this is the microsoft cloud. this morning, my question. who had the better question, president obama or president putin? and all that popped in 2014. but first, assassination on the streets of new york city. good morning, i'm dorian warren in for melissa harris-perry. we begin with breaking news overnight. people are mourning the loss of two policemen as they sat in their patrol cars.

one is weijial liu and rafael ramos. neither had the chance to draw their weapons to defend themselves. saturday marked the first time since 2011 that a new york city police officer was killed by gunfire in the line of duty. according to police, the suspect fled down the street and into a nearby subway station where he turned the gun on himself. investigators say they believe brensley made statements on social media saying he planned to kill officers in retaliation for the deaths of michael brown and eric garner at the hands of police. he is believed to have shot and killed his ex-girlfriend in baltimore. the deadly attack were strongly condemned by president obama who issued a statement saying in part, 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.

last night new york mayor bill de blasio and police commissioner bill bratton spoke about the shootings. >> although we are still learning the details, it's clear this was an assassination. these officers were shot execution style. a 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 fabric of our society. >> this is not the first time this department has seen such violence. seven times since 1972, we have seen partners murdered together, often in an incident such as this, mindless assassinations without warning. >> joining me live from bedford-stuyvesant brooklyn, adam reese. two questions for you this morning. what more do we know about this horrible violence, and has there

been any community reaction? >> good morning, dorian. as the mayor attends mass at st. patrick's cathedral, investigators are here in the neighborhood. we're seeing a heavy police presence as they look for more eyewitnesses into what commissioner bratton is calling a targeted assassination. these officers targeted for their uniform. behind me you can see a makeshift memorial. officers and residents bringing by flowers and candles to mourn the two officers. one, married just two months ago, the other leaving behind two young sons. residents are wondering why somebody would have come from baltimore to invade their neighborhood to kill two police officers. now investigators will be looking at brinsley's social media, his digital footprint, if you will, to find out more what might have motivated him. they've already seen some of his postings, but they're going to be looking for more. last night when the mayor arrived at the hospital to meet with the two families of the slain officers, he was met by

dozens of officers who turned their back on him, turned their back in protest. dorian? >> adam reese in brooklyn, new york. thank you. joining me now, eugene o'donnell, former police officer, professor of law and criminal justice. eugene, all of our hearts go out to the officers who were lost yesterday. talk to us about how something like this affects fellow police officers. >> well, you'll never see america at its finest like you will in an emergency room at a hospital when a police officer is shot, because you'll see people come together, cross racial-ethnic-gender dwidivideso you see people at the hospital saluting. it's very mourning. >> i need to ask you to respond to pat lynch's comments yesterday, he's a head of the police association, and he criticized mayor de blasio. let's take a look at what he

said. >> those that in cited violence on the street under the guise of protest that tried to bring 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 the hands starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor. >> eugene, we know that relations between city hall and the police are clearly strained, whether it's over the garner case, recent protests, or even, frankly, a union contract agreement that hasn't been signed yet. how did both sides in this moment find common ground? >> there is common ground and that's essential, so police at this point are obviously very emotional about the topic and rightfully so. it's incumbent that everything be done now, that police officers be able to protect themselves. i noticed that in baltimore she

said police were hesitant to defend themselves. obviously, if police can't defend themselves, they can't defend the people in bedford-stuyvesant. you have a police commissioner there who is the best in america, and i'm sure he will do whatever he can to make sure the cops can protect themselves so the residents in these communities are calling the police all the time, they can be protected. >> speaking of the commissioner, commissioner bratton was very emotional at last night's press conference. how does a department recover from something like this? >> the police are justice workers. these are people that make civil rights happen when they're doing their job right, and most of the time they are, whether we're talking about protests, domestic violence, hate crimes, police are on the front of the line to take risks for us. no question they should not stall legitimate reform where that's legitimate. but some of the reforms and conversations could i plaintimp

police and there's been half-truths and a lot repeated among legitimate criticisms, saying the police are the kkk and they're killing people all the time. we have to stop that conversation. that has to be stopped and it has to be refuted, because it's not true and it's harmful. >> what is a conversation we can't have in that moment that could have in this moment? >> a conversation you could have, i teach in a school where i have young people coming up to me with childlike innocence about becoming a police officer who are idealistic. i want to see how we capture that and keep it. what i see in these situations are cops are most wounded. on that side of it, why did you become a police officer? why are you working in bedford-stuyvesant? why are you out there? there are a number of people out there for the right reasons, and how we create an infrastructure supports for them, and how do we acknowledge a legacy -- it

wasn't their fault. they are in a criminal justice system that has a gigantic racial component to it, and we can't ignore that, either. this is a diverse department. it's a department of young people that have grown up in a diverse environment. so this 1950s heated organization is outrageous. those of us who know this organization are going to have to stand up and say it. >> thank you very much, eugene o'neal, who will be joining us again in our next hour. we'll have more on this developing story throughout the show. after the break, president obama's year in -- year-end press conference on display. that's next. g the citi® double cash card. it lets you earn cash back twice, once when you buy and again as you pay. it's cash back. then cash back again. and that's a cash back win-win . the citi double cash card.

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we return now to president obama's year-end press conference, but i want to tee it up first with a little context. do you remember way back in the beginning of 2014 what the right wing's favorite criticism of president obama was? >> i think putin has outperformed our president time and time again on the world stage. >> he makes a decision and he executes it. quickly. then everybody reacts. that's what you call a leader. >> putin is playing chess and i think we're playing marbles. and i don't think it's even close. >> people are looking at putin as one who wrestles bears and drills for oil. they look at our president as one who wears mom jeans and equivocates and bloviates. >> a chorus began to grow among conservatives who quickly became envious of cuba's president. the comments about president obama's jeans also prompted the

mainstream journalist. michael crowley printed this picture to illustrate the dynamic between the two world leaders saying it wasn't a character judgment, but that the images captured the moment. see obama on the left there in the jeans? the dynamics was obama's. putin for his part played the role that his admirers cast him in with his trademark stoicism. putin's number one agenda was russia's economy, and russians seemed to like his bravado. >> we believe a lot has not been done by us of which we planned endeavors in our fine economy for the last two decades. it was quite difficult to do

everything. it was quite difficult to rebuild the mechanism. >> now, that sounds to you like a man way lot to answer for. that's because right now the russian economy is near shambles. here's the gist of it. since the summer, russia's currency, the ruble, has been decling in vald declining in value and thanks to the things i mentioned earlier. then oil prices began to fall. russia's economy is so dependent on the price of oil that it has turned the slump into a full-blown crisis. in the past few weeks, the ruble fell off a cliff. and this week the government had to take drastic measures to prop it up, spending billions of dollars to raise the interest rates, previously at 10.5% to an exorbitant 17%. that managed to stop the fall but not hold back the masses, which he found himself notably humbler. meanwhile, on the other side of

the world, president obama also held his year-end conference, and like russia, the first item on the agenda was the economy, but in this case with a remarkably different tone. >> the steps that we took early on to rescue our economy and rebuild it on a new foundation helped make 2014 the strongest year for job growth since the 1990s. almost all the job growth that we've seen have been in full-time positions. much of the recent pickup in job growth has been in higher paying industries. and in a hopeful sign for middle class families, wages are on the rise again. >> that's not just white house spin. the u.s. economy really is in better shape than it's been in a really long time and that's a reality reflected in the stock market, in the job market, and for the first time in a long while, in rising paychecks of average americans. so while president putin found himself in the ironic position of explaining to the russian people why their country had lost its metaphorical shirt,

president obama was basking in his agenda. even as the u.s. economy continues to grow in recent years, the truth is that in the modern global economy, our fates are inextricably linked with those of other countries. that means vladimir putin's incredible experiment in how to mismanage a country could be part of his demure counterpart. dan dicker, president of both management firm and senior contributor at thestreet.com. and iesha mills, co-host of politine. thank you, panel, for joining us and helping us deconstruct russia right now. how bad, really, are things in russia? >> things are terrible in russia. russia is caught between the

proverbial rock and a hard place. they had to lift interest rates to support the ruble which was plummetting, and yet they did that knowing that the economy was already in a recession, and when you maraise interest rates you make the recession worse. so they were trying to save the currency, and they'll probably not be able to save the currency, anyway, because as long as oil prices stay weak, you're talking about an economy that isn't a real economy in the sense that we understand that word. it's a nation that's been organized on the basis of strong oil prices. and on that basis, putin has been launching one foreign adventure after another, confronting the planet, and the bill has come due. now oil prices are weak, he no longer has the wherewithall to run that campaign, and the global financial system has lost confidence in that economy at the same time that sanctions are making it hard for companies and russia at large to go outside for help. >> i want to get you in here, lisa, because peter mentioned

oil, but other oil-exporting countries are in crisis. what makes russia different? >> that's right, and i think it is really bad. just to answer your first question, i think it's really bad. when i was living there and writing any dissertation in 1995 on russian banks, it is evwas e worse than it is now because things weren't stabilized. it's stabilized now, but the banks will have to be bailed out, and in possibly $16.5 billion, in the range of $16.5 billion. at that time russia wasn't even thinking about bailing out any banks. this was in 1995, and it was the precursor to the default in 1998. i think things are inching in that direction. certainly we saw interest rates that are between the banks, which should be the best and the lowest interest rates, get up to rates that were higher than they were in 2008. so i think it's really bad, and

if oil continues to stay below $60 a barrel, that means that the economy is going to contract between 4.5% and 4.7% next year. and it's already sluggish, as peter was saying. >> dan, i want to have you hear what the president said about oil on friday. >> our investments in american manufacturing have helped fuel its best stretch of job growth also since the 1990s. america is now the number one producer of oil, the number one producer of natural gas. we're saving drivers about 70 cents a gallon at the pump over last christmas. >> so dan, what can the president do to insulate the u.s. from russia's woes? >> not much. and that's really the scary part. that's the down side. i don't want to make a connection between russia and the united states in terms of them being a petro state. russia clearly is not nearly as developed as the united states in terms of their economy. it isn't the petro state to the degree that, in fact, iran is or

saudi arabia is or venezuela is. it looks prettier than those other states. what is being lost is how much of a petro state the united states has become. that's not being discussed very much. we've had about 5.6 million jobs created in the last term. many of those came in the gas job sector. those will disappear. there's been a lot of growth in this country and clearly an employment increase, and that's come a lot to a large degree based upon an oil and gas sector. i've never seen an economy where hard assets like oil, grains, copper and various other commodities really hit the skids to the degree this has, and yet we all go skating away happily in terms of the rest of our assets around. oil is a scary part of what we're looking at in the global economy, but also in the u.s. economy right now. how that plays out over the next six to eight months, that's really the question. in my view, it's a lot scarier

than most people give it credit for. >> we know from the november jobs report, this was a headline from the wall street journal. the number of jobs report: are wages finally snapping back? is that good news? are wages finally snapping back after 30 years? >> that's absolutely great news that wages are snapping back, and i would like to see the president and the administration get a little more credit for the fact all this is happening. if you really juxtapose the attitudes of these two leaders and obama said, wait, we're going to be smart and thoughtful about how we grow our economy and you look at putin who says, i'm going to go it alone, i'm the big bad wolf alone in the room, you can see those two styles have completely different results. i think it's high time we give credit where credit is due to the reserved, awful leader that president obama is. >> i want to go back to this interdependence theme and ask you, what should we be doing to

help russia at this moment if our economies are interdependent? >> we should not get carried away with the sort of gloating and cheerleading. direct exposure is minimal in terms of direct financial connections. but a lot of bad things happen when a major economy goes up in flames, and we've learned this time and again, that finance has a way of being interconnected in retrospect that's not obvious in the moment. we already see nervousness in emerging markets around a debt that has nothing to do with russia. we're talking about a nuclear armed power. there is a lot of nervousness that can, in fact, parts of the global economy were not thinking about. we shouldn't be cheering this, and at the same time, lest we sort of have a victory lap in the united states, most americans don't live in an economy through a political lens, they live in a real economy. yes, this economy is in better shape than it used to be, and i do think itwe can say it's a go

thing we had stimulus, it's a good thing we didn't go the route germany has gone with too much in the middle. but it's still a weak economy for a lot of working people. there are long-term unemployed people. the safety net we had in the great recession isn't there anymore. there are a lot of struggling people in this economy. sdp >> don't go anywhere. when it comes to the economy, she must might be one of the most powerful people in the world. so what's her next move? that's next. given new hope. during the subaru "share the love" event, subaru owners feel it, too. because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. we'll have given 50 million dollars over seven years. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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happy with what yellin had to say, because when she spoke, the markets bounced. in two days the dow jones industrial average gained 700 points, its best two-day rally since 2008. and the s&p jumped 2.4%. i want to explain what this means for the wealth and income gap in the u.s., and we know these are concerns of janet yellin. i will instead turn to you and ask you, what exactly did janet yellin mean by being patient, and why did the market react the way that it did? >> so what the guidance has been in the past is that there will be a considerable amount of time that interest rates will remain low. so she gave the market confidence that this won't happen any time soon. so this is -- she said in the next two meetings, there will unlikely be a change in policy. so the next two meetings are in january and in march, so this

gives businesses time to do whatever they're doing now and more time to see the gains that they've seen and solidify the gains they've seen over the last two or three years. >> and why is it a good thing that interest rates are staying low? can you explain that for us? >> businesses have more money to invest. the cost of borrowing is lower, so that means there can be investments, small businesses, large businesses, capital projects can get under way because you will have low interest rates, low interest payments for a longer period of time. so there is a lot of construction going on now because interest rates are low. they'll be paying these low interest rates for 10, 15, 20 years in the future. that's why this is good news to the markets. >> people are worried about the risk of inflation and some are saying now we might have the opposite problem. what does that mean for all of us? >> there's a down side. there has been a lot of good that has come from a very easy

monetary policy like lisa speaks about. one of the downsides we've been seeing which plays into the russian question as well is the rise of the dollar that has come from this easy policy as everybody from europe, japan, china in many ways tries to out queue the other country. what you have in this country, at least, is a tremendous trajectory of employment that's going in the right direction, a stock market that you say is going in the right direction, growth that is going in the right direction, but a dollar that could be thought of as going in the wrong direction because it puts at risk all these other economies that we're kind of looking at and we know are all interconnected and that's really the problem we're faced with. can we survive, for example, a russian economy that really tanks, that really goes off lift? can we survive a chinese economy that's been showing much lower growth numbers and its stock market is going off a cliff and looks to be head to do a recession. >> is china a greater economy than russia? >> it is.

it's a major trading partner rather than being a minor trading partner as russia is. so that's direct. but certainly, as peter was saying, confidence can be undermined, confidence in businesses, the confidence in markets, the confidence in individuals, consumers can be undermined by anything going awry. think about the economies that have started crises in the past. so mexico, thailand, these are not huge economies. we can't say that russia is going off the rails -- >> and the benefit is we have the imf for help which the russians don't have. >> similarly to both, though, is that russia and china have been running foreign policies that are highly confrontational, that involved stirring up the national sentiments at home to paper over some of the economic weakness. and if both of these economies are slowing -- and in russia's case dealing with a serious crisis -- that can play in multiple ways, but one of the ways is there's actually more confrontati

confrontation, not less. we're talking china with japan and southeast asia in the east china sea and south china sea and russia with its neighbors on the periphery. so there is a lot of volatility that once major economies start dealing with troubles. >> so much more to talk about, and i really wanted to get to the question of inequality that janet yellen cares about, but we are out of time at this moment. wi thanks to iesha mills who will join us in the next hour. up next, the uber economy. and i'm very much alive. now my doctor recommends a bayer aspirin regimen to help prevent another heart attack. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. ring ring! ...progresso! you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. well vegetables... shh! taste better in our savory broth. vegetables!? no...soup! oh! soup! loaded with vegetables. packed with taste. because it helps me skip the bad stuff.

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fundamental relationship between labor and management and these two industries? nowhere are these questions more pertinent than in the most known part of our economy. that is the growing market of tech-based industries, sometimes referred to as the share economy, which might just as easily be identified as the uber economy after the name of its most prominent and controversial business. with charges ranging from union busting to price gouging to mounting aggressive pr taxing against journalists, uber raises fears and concerns about the direction our economy is headed. joining the table to discuss the uber economy is shawn robinson, executive director of color of change. before we get to the uber economy, i just want to play some sound from janet yellen. i want to go back to inequality because it's important to the economy. then i'll get you to respond. >> it is no secret that the past two decades of widening and equality can be summed up as

significant income in wealth gains for those at the very top and stagnant living standards for the majority. i think it's appropriate to ask whether this trend is compatible with values rooted in our nation's history. >> this was janet yellen speaking at the boston reserve meeting earlier, the boston federal reserve meeting earlier this year. what is the role of the fed share in terms of inequality? >> i think that was a fabulous quip. this is unprecedented. the fed never talks about distributional issues. so she was breaking a long precedent. i applaud her for doing that. so the question is, how stable are our gains from the economy if people are not benefiting? we don't have to benefit in the same way, but at least in a way that is somewhat similar. so you have gains at the very

top, huge gains at the very top, and you have huge losses or very few gains at the bottom and in the middle. so this is why any fed chair of any central bank would be worried about this, because you have no idea how stable your economy is, and certainly with respect to social unrest if you don't know how income and equality is playing out. it's not playing out in a desirable way. >> so you have that and then we have this new economy, rashad, this shared economy, this uber economy. in this case uber disrupts in a good way in terms of providing a service for consumers, but also it disrupts what everyday people and i'm thinking what your taxi drivers have been doing for a while. what are the implications of the uber economy and inequality for workers in this new economy? >> i think what we're seeing with the share economy is really challenging because we're moovrg from this idea of jobs and careers to income streams where

people are going to constantly have to hustle day in and day out to sort of make ends meet, and the idea of sort of all the benefits that we get from being able to have a jobless economy, to be able to grow wealth, to be able to take vacation, to be able to provide for our children. this sort of income stream economy that uber and some of these other platforms provide, they have, i think, deep implications for people who are sort of at the bottom. they seem like good opportunities on their face, but at the end of the day, what is actually happening is once again, the wealth and the benefits are really being consolidated at the very top. we see these benign web sites that people sign onto, whether it's an air b & b, whether it's an uber, and we think we're helping people out, we're engaging in a sharing type of situation, but really the winners are going to be these corporations in silicon valley which are going to make huge,

massive profits at really the expense of workers that don't have a lot of power. >> dan, i see you shaking your head there. that's the worker side of it. i want to turn to the consumer side. i'm sure you're aware of what happened with uber in sidney, australia with the recent crisis situation and the price gouging, right? uber did a surge pricing in the midst of that crisis. >> it is the ultimate capitalist model in many ways. when you see an episode like in sidney where it charted hundreds of dollars to get people away from the terrible terrorist action that was going on there, you see the failures of some of these ultimate capitalist systems in providing services. you know, air b & b being another one where it's entirely uncontrolled and unregulated, it puts the entire hotel system out of business or lowers their standard of living.

these lower relationships where we have communication between these kinds of events, or a down side for people who want to have full employment or have it at a good wage, these things strip them of good government controls behind them, and i don't see how we put that back together. it's a good question. >> peter, is this a reflection of a new general business idealogy? >> it's a reflection of smart marketing. the sharing economy, that's so adorable, it's like out of preschool, let's have everyone share together. it's a euphimism of what we already have, which is a profit motive of determining what services we get and who benefits. to your question of equality, that's a great thing if you have money. if you can afford to pay surge pricing through uber, things are better than ever. you can get a car through an app. but if you can't, you have a problem. you look at air b & b. here in new york, it turns out a handful of commercial operators who savvily bought up apartments and are renting them out through

air b & b are renting them out. this is not about creating quality jobs at fareway to support middle class families, and that's the conversation we need to be having in america. >> we'll continue this conversation one day, but for now, thanks to lisa cook, dan dicker and peter goodman. rashad will be back later in the show. up next, the international tragedy that stunned the world this week. for those kept awake . the night is anything but good. introducing new aleve pm. the first to combine a safe sleep aid. plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. for pain relief that can last until the am. now you can have a good night and a... good morning! new aleve pm. for a better am.

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pakistan continues to mourn the loss of 132 children who were killed in a terrorist attack at their school in peshar along with several of their teachers. members of the pakistani taliban entered the school tuesday and gunned down students indiscriminately. most victims were between the ages of 12 and 16. children who survived told stories of stunning bravery by their teachers.

according to "the telegraph," one student said, quote, he probably would have been killed if his teacher hadn't stood in front of the attackers as they entered their room and told them she would not allow them in. she was so brave. her last words to the terrorists were, you must kill me first because i will not see my students' bodies lying in front of me. the attack brought condemnation from all corners of the world. even from the afghan taliban across the border who said killing of innocent children is against the basic tenets of islam. the attack on the school, which was run by pakistan's military, was run on the tribal region of north buristad. the taliban accused pakistan's military of killing innocent members of taliban fighters. as families of peshar have buried their children, they're asking the military to take a hard line against terrorists. they have lifted the death penalty that has been in place

since 2008, and on friday the state hanged two men previously convicted of acts of terrorism. officials say there are more executions to come. pakistan's military also retaliated with airstrikes and fighting on the ground and a tribal area close to peshar. strikes of claims have killed more than 60 militants. there was also a drone strike in the area friday, reportedly s g killing six militants. she served on the national security council in both the bush and clinton administrations. she is also the author of "going to tehran." good morning, hilary. >> good morning. how are you? >> good, good. how did this happen and why did this happen? >> well, it is part of, unfortunately, a vicious cycle which, remarkably, in the past couple of weeks, wikileaks has released some internal cia memos warning of precisely this kind of vicious cycle escalating.

in part they attribute it to the very serious offensive that the pakistanis have undertaken that you referred to in your setup piece. at the urging of the united states to really clamp down hard of north uristan with drones. what this cia internal memo warned about, and seems to now be coming to fruition, is that while we comfort ourselves in these so-called assassinations of top taliban operatives, what actually happens when you take out these operatives is that it radicalizes the remaining leaders of these groups, whether it's the taliban in pakistan or whether it's even in yemen or isis as we see in iraq and syria. that those that remain become more radicalized and it drives recruitment to these organizations for much more violent, much more committed people to the cause, serving to

further escalate these very vicious cycles. and so, unfortunately, i think this is not going to be the end of the story, that the pakistani taliban, like with isis, al qaeda similarly has condemned isis. we are seeing a similar thing here with the pakistani taliban because it has been the target of the drones and the pakistani military has become even more radical than the afghan taliban. >> let me ask you on this point what you make of the pakistani response. >> well, we see both reverting to foreign in terms of vowing to have an even more deadly response in terms of more military attacks, reinstating the death penalty for this type of -- for these types of activities, and at the same time, you see the prime minister of pakistan having a press conference, saying that there is going to be a plan. very little given on the political side. and that's because in pakistan, even though we see this outpouring of grief that

children were killed, there still is very deep and pretty widespread support for the organizations that make up the pakistani taliban. so, for example, when a governor of the punjab province was killed a year ago or so, when his assassin came into the court, all the people streeamed into court to praise him for killing the governor of pakistan. we've seen the prosecution of cases resulting in acquittals because the pakistani population and the judges acquit those who are responsible for these attacks. so while we see an outpouring of grief over children killed, we should not delude ourselves that in pakistan this is really going to be the end of the story. sdp >> let's listen to what secretary of state john kerry had to say, then i'll get your response. >> sharif said, these are my

children, it is my loss. well, this morning, wherever you live, wherever you are, those are our children. and this is the world's loss. the perpetrators must be brought to justice. >> so hillary, you know, it's 13 years after 9/11 and we're still seeing killings of this magnitude. what is justice in this case and what is the risk to the united states? >> it's hard to really say what could or would be justice in this case. and while it's important that while prime minister sharif says they're our children, we need to remember that the pakistani government essentially harbored osama bin laden right there in a pakistani military controlled area very close to the capital of islamabad. so we really should not delude ourselves that there is some sort of commitment in pakistan or even an international commitment to get at the root of what's happening here, and unfortunately, i think what we're going to do is we're going

to resort so even more drone attacks, to encouraging the pakistani government to be even tougher with these people, not taking into account that that actually drives recruitment, drives support for these insurgent groups. so instead of justice, i think it's going to just get a lot worse in the near future. >> hillary mann leverett in washington, d.c. thank you. >> thank you. up next, on this day in 1970. rescued. protected. given new hope. during the subaru "share the love" event, subaru owners feel it, too. because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. we'll have given 50 million dollars over seven years. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. ring ring!... progresso! it's ok that your soup tastes like my homemade. it's our slow simmered vegetables and tender white meat chicken.

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after taking a red eye to washington, elvis dropped off a handwritten note at the entrance gate. in the note elvis tells president nixon he wants to help the president any way he can. all he wants in return is a badge from the federal bureau of narcotics and dangerous drugs. it turns out elvis had a collection of police badges and considered that one to be the ultimate prize. in her memoir, his ex-wife, priscilla presley, writes, with the federal narcotics badge, he believed he could legally enter any country both wearing guns and carrying any drugs he wished. after receiving elvis' handwritten note, a nixon aide helped arrange for elvis, who was wearing his purple velvet suit, to meet the president. according to nixon's aides, during their conversation, the president blamed the beatles for inspiring anti-american sentiment. elvis told the president, i'm on your side. and, of course, elvis got his badge. and a thank you letter from the

president. there have been many famous entertainers who visited the white house including, of course, michael jackson during the reagan administration, and even beyonce who is practically a regular at the obama white house. but the national archives says it gets more requests for a copy of that photo of elvis and president nixon than anything else in their possession, including the constitution. a snapshot just as riveting today as it was the day it was taken december 21st, 1970. coming up next, the latest on the fatal shooting of two new york city police officers. much more at the top of the hour. welcome back.

i'm dorian warren in for melissa harris-perry this morning. we begin this hour with tragic news right here in new york city. two new york city police officers, wenjian liu and rafael

ramos, were shot by a gunman who later took his own life. w both officers were shot in the head while sitting in their patrol car in the bedford-stuyvesant neighborhood of brooklyn. neither had a chance to draw their weapons to defend themselves. both were transported to the hospital where they were declared dead. saturday marked the first time since 2011 that a new york city police officer was killed by gunfire in the line of duty. police say the gunman, identified as 28-year-old ismaaiyl brinsley, after firing on the officers, ran down onto a nearby subway station platform and turned his weapon, a .9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, on himself. he also shot a woman believed to be his former girlfriend in baltimore before coming to new york city. both new york city bill de blasio and commissioner bill bratton spoke at a press conference hours after the shooting. here's commissioner bratton. >> today two of new york's finest were shot and killed with

no warning, no provocation. they were, quite simply, assassinated. >> and here's mayor de blasio. >> it is an attack on all of us. it's an attack on everything we hold dear. we depend on our police to protect us against forces of criminality and evil. they are a foundation of our society, and when they are attacked, it is an attack on vet concept of decency. a preliminary assessment is that the gunman's motive for shooting officers is because of his hatred and anger of police. three hours before the shooting that was caught in a screen shot by nbc news, a firearm with a caption quote, i'm putting wings

on pigs today. they took two of ours, let's take two of theirs. he mentioned michael brown and eric garner before his final quote, i'm putting pigs in a blanket. it shows camouflage shoes and pants worn by brinsley before he was carried into an ambulance following his self-inflicted gunshot wound. joining me live is nbc news reporter adam reese. adam, clearly the shooting comes at a time when there is already so much discussion here in new york city regarding the police, the mayor and the community. what are you hearing on the ground in the neighborhood where this attack occurred? >> dorian, good morning. as the mayor attends mass at st. patrick's cathedral at this hour, investigators are combing the neighborhood looking to see if they can find more eyewitnesses to this shooting, a shooting that they're calling uncalled for. and they said that they were targeted for their uniform and their uniform alone.

now, next to me is a makeshift memorial, candles and flowers brought by residents and police officers to mourn these two officers, one married just two months ago, the other leaving behind two young boys. and now we can tell you that they'll be looking at the shooter's social media, his digital footprint, if you will, to find out if they can learn more about his motivation. we've already seen some of his postings. they'll be looking to see if they can find more. last night when the mayor showed up at the hospital on the third floor to pay his respects to the families of the slain officers, dozens of other officers turned their back on him. the head of the police officers union saying, blood on the hands starts at the steps of city hall. now, the neighborhood here, people are gathering, they're coming to pay their respects here at the scene of the shooting. they're wondering why someone would have come up from baltimore, invade their neighborhood and kill two police officers. >> adam reese in brooklyn, new

york, thank you. in the studio with me now are filmmaker whitney dow, director and producer of the white race project. sharel brown, organizer for equal justice usa and community organizer nyc. christy beltran, author of "trouble with unity" and rashad, author of "color of change." and professor of law and police studies at the john j. college of justice. everybody here is heartbroken over the loss of these two officers. i want to ask you, what kind of toll does this take on fellow officers in the department? >> obviously, i'm sure you join me with condolences to the families of these brave police officers. it's a devastating impact, especially in light of the

climate that the police have been operating under, and hopefully as we move forward, a conversation about policing in the city, we can remind ourselves that the police can only protect us if they can protect themselves, and the department and the administration is going to have to come out and do everything they possibly can to make sure police officers who are surrogates doing our work in our name are protected. and again, i hope there will be a recognition by elected officials and leaders that police should not be abandoned, the police should be supported, and it should be explained by those who know what the police do what they actually do. and where there is disinformation and where there is false information, that has to be rebutted. >> i want to ask you, eugene, because as we heard from adam reese, what happened when the mayor and the commissioner went to the hospital last night in terms of the turning of backs by police officers, i want to ask you to respond to what the

police union, pat lynch, said yesterday after the mayor and commissioner spoke. let's take a listen. >> there is blood on many hands tonight. those that incited violence on the street under the guise of protests 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 the hands starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor. >> eugene, does pat lynch speak for all police officers in new york city, and talk to us about how this discussion gets calmed down. >> sure. this is a very emotional time for the cops who really see themselves as isolated. they see people talking about their job who don't understand their job, who have never done their job, who wouldn't take their job, who say i can do this

job better. so they're very raised up about that, and those of us who do understand their job need to speak with more clarity and we need to be out there more often, especially when things are being said like the nypd kills people on a regular basis, which is so outrageous, or that they're the kkk. all you have to do is look at those scenes at the hospital last night to see the diversity of that organization. the way you go forward is, the truth is, the reality is, that the police continue to be on a very basic level one of the most esteemed professions in the country and the city. we can get past this if we can get the cops to recommit themselves for reasons they took the job, in bedford-stuyvesant to protect people they don't even know, if we can deal with the issues of what's perceived as abuse. it is in some cases abuse, disrespect of people, but if we can get people on the same page,

i would have high optimism. again, i think that you'll find, as a former brooklyn cop myself, there is an unlimited supply of goodwill for the police out there if they can tap into it. >> so i want to get the table involved here in the conversation, and actually, rashad, i'm going to come to you first and just ask you for your first thoughts and response from what you heard about yesterday. >> i think it's deeply sad and it's troubling, and anyone who fights for justice and fairness in society sees this as a tragedy. and i think what's really important for us as we look at sort of the future, where do we want to be as a community five years from now? where do we want to be as a community 10 years from now? we do have a lot of work in our communities to bring law enforcement and communities together, to build the type of relationships to solve crime, to build the type of trust to make our community safer. some of the rhetoric that we're seeing that is aligning the

protest of people raising their voices in our democracy of working to make their communities better and safer, and aligning them with this tragedy that started in baltimore and started far outside of anything that had to do with law enforcement and moved to new york and is incredibly tragic. at the same time, you know, i hope that what we can look forward to five years or 10 years down the line is we can look back at this moment, and after the rhetoric kaumz docalm we can look at this as we have a lot of work to do in our communities to make our communities safe for all of us, and this underscores that more than anything else. >> brittany, what does that work look like and what conversations do we need to have at times like this in particular? >> it's interesting, because the next phase of my project, i've been talking to a lot of police officers over the last couple weeks in the context of whiteness is what i was thinking about, so this really hit home with me. i think the conversation with

police is -- between the community and police is a lot like the conversation of white people and people with color. if you're attacking people, you can't have that conversation. people can't hear you when you're yelling at them. i went to the rally for -- in support of the police the other day, and it was interesting. of course, there were people screaming, but i talked to one wife of a police officer, and her wife was a rock war veteran, ivy league graduate. she's an atheist police officer, and i sit here and watch, what do we want, dead cops now, and it completely freaks me out. i don't know what to do, and how do we begin to have the conversation with how things can be changed? i think that this is the ultimate attack on police officers, and i think it's going to be very hard to bring them into the conversation about how

we move forward if the rhetoric like this continues. >> i want to get you in here really quickly and just note that justice league mic sent a tweet after the shooting. we are deeply saddenned by the murders today in brooklyn. any act of violence is a crime against humanity. how do we move forward from this moment and how do you as activists and your colleagues move forward to try to accomplish your goals in a moment of crisis? >> well, first of all, the community right now is hurting, and we need to collect ourselves right now. what happened yesterday was tragic. our hearts go out to the families who don't have their fathers, their brothers, their sons this holiday season. and we can and should mourn that without taking on this collective responsibility for what happened, right? there is still work to be done, and we can still have conversations around police violence and police accountability as well as what

happened yesterday. the two aren't mutually exclusive. unfortunately, this tragedy is going to be falsely placed around black violence and protests. we'll be missing context from a lot of media stories. the black woman who was shot yesterday by this guy is already being erased from a lot of the story, right, so we have to be honest about the context of what happened yesterday. this wasn't at all related to the protest. this wasn't some revolutionary act, it was a senseless murder. and so just remembering that in not trying to polarize pain right now, we need this collective healing. tonight we'll be doing a vigil, actually, at harlem where we're going to talk to the community and come together and talk about how we move forward after this tragedy. >> eugene, one more question to you really quickly. how do we move forward, and particularly, how does pat lynch, along with commissioner

bratton and the mayor move forward in this moment? >> really, i think the community literally should be listened to here. i think when you go into the community and you listen to them and you look at the fact that this is a department that gets 5 million 911 calls a year, and a number of other contacts, there is an extraordinary demand for police, service police protection, police engagement, and i'm absolutely convinced the deepe -- in the deepest part of my fiber there is a tremendous respect for police. if we could get people on the same page, i would think that could be done. i hope people look at this new york city police department which looks like the city now, these are cops that grew up with people that look different than them, think different than them. so initially right out of the gate, we need to put to rest this idea that there is some sort of monolithic or 1950s style sudden police department which has been floating around out there and has been really irresponsible. >> thank you, eugene o'donnell. we'll get to christina right

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the fatal shooting of two new york city police officers in brooklyn yesterday occurred near the end of the year in which race, policing and violence have been at the forefront of the american consciousness. nbc news wall street journalist paul said wednesday 57% of relations in the united states are bad. that's the most pessimistic assessment of racial issues since october 1995, the same month that o.j. simpson was acquitted of murder of his wife nicole and ron goldman. president obama took questions

exclusively from women reporters. he was about to wrap up and then he took one last question. and the question he took was about the state of black america. in response, president obama offered this. >> the gap between income and wealth of white and black america persists. and we've got more work to do on that front. i've been consistent in saying that this is a legacy of a troubled racial past of jim crowe and slavery. that's not an excuse for black folks, and i think the overall majority of black people understand it's not an excuse. they're working hard, they're out there hustling and trying to get an education, trying to send their kids to college, but they're starting behind oftentimes in the race. >> so christina, i want to come to you first on this and ask

you, in lieu of this moment and those poll results, what role does president obama have to play in proving race relations in this country? >> a somewhat impossible role in some ways, right? i think he has to find a way to simultaneously share his views -- >> he doesn't have a magic wand. >> and he can't just fix it. it's crazy that he can't do that. but i think it's an incredibly difficult line to walk where he's trying to simultaneously allow african-americans to see that he feels their pain, and that he understand their concerns and issues and also educate white americans about the structure and equality and experiences, so it's this constant effort at translation and speaking at multiple levels. and i think it's a tough one because he's always going to be accused of talking too much about race or not talking enough about race. he's constantly in this really troubled double bind. the one thing i was thinking about regarding -- i think one thing he's tried to do and i think we might want to think more about is how do we think about the binding power of grief

in this situation? what you see happening with the police and with the protests is two communities saying lives matter. the lives of our people matter. you know, and it's really a shame that -- pat lynch really is exploiting this line right now, trying to affiliate an emotionally troubled man who did something really tragic with the democratic right of protesters to raise their concerns about the fact they feel simultaneously overpoliced and underpoliced. none of these communities are advocating no police. during these periods of protest people get angry, they get emotional, they say things that are heated on both sides, but what really everybody is talking about is good policing, fair policing, safe policing, right? and that gets forgotten in this debate. >> i want to come to you for a minute, whitney, and ask you about the work you've been doing. you've been looking at race relations from the perspective of white people, and i want to get your take on how you imagine white americans participating in this discussion and dialogue on

race at the national level. >> well, there is two things that i think need to happen. one is i think the white people, what i've been trying to do for my part is recognize that they're a race just like anybody else, and i think so many times, especially the most intentioned white people, think of race as something outside themselves, not something they experience every moment of every day. but i think until you get that into your head that as a white person, you have anne ethnicity that that is something you can't really have a discussion about. i think the other thing that needs to happen is that black people have to give, people of color have to give people who aren't used to talking about it some space to say stupid things. because they're going to say stupid things. that's the reality, that this is a really hard conversation and we white people aren't used to talking about it so much. >> i want to bring michelle and rashad into this and give some thought to what christina said.

that was really profound about the binding of grief. what do you think it would take to really have transformative change when it comes to structural racism in this country? >> well, i mean -- >> small question. >> and the big question of this country, right, it's part of the ongoing experiment of opening up the corridors of power and opportunity as our country has moved forward. and i do think it's going to take a number of things. on a small piece, as i've been out to some of the protests and as i've talked to many of the white and non-black allies who have been out at the protesting, the big conversation i've had with many of them is they're heading home this holiday season. this gets back to your point of white people not having to experience race. it's great to be at the protests, please come. but are you going to have a

conversation around this with your aunt edna over what you've been doing over the past couple weeks, how you feel about this. when the news coverage of ferguson comes on, are folks around the table still going to have the conversation? and if black lives matter to you, are you going to have those conversations at home? and so the power of what it means to be an ally, the power for those folks who are maybe more enlightened, who are thinking about these things more, what are they doing to open up these conversations in the spaces where someone like me or cherrell won't be? how are they opening up these conversations and being the type of powerful advocates that can start moving the dialogue forward? >> cherrell? >> really good points, rashad, and i also want to talk about space and white privilege. i think what's powerful when we talk about black lives matter to me is white people use their privilege to go back into their communities where he don't have

access to talk about their white privilege and white supremecy. what has been largely seen at the protests is sometimes to have those who call themselves allies and be on vet front line with the megaphones taking up a lot of space. and it's very triggering for when we have the cops telling us what to do and we have people calling themselves allies what to do, so i'm always a little -- i'm still navigating what it means to be an ally and that we're an ally. to talk about transformation as far as the race relations and dialogue, nothing is without context, right? we need to understand that being black in america means experiencing trauma compounded on trauma compounded on trauma, not just this decade, not my granted moth grandmother, not just my great-grandmother. it's become this stitch in our

cultural fabric that we don't understand that our discomfort is the default. we talk about white comfort. being uncomfortable as a white person does not mean you're not safe. because as a black person in america, the default is our discomfort, right, and we are often unsafe. it's an interesting year of being both visible and hypervisible right now, you know? >> christina, i want to come to you really quickly and then we have to break and come back, but we've been talking a lot in this conversation about black and bh white, and that's not the racial american disorder, so what is the pattern for transformative change in this country for everyone? >> i think it's a really interesting, hard conversation. one thing i was thinking about is i think that statement black lives matter is profoundly important and a really useful phrase. it also erases brown lives matter and thinking about afro-latinos and trying to understand the complexity of race. cops were killed in an age of

america and a complex diversity of our police force which is also enmeshed in the culture of hypervigilance and culture that needs to change not just the color of police but the culture of police needs to be changed. standing in political movements where you can say jim crowe and slavery have a particular history. communism has a particular history. indigenous rights have a particular history. how do we talk about these groups together that acknowledging one particular moment doesn't erase all the other communities. i think that's a constant struggle for building real alliances and real coalition. coming up next, a day of protest in an added tragedy. health can change in a minute. so cvs health is changing healthcare. making it more accessible and affordable, with over 900 locations for walk-in medical care.

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or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some people had seizures while taking chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix or history of seizures. don' take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. i love myself as a non-smoker. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. demonstrations were held across the country yesterday, continuing the rally cry, black lives matter. on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, hundreds of protesters gathered inside mall

of america protunda. only minutes into it, someone on the loudspeaker asked them to disperse from the property. many left while others were taken into custody. dozens of children, along with their caregivers, staged a die-in. children laid themselves on the ground. some were as young as eight years old. in cleveland, a rally was held at community center where 12-year-old rice was killed by a police officer. protests there had dozens of protest leaders from ohio and ferguson, missouri. it's important to note that these demonstrations happened prior to last night's news that two new york city police officers had been shot and killed. we still have to ask what these ongoing protests mean for the movement going forward and how does this senseless killing in brooklyn factor in? so what is the path to move forward in lieu of the senseless

tragedy? >> in how to be an ally, i think white people have to come to the table and you're not doing it for someone else. you're not doing it for cherrell, you're doing it for yourself, because making a more just society benefits you. so i think that's like the hardest mindset, i think, for white people because they see race and injustice outside themselves, especially the most privileged. i think something you were talking earlier about, people taking a megaphone. >> i think moving forward, we're going to continue to see these moments. until we have some real accountability around this, we're going to continue to see moments where people in black and brown communities are hurt and harmed by police and there's no sense of accountability and police and community will continue to drive further and further apart. when we're seeing these young black and brown people standing

up, we sometimes here from the apathy from young people, now we're seeing people want to stand up and participate. we're seeing something really new here and we're driving the on agenda that we're seeing federal demands being listened to, we're seeing state and federal folks listening to demands, and i hope in the next year we'll be able to have real change around these issues. >> we're up sit with these stats right now that americans are unhappy are racial relations. i think what we need to think about is a good thing happening at this moment. in therapy they say if you can't recognize a problem, there isn't a problem. wake up, think about this, so it's actually forcing all of us being mature about having a conversation that i think is going to go on, and i hope people can talk about lives mattering after these protests in a way that can actually allow people to talk about the senselessness of so many deaths in this country.

>> cherrell, 15 seconds. >> my sister says, the movement has already left the station. we continue to be in the protests, we continue to be in the streets. this is a raucous uprising. we will take to social media and enter certificational. >> thank you, panel, for being here. still to come this morning, the year of beyonce. stay with us. uh-huh... you don't love the dress? i love my sister... 40 flavors. 100 calories or less. katy pesoft and fullntrary, how dlike a flower,grow? with new covergirl full lash bloom mascara. finally! volume that's soft - not spiky. new full lash bloom mascara from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl

2014 is about to come to a close and we're about to take a look back on one important category: pop culture. from the weddings that had tungz w -- tongues wagging, tweet and tweet really fast. the most popular pop culture moment of the year according to you. ready, set, go. for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays

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2014 comes to an end in just 10 days, and on this program we have discussed news of all kinds, but this segment is where we get to let our hair down a little bit, and of course they told me to say that, and we're going to talk about the big and important news in pop culture. all right, nerlyn, not everything can be professorial. it's time to have some fun. hosts of the podcast are here with me right now to talk about all the stories that popped this year, starting with the wedding of the year. there were a lot of big ones, so i want each of you to hit me what you think is the favorite of each of you and what you have agreed on as the best wedding of the year. >> as the winner? you have brad pitt and angelina jolie get married. she wears a versace dress. children decorate the back of it. gorgeous. >> and you have george clooney

who got married, and what we really joke about with this wedding is it seems like we moved on from this idea of having a trophy wife. people are wondering who actually moved up here. i think george clooney married up. >> all right, danielle, what is the big one. >> solange knowles. we have a son and mother dancing. >> and she broke the internet. >> a moody mills wedding in 2015, another one. let's talk tv, and the biggest tv moment of the year, pop culture, iesha. >> well, you had blackish debut which is a really fantastic opportunity to have a talk about race with a little bit of sugar. but the biggest thing? shonda. shon shonda rhimes.

i have to be in the tweets on that show. >> tell me what you think is the biggest singular moment on the small screen. >> clearly it would be viola davis and her unmafrki iunmaski to get away with murder. this is the first time we saw a black woman bare it all on television. there was a lot of controversy, i had my own mixed feelings, but you cannot deny that was a powerful moment in television. >> let's move to the category of obsession. when you look at pop culture, what did you notice became the ongoing obsession of 2014, danielle? >> the derriere, the butt. let's just be real. everywhere we turned, whether it was j.lo's butt, it was an anaconda, kim kardashian started it, but it was the butt. >> there was so much written about booty this year. kim kardashian, obviously.

>> by the way, melissa did not want me to say tushie on air. >> you just said it. >> kim kardashian, it's not just what's on the surface here, it's a much more complex discussion we had about women's bodies, particularly black women's bodies precisely because of the photo and a book called jungle fever is where it originally came from. >> when we talk about pop culture and the undertone, a lot of times is this. you have this photo with kim kardashian that began with the modification of black women's bodies, and here she is the mother now of a black girl who is going to grow up to be a black woman who is putting that out there for all to see. i still think it's photoshopped. >> this would not be mhm if we did not have a category called intersexuality moment of the

year. >> lavern cox on the cover of time magazine. first of all, being the first transgender person nominated as time person of the year. second, this is coming off the heels of that terrible katie couric interview that was tone deaf that she did with laverne. also jan mock who had been in this controversial with piers morgan. >> for the first time ever, it was amazing. and it's an amazing time to be having these conversations. five years ago, ten years ago, people would not have uttered the word transgender in the mainstream, let alone be on the cover of time magazine. >> give me your most incredible sports moment of the year. >> so the first one, obviously, that everyone has been talking about, ray rice, janae rice, the knockout in the elevator.

it spurned too many conversations. >> kissing his boyfriend. >> richard sherman, his post-game interview where he's yelling, he's passionate, he is angry, he's frustrated -- >> let's take a second and listen to it if we can. >> just because you hear compton, you hear watts, you hear cities like that, you think thug, he's a gangster, he's this, that and the other. then you hear stanford and you're like, that doesn't even make sense. that's an oxymoron. it comes back up and people start using it again. it's frustrating. >> that's his response to the criticism he received. retort of the year. the public response where everybody had to go, whoa! iesha. >> jennifer lawrence. jennifer lawrence in vanity fair reclaiming her body after those images were stolen of her body and put out there for all to see. it was so powerful because she

called out the perpetrators and said, you know what, you guys are perpetrating a sex crime here, awful those who a here, all of those looking at my pictures are perpetrating a sex crime, and i can show my body however i want. >> we're all talking about taylor swift. as you know, she was everywhere, whether it was magazine covers, spotify -- you agree? >> taylor swift did a big power move by deciding to take her entire catalog off of spotify. and the reason being she believes, and many artists have said, when they put their music on there, they don't reap the benefits they would because people are able to listen to it without having to buy it for free, and the musicians only receive a small portion of those funds. she sold a million copies of "1989" in her first week, breaking sales records, so this is a smart move for artists moving forward, and especially a young woman like taylor swift.

>> last but not least, feminist moment of the year. iesha. >> harry potter girl emma watson, who is all grown up now, had a wonderful speech at the u.n. where she did two things. one, she claimed fem nichl aini said, i don't hate men because i'm a feminist. and then she said you need to do what you can, men and boys, to help liberation of women all over the world. >> the essence magazine's black women in hollywood speech brought oprah to tears. when she is standing up there, this beautiful, dark-skinned woman, talking about finally seeing herself being beautiful, being seen and being heard and reading the letter she received from a young girl who also is dark-skinned, it was moving. and, i mean, obviously she's an oscar winner now. so this is just changing the perception of what beauty looks like, what intelligence looks like. >> but we can't talk about

feminism without talking about beyonce. >> i have to stop you right there, because here in dorian land, as you know, when we talk about beyonce, we give her a segment all to herself. let's take a quick break, and when we come back, beyonce 2014 in review. thanks. ♪ [ male announcer ] fedex® has solutions to enable global commerce that can help your company grow steadily and quickly. great job. (mandarin) ♪ cut it out. >>see you tomorrow. ♪

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after dropping her album at the end of 2013, beyonce kicked 2014 off with a bang. whether you were "drunk in love" with the flawless vocals, impressed by her alternate to skirt conventions or generally indifferent to the pop star, there was no escaping her musical superpower. beyonce's singles seemed to be everywhere in early 2014, whether you were listening to your car radio, flipping through pandora or enjoying a night out with friends. odds are, beyonce was playing. maybe you can thank the beygency

for that. there was a bit of drama, too. the altercation with her sister's husband in a elevator in may. but b carried on in more ways than one. she completed her internal on the run tour with jay-z over the summer, taking a brief break in august to pick up three moon men and a video vanguard award at the mtv video music awards. and she couldn't leave without delivering an unforgettable performance and making this image of feminism go viral. and let's not forget "7/11" that gave us life in mid november and a very memorable foot phone. all of this begs the question, what does beyonce have in store for us next? they are going to shift gears with me to reflect on the year of b. >> i'm exhausted just looking at the list of all she accomplished. i don't know how she does it. >> feminism. >> feminism. beyonce comes out. not only this year did she stand up in front of the word

feminism, she puts in her song "flawless" and writes an essay in the shriver report. i mean, beyonce killing the game from policy to pop culture. >> changing the game. >> changing the game. >> i might argue. >> yeah; she's changing the game. and smacking back against all the people who have a narrow idea of what it means to be a feminist. and i think that's what most excites me about her. yeah, you know, i'm not this textbook feminist you want me to be. i'm doing as much as i can. >> and she's allowed more women to come into the frame, claim their feminism, womanism, their bodies. this year alone. how many people do you know have had a million think pieces done about their butts, about their sexuality, done about their relationship. everything. >> i mean, scholars are going to be writing about beyonce for years, hundreds of years. okay. we've got to talk about the elevator. >> yes. >> significance of that in 2014? >> i think that the fact that we are the ones sitting around talking about the elevator,

right, and she said pretty much nothing about the elevator except for one liner is epic in telling in and of itself. beyonce brought us everything this year, including a bit of drama that keeps you attached. and so, i think, you know, the fact that she is so graceful and chose not to address it and chose not to hit it head on is just, again, showing how dope a woman she is. >> makes her more human. makes us understand. every family has drama. they come out, make a collective statement saying, look, we've moved past it and you should, too. and they stopped talking about. they shut it down and then on the heels of it announced the on the run tour. pr genius. >> okay. now, when i think of jay and beyonce or beyonce and jay, i should say. >> yes. >> i think of royalty. talk to me about them meeting kate and will. >> was that not the sweetest thing? >> it was amazing. get this, you're royalty, coming to new york for the first time as a married couple, and what is the thing you want the most?

i don't know, tickets to a game at the barclay's center and to meet american royalty, the carters. >> right. >> one of the things about them, too, as a couple, they don't pretend to be perfect. but it is a really wonderful example of how you have this powerful couple that has a powerful marriage that seems to try to do what they can to present themselves as a family and as a strong family and a positive model in a climate where we don't necessarily see a lot of that. so i appreciate that. >> we're running out of time. i wish we had another hour to talk about beyonce. but the question here, has beyonce ever been nominated or ever won in the general pop category? >> no, and what's happening right now with the grammy's and the way that they're doing these nominations these days is they're squeezing black artists out. and we've had shows about this, talking about cultural appropriation. and the fact that we don't need black artists anymore. a fact that a rihanna and beyonce, two of the biggest female superstars whose awards are not even being shown on

television and you have to go online later to see about it. come on, beyonce, urban contemporary, she's pop star. >> that will -- >> exactly. >> that will have to be the last word. thank you so much. that is our show for today, and thanks to you at home for watching on behalf of melissa harris-perry and everyone who works here, i'm wishing everyone a very happy holiday season and a healthy new year. now it's time for a preview of "weekends with alex witt." >> thank you so much. hey, everyone, we're going to talk about the tragedy in new york city as two police officers are gunned down while sitting in their patrol car by a gunman who may have had a vendetta against police. huge delays expected this weekend as massive storms are on the move as tens of millions hit the road for the holiday. plus, what will happen to those classic cars with the new and improved relations between cuba and the u.s. don't go anywhere, i'll be right back. when the game's on the line. hit him with a hard count, see if they'll tip their hand. the nfl trusts duracell quantum to their game day communication.

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officers shot dead on a street corner in brooklyn. we're going to tell you how it happened and have new reaction at this hour. president obama with new reaction to the alleged north korea hack attack. >> 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. >> he also gives insight into what the u.s. could do to punish that country. an entire class of americans disappearing. a new series of reports suggests that is exactly what's happening. but who and why? sky high, while fuel costs keep falling, the price of an airline ticket keeps rising. do flyers have a right to be angry? a travel expert explains. hey there, everyone, it's high noon in the east, 9:00 a.m. out west, welcome into "weekends with alex witt." a stunning tragedy in new york, two new york city police officers were gunned down and killed yesterday as they sat in