tree and grabbed on. i thought i was going to be safe because it was something stable but a lot of stuff was hitting me in the junk. wood a nails scratching me. i thought i would be safer to flow with the water. the debris was piling up and in some cases whole bungalows were floating and beds and big propane tanks and refrigerators and you name it. when i got to the shore, there were three or four women and they were all looking for husbands or boyfriends that had gotten separated from them. we made our way to a resort on a hill and there were folks who hadn't been injured who were already doing first aid for people and throughout the day folks found water somewhere and there was a little bit of food.

it was horrible, just horrible looking at -- especially the children who didn't know what was going on, who were kind of shellshocked. it was just horrible to look around at all of the damage and destruction and injuries and everyone that was looking for children and spouses and friends and it changes the way that you think about what's important in your life, what's worth making a big deal about, what is worth getting worried about. >> you'll hear more of the story later today. he'll be joining pamela brown live at 3:00 p.m. on cnn newsroom. president obama opens the door to diplomatic solutions with cuba. he opens up more criticism on his foreign policy. find out where that ranks in our top ten political stories of the year. [ male announcer ] are you so stuffed up, you feel like you're underwater?

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blasted for his executive move on immigration and watching his party lose control of the senate. jake tapper has those stories and more in our politics top 10 of 2014. >> reporter: politics grabbed big time in 2014. some stunning congressional dysfunction and a crushing defeat for democrats in the midterm elections. here are our top ten political stories. number ten, 2014 offered a preview of what the 2016 presidential campaign might look and sound like as hillary clinton hit the road to promote her latest book. the media book tour looked a lot like a presidential candidate gearing up. number nine, republican incumbents felt the heat from the tea party which showed it isn't going anywhere. >> the conservative resurgence for this country starts right here in mississippi. >> reporter: a tea party campaign led by chris mcdaniel

nearly cost a long-time senator his seat. it was one of the strangest political coalitions of the year. asking democrats to bail him out in the runoff. cochran survived but others were not so lucky. the number two republican in the house did not make it to election day. house majority leader eric cantor lost his seat to this guy in which may be the political upset of the decade. >> obviously we came up short. >> reporter: number eight, the u.s. does not negotiate with terrorists but we will do a prisoner swap. sergeant bowe bergdahl, the only u.s. prisoner in iraq or afghanistan, the celebration had one huge footnote. not everyone was thrilled with the exchange rate. >> for the president to decide that these five hottest of the

hardcore in return for sergeant bergdahl was just wrong. >> reporter: not to mention, the administration broke the law by not giving congress 30 days' notice. and major security breaches with the security service. >> don't let somebody get close to his family or the president. >> reporter: julie pierson, the first female, stepped down. and u.s. veterans died while waiting for treatment at veterans administration hospitals was a national embarrassment. a month-long cnn investigation showed altered death certificates and secret waiting lists. >> i want to know the full scope of this problem. >> reporter: secretary of veterans affairs eric shinseki was sacked after the scandal broke and the repairs to the broken system still seem to be a

long way off. number five, president obama's foreign policy under attack. an off-the-cuff phrase uttered by the president, don't do stupid stuff, was criticized by former secretary of state hillary clinton as don't do something critical. and the russian invasion of ukraine, the prisoner swap for alan gross in cuba. the president's foreign policy was criticized by many democrats. number four, 2014 marked another year of congressional gridlock on immigration reform. there was no greater example of the broken system than the thousands of unaccompanied children from central america flooding across the texas border. president obama opted after the midterms to go it alone using executive action in an attempt to reform the system. critics call his actions unconstitutional. number three, any notion of america's first black president ushering in a post racial era of

healing got squashed. after white police officers in missouri and new york killed unarmed black men, protesters around the country took to the streets. following the grand jury's decision not to indict officer darren wilson, president obama issued a speech urging calm and the split screen on your television showed the death of the disconnect. a city burned and the president's pleas going up in smoke. number two, the u.s. went back into iraq. this time, to fight isis. just a few months after president obama dismissed the terrorist group as a j.v. squad, isis took several plots of land along the syrian border. the president ordered targeted attacks in iraq and syria against the are terrorist group. and the number one top political story of the year, on election

night, it was a red wave as republicans won control of the u.s. house and the senate. >> we crossed the finish line. we took the hill. >> reporter: the politics of 2015 might just look like a giant stack of promises made in the race in the white house for 2015. we'll have to see if a lame duck president can stick it out with congress. up next, our political insiders will shake their list for the top 2014. stay with us. is there such a thing as a sure thing in business?

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comcast business. built for business. we are taking a closer look at some of the top political stories of 2014 and looking ahead to 2015. how will president obama deal with the new republican-dominated congress? joining me to talk about all of this is a reporter from "time," political correspondent for "the examiner" and cnn political reporter ron brownstein. hillary clinton had a book tour, definitely rocky moments in there. we expect she's running but when is it going to happen? is it still months off? is she positioned well, do you think, after this year? >> certainly in a strong position. but if you look at the way that hillary clinton has been acting

and some of what is on her calendar for the first few months or the next year, it's clear that she's not in any hurry to start her presidential campaign. she has a paid speech on the docket for as late as march. what i've been told by members of her campaign or circle is that she isn't thinking of even doing an exploratory committee. she's going to jump in. >> it's very little that hillary clinton did of her own volition in 2014 that's going to have a big impact on 2016. i think what is more important or significant is the way that she has systematically aligned herself with some of the big unilaterally decisions that president obama has made on immigration, on climate, on cuba, one after the other. there are a number of ways in which she's shaping the battlefield for 2016 and shows in both the way she has felt compelled to endorse them and the way that the republican candidates have felt to oppose them. a lot of the issue landscape is already being put in place. >> and you see that as well,

that it's -- we're sort of gearing up here for 2016 and even the last press conference, the presidential press conference, where he called on all female reporters, is this kind of the year of the women when it comes to politics, too? >> certainly. it's definitely one of the years in politics, record number of women elected to congress from both parties, significant gains. on that front as well, women reaching across for capitol hill. it's definitely a theme of the past year. it's certainly, as we start talking about a likely hillary clinton candidacy, something that we will hear a lot more about, women being able to reach across the aisles and then falling short. >> we may be able to combine some of these topics. immigration reform, the president taking executive action, and then this issue of race, really, ferguson, missouri, the eric garner death in staten island. all of these things sort of

really, i think, just causing so much upset, discord and how does this affect president obama and congress? >> they have both manifestations. we are living through the most profound 21st century. most people don't realize, this year that is under way now, this is the first time ever in american history where a majority of our k to 12 students are not white. it's ripping through the political system and we see it manifest itself in a lot of different ways. the debate over race relations and police relations and minority communities and others, many more ways in which this will play out, especially because our politics have become so polarized with republicans winning 60% of whites and democrats relying on support of 80% of nonwhites in 2016. >> and i'm so glad that you mentioned the republicans really struggling because what is so interesting to me, you look at

the passions under lying these racial tensions in the country and republicans have been strongly opposed to immigration reform or at least the president and democrats persian of comprehensive immigration reform and so i think what we're going to see in the coming year is a very difficult challenge for republicans to not present themselves as the party that is anti-immigration reform, anti-tackling these issues but as a party that has solutions of its own and that's what they need to do at the start of the year. >> these issues that have come out of ferguson in the eric garner case, within both parties there is question about how far should the federal government can, how far can the federal government go? we have pro-police members of the democratic party. you have republicans like senat senator rand paul calling for justice reform. >> the parties are really apparent in 2014.

the reality is that right now democrats cannot win enough white voters to win the house. and the reality is that since 1992, republicans can't win enough nonwhite voters to consistently win the white house. the problem that republicans have in addressing these issues, 80% of republicans are in districts more white than the national average. 90% of mitt romney's votes come from white voters. it's a lot more trouble to win the presidency and the democrats are in the reverse situation. >> there's this stalemate in a way electoraclly. let's talk about the president taking executive action on immigration. republicans have won the majority. what is it going to feel like on capitol hill come january? what can congress really accomplish because historically you look at a makeup like this and it actually can be productive. but do we think that it will be this time? >> there's real pressure to try to get something done. you look at soon-to-be majority

leader and they have been trying to cut deals for years now. they have not been able to get over the finish line. the problem is, there are divisions and fractions within their own caucus and it hasn't changed. it's gotten worse. when you talk about something like immigration in criminal justice reform, they are going to have as much trouble then as before. >> i would argue they might even have more trouble of passing some of these must pass pieces of legislation. can you believe it? but what republicans have done in the past because of this discord within their own house side has been to pull some democrats over and get their votes to pass these bills. >> that's right. >> and there's another dynamic, which is, as president obama has moved unilaterally on some of these issues, he increases the pressure. it's not only the substance but the form. it's the way he did it. once he acts unilaterally on

immigration, there's enormous pressure on every republican to say, i will repeal executive action if i am elected. the problem is, yes, i will support legislative response to immigration, they are digging themselves a hole with some of these growing demographics that have much more of a problem at the presidential level. >> and the same problem with women in 2012 when it came down to health care and the affordable care act. >> we have about 30 seconds or so for each of you. top political story of 2014, what would you say -- >> i would say it's ferguson and staten island and the sense of the difficulty of coming together at a moment of intense demographic change. >> i would absolutely pick eric cantor's shocking loss in his primary in virginia, which was historic on its face. the first time a sitting majority has lost his primary. but also, look at the ripple

effects of this. at that point, immigration seems like it could happen and republicans looked at that race and got scared. they said this is why he lost this race. and then, you know, if it weren't for that, maybe today we'd be talking about speaker c cantor and his relationship with president obama. >> i'm going with foreign policy. we have troops on the ground in iraq, whether it be cuba. a year ago we wouldn't think that it would be about foreign policy. it would be issues of income and inequality. there's trouble with u krekraind isis in the middle east. anyone who wants to run for president is going to have to talk about foreign policy. congress wants to talk about foreign policy. this is now on the front burner. this is going to be one of the most important stories of 2014 but also into 2015 and 2016 as well. >> i'm going to go with the story that might have been the bigger story, which is the hillary clinton story about the splash that she made and whether it's going to be enough going

into 2015 and 2016. i wonder if it's gearing up and we will look back and kind of -- >> and say there was rust to work out? >> yes. and in retrospect, perhaps it will be more impactful than we thought it was. >> zeek, rebecca, ron, thank you for being with me. don't miss a special with brooke baldwin this sunday at 6:30 eastern, "top 10 of 2014."

president putin has signed a new updated version of russia's military doctrine and while the majority of it remains unchanged, the new sections outline the threats to russia's national security. and among them, nato's expansion and military buildup in eastern europe. russia is worried about the possibility of a foreign troop deployment in ukraine. nato responded to the concern saying it poses no threat to russia or any other nation. the other concern for russia is the economy. president vladimir putin announced that he is planning

holiday vacations for members of the government, saying they cannot afford extensive holidays, at least not this year. erin mclaughlin is in washington watching these this is quite the about-face from last week when you had putin blaming the west for all of russia's problems. >> well, to a certain extent. president putin saying that the government has a role in all of this. but really that it needs to be focusing, he said, on restructuring the government's economy -- or the country's economy, rather. and there is this joke going around russia, going around moscow right now that the ruble, the currency here is so low that many of these ministers probably couldn't afford to party anyway. but joking aside, president putin's announced that he's cancelling vacation, really serves to illustrate the critical state of the russian

economy today. russia's finance minister announcing that the economy could contract in 2015 by as much as 4.5%. that is if oil remains at around $60 a barrel. inflation is high. as i mentioned, the ruble is low. ordinary russians really are suffering here. >> and how are ordinary russians responding to this news as they do suffer? >> many people that i've been talking to say they're really feeling the pimpk. their salaries have remained the same, and yet the cost of living has increased, and many say they want to see their government take action. take a listen. >> translator: it's good, as long as they don't cut our holidays. let the government officials work. seems like they are not tired

this year. >> translator: the government shouldn't have any holidays. they fail to perform. >> translator: everything became more expensive in shops and they promise it will be more expensive in the new year, so everything, food and household utilities, became more expensive. the price bites. >> reporter: so president putin's decision to cancel the holiday leave for government workers seeming to play well here in russia, even though the root causes of this crisis persist. latest opinion polls out today show that he still enjoys an 85% approval rating here in russia. >> amazing. what many leaders would be so jealous of, and happy holidays to you. thank you. just ahead, many happy returns. a look at why this is the second busiest shopping day for retailers. we'll be checking that out. no question about that.

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make the best entertainment part of your holidays. catch all the hottest handpicked titles on the winter watchlist, only with xfinity from comcast. we're taking you live now to glendale, new york. this is where the wake for new york police officer rafael ramos

is about to begin. this is a police officer who was very special, not just to his friends who knew him as ralph, but also to the people in the community there. he blake livelied that his work as a police officer was essentially a ministry. he was actually in training, just hours away from becoming a lay chaplain in graduation from a community crisis chaplaincy when he and his fellow officer were gunned down in their patrol car. he is survived by his wife of more than 20 years and his sons justin and jayden, and we are awaiting that wake to begin there in glendale, new york. we'll be monitoring this. now, turning to news about your money. stocks are trading higher, but the markets are relatively quiet on this friday after christmas. right now, the dow is -- what do we have? above 18,000. up 57.

let's say that. the s&p, the nasdaq, they are also in positive territory. this has been a stellar year for stocks. on tuesday, the dow closed above 18,000 for the first time ever. and if you're like millions of americans, you're probably heading out to the mall today. this is a critical day for retailers across america. in fact, it's the second-busiest shopping day of the year. it's also a popular day to return those gifts that weren't quite right. you know what i'm talking about, right? after christmas exchanges and returns, they are a $65 billion tradition, according to the national retail federation. cnn business correspondent allison kison kosik joining me talk about this. are we seeing this turn out well for retailers so far? >> it is finally turning out well, because it got off to a very slow start. black friday, which is actually turning into a week of black friday deals, actually was a big disappointment, but then it looks like shoppers came out late in the season.

so it looks like retailers will actually have their best holiday shopping growth in three years. national retail federation says sales are expected to rise 4.1% this year. that's more than last year where sales rose 3.1%. now, to today, today is the second-busiest shopping day of the year. in terms of traffic, the biggest shopping day is actually super saturday, the saturday before christmas. and on this day, they're not necessarily just returning and exchan exchanging. a lot of shoppers are looking for bargains because a lot of retailers want to get this inventory moving. they're offering deep discounts on that merchandise. you see a lot of people out there shopping for themselves today. a few things are helping them spend their money. lower gas prices. that's putting more money in their pockets. once again, those deeper discounts. also improving economic data. that's helping confidence. you have to feel confident when you're handing over that credit card or that cash. >> that's right. i know a lot of people are

taking advantage of the sales. but it is this big day for returns and exchanges. i'm lucky, because i liked everything i got al qaeda nd it, which is very nice. but a lot of people aren't in that boat. what's your advice for them? >> the number one piece of advice is bring your i.d. for you. a lot of stores will be asking you for for your i.d. they're trying to cut down on fraudulent returns. excessive returns that people are making. so they're going to ask you for your i.d. another suggestion, don't open the gift. you have a better chance of getting it returned that way. hopefully, there's a gift receipt, and if there is a receipt, go ahead and check out the return policy for the store. you may actually have a bigger window of time, that you don't have to rush there with all the crowds. maybe you'll have to wait a couple days before you can return it. >> yeah, avoid those crowds. alison kosik, happy holidays to you. thank you. >> same to you. >> that's it for me. i'll be back at 5:00 eastern on "the situation room." for all of our international viewers, amanpour is next.

for our viewers in the north american newsroom, pamela brown starts right now. hello, i'm pamela brown filling in for brooke baldwin on this friday. and right now, a church in new york city is being flooded with police officers, more than 25,000 cops are expected to show up to honor one of the nypd officers shot to death in his patrol car last weekend. the police officers were killed in cold blood by a man who vowed revenge for the deaths of eric garner and michael brown on his instagram. officer ramos's funeral is tomorrow. today, a moving moment as his casket arrived, a solemn procession flanked by police officers, and here is part of that moment.