The Breakfast Briefing will be taking a few days off for Christmas later this week. The newsletter will not be distributed from Wednesday, December 24, through Friday, December 26. It’ll be back on Monday, December 29.
1. Political fingerpointing began just hours after two police officers were shot and killed in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday afternoon. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said on Fox News Sunday that the blame lies with President Barack Obama, who he said started "propaganda" that "everyone should hate the police." Obama called the police commissioners of Philadelphia and New York this weekend to reiterate his support.
On Twitter, the hashtag #NYPDLivesMatter, a take on #BlackLivesMatter, was still trending as of Monday morning.
#NYPDLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/yF4lWt4hkD
— Ken Wahl (@KenWahl1) December 22, 2014
2. Sony Pictures Entertainment superlawyer David Boies appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday morning, saying the studio still plans to release The Interview, it just hasn’t figured out where or when to do so. The company has pushed back against criticism by actor George Clooney and President Obama, among others, that it caved to threats from North Korea, which has been blamed for the November cyberattack against the company.
Sony has also hired crisis specialist Judy Smith, best known as the inspiration for Scandal.
.@Sony hires @ScandalABC inspiration for PR help http://t.co/RGLKzwgKTi via @brianstelter cc: @JudySmith_ pic.twitter.com/vNzkgFG7w7
— CNNMoney (@CNNMoney) December 22, 2014
3. Vox has hired its first political editor: Politico deputy managing editor Laura McGann.
4. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at 73 Questions, the Web series launched by Conde Nast that tries to grab some of the magic of young YouTube influencers.
5. Chinese legislators are considering limits on tobacco advertising in the country, which is the world’s largest consumer of tobacco products.
6. Federal Trade Commission chairwoman Edith Ramirez is trying to raise the profile of her organization as it wades into high-profile fights over Net Neutrality and other hot topics, according to The New York Times.
