Face in the News: NYPD shooting, Sony hack, Cuba policy
WASHINGTON (CBS News) - New Yorkers mourned over the weekend after two police officers were murdered in their squad car, adding more bloodshed to the already-tense racial climate.
The officers were killed by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who had posted online he was going to kill officers as retaliation for the death of Eric Garner, who was killed by an NYPD officer during a police stop in July.
NAACP President Cornell William Brooks condemned the shooting Sunday on "Face The Nation."
"In this country, we have a violence problem," Brooks said. "The tears of the families of these police officers and the tears of Eric Garner's family and Michael Brown's family aren't shed in law enforcement blue, racially black or brown. They're colorless. They're tragic and unnecessary."
His comments were covered by the Associated Press, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Hill, the Newark Star-Ledger and the UK-based Daily Mail.
Some prominent Republicans, like former New York Gov. George Pataki, blamed anti-police rhetoric from Democrats including Attorney General Eric Holder and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that he disagrees with that characterization of the situation.
"I blame the shooter and nobody else," Graham said in response to Pataki, but adding that de Blasio "has probably undercut his cops" and that Holder "is trying to walk a fine line."
Graham also spoke about President Barack Obama's new Cuba policy and the fallout from the massive cyberattack against Sony Pictures. His comments were covered by the Associated Press, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg News, the Washington Times, The Hill and Newsmax.
On the topic of Cuba, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) slammed President Obama for trying to normalize relations with the Communist nation. He expressed confidence that the new policy would not work.
"I am opposed to changes like this that have no chance in leading to the result that we want, which is more freedom and more liberty for the Cuban people," Rubio said. "This change is entirely predicated upon the false notion that engagement alone automatically leads to freedom and I think we have evidence that's not the case."
Rubio also weighed in on the Sony hacking incident, saying that the film "The Interview," which depicts the assassination of the leader of North Korea, should be seen by "as many Americans as possible."
His comments were covered by The Wall Street Journal, UPI, USA Today, Bloomberg News, the Washington Times, the Huffington Post and the Orlando Sentinel.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who traveled to Cuba last week to retrieve detained American Alan Gross, strongly disagreed with Rubio and Graham on Cuba and endorsed Obama's new vision.
"We have isolated the Cuban people, but we have actually reinforced and helped sustain the power of the Castro brothers," Van Hollen said, referring to the decades-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.
His comments were covered by The Wall Street Journal.