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Super Bowl Blackout; Ravens Hold Off 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII; Day 6 in Alabama Hostage Standoff; Two Veterans Killed at Shooting Range

Aired February 03, 2013 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

Stick around. This is one is going to be a roller coaster ride. This is the night that the lights went out in New Orleans because it looked like a lights up performance for the Baltimore Ravens tonight. That was before the stadium lights in the Superdome went out for real. They stay down for about 35 minutes while the two teams, the crowd and the worldwide TV audience waited.

CNN's Mark McKay joins us now live from New Orleans.

OK, Mark, so we are all watching. You are watching in the stadium. It's right after the half-time performance and the lights go out, everyone said, what the heck is going on. What happened inside that stadium?

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it haunt for the first part, but Jacoby Jones of the Baltimore Ravens, Don, had just run back the second half kickoff 109 yards, the longest kickoff in terms of Super Bowl history before a touchdown. He electrified the Superdome, putting the Ravens up 28-6 early in the third quarter and then the electricity went out. Not all of it. It wasn't the complete blackout, Don, inside the dome. But it certainly did a halt the play.

And its players on the sidelines waited about, officials on the field were wondering what was next, the scoreboard was out, most of the upper level lights were certainly out. They couldn't continue the game. They basically had to wait until the power was (INAUDIBLE). There were several announcements has made that the power would be restored shortly.

"Shortly" came about 34 minutes later when the game resumed. But this really halted any kind of momentum that the Baltimore Ravens had built up, because the San Francisco 49ers came back and scored 17 unanswered points before the Ravens were able to put up a field goal early in the fourth quarter.

So it is a close game. But we did not yet -- we expected a close game. We didn't expect anything that the lights going out here in New Orleans.

LEMON: OK. Listen. I want to set this up for our viewers because, Mark, before the lights went out, the Ravens clearly had the advantage, clearly had the momentum. And I want to show you. This is what happened.

You see John Harbaugh, the Ravens' coach, looking up at the lighting, what the heck is going on? Right? And then it goes completely dark in the stadium. His team has the momentum. We can play the pictures for you, but we can't because of the restrictions. This is a CBS video. We can't play the sound for you.

So this goes on for awhile, right? And then, everyone is wondering, the grits starts to come back on in certain parts of the stadium. The 49ers are trailing, 28-6. So this goes on for awhile. The guys who are on the field, do we have the pictures of that? Of the guys on the field, they are stretching. They are trying to keep warn. Their bodies warmed up. People are wondering, are they going to go back in the locker room? What is going to happen if this goes on for awhile? And then, all of the sudden, Mark, the light come back on and the momentum goes in the other direction.

So now, people are looking to wonder, this delay in the game for 35 minutes, did it change the outcome of the game. Can they contest this game? What is going to happen now with this?

MCKAY: Well, so many question mark sentence including the biggest question mark, Don, why did this happen? The power authority here in the state of Louisiana said they had apologized for the outage and the an investigation is underway as to why inside and outside, a lot of a lights lid, the colorful lights behind me completely went out as well, outside the dome. So it is always concentrated here on the Superdome property, both outside and inside.

But it's worth saying, it wasn't a complete blackout. The light did dim significantly and the people understand we got over 75,000 people in there, coordinately, patiently waited for, even the way it broke out. At one point is the waiting for that the system to reboot, but right, so many questions to be ask, so many answers to be ask.

LEMON: Mark, you thought -- listen. I know you've followed sports for a long time. I mean, you are pro at this. Listen. All the players and the coaches have from the stadium, from the Superdome, is that power has been restored. We sincerely apologized for the incident. Came authorities who are investigating the cause of the power outage who have more information as t come available.

If this changes the outcome of that game, this is very serious. And the New Orleans Superdome may never get another Super Bowl because of it. I mean, people were having fun. They were probably drinking, but.

Listen, if San Francisco wins this game now, there is going to be hell to pay on somebody's behalf.

MCKAY: Well, we will be very anxious to all hear what the National Football League as the San Francisco 49ers have now scored again. So that is -- now, we are within two points, 49ers ahead of two point and the Ravens lead as we play here in the fourth quarter.

So we are waiting for the National Football League to have a statement as well as to what they have to say. But it certainly has been surreal night on so many levels here at the dome. And it is not over yet, Don.

LEMON: Mark, I have been watching social media. I have seen everything from "The Ravens have blacked out since the black out" to its deals. The Ravens momentum, I see people who are really upset. I see people saying it is a conspiracy theory. People saying, if you want to knockout your opponent, you knock the lights out. We are not the only one's talking about this.

And as I said, this is going to be -- this is unprecedented. We don't know how it is going to play out. We are going to be on the air tonight until we figure out what is going to happen post-game here.

How do you expect us -- not only will the players be holding a post- game briefing, but I expect officials to be holding one as well.

MCKAY: Yes. Officials not only from the NFL, but power officials as well to explain exactly what happened. It's 35 minutes of the Super Bowl, the biggest game in U.S. sports, the biggest event -- one of the biggest events in the world, how could this had happened?

And like you said, there is going to be a lot of questions depending on how this game ends in the final score, who wins this game. There is going to be a lot of questions ask about that and how that -- now, I can tell you, during the game, the players themselves are trying their best to stay warmed up. They were running up and down the field, on the sidelines, trying their best to stay --

LEMON: That's different than being in a game and playing and running for touchdowns and having some attentions. Just the stretching on the sidelines and running up and down at the side. That is completely different.

MCKAY: Yes. We have seen power outages before when not complete power. Today, they basically do this every time. If you have a power grid go out while there's still light to be played. You can see the field. They don't completely allow them to keep going until the all the lights get back on. We've seen this in other stadiums where we have weather related, certainly no weather related situations here in New Orleans where there are being a clear cool night. So there was nothing weather related to this.

But we've seen this before where things are slowed down, they stop and then they resume again. But it's never happened on this stage. Not with the lights, punt intended, shining so brightly on this game, Don.

LEMON: Listen. I grew up in Louisiana. I spent a lot of time in New Orleans. I grew up in Baton Rouge, but it is only just down the road. I spent a lot of time in New Orleans. And I know, Donna Brazile has been tweeting tonight. The people who live around the Superdome, you know, the power goes out a lot around the Superdome. There are lots of event and the power grid gets stressed a lot especially with the French Quarter there and after Hurricane Katrina. It is no surprise.

Usually, there is a backup generator, a reserve generator, just like they have in hospitals. In any major facility, you would think in a sporting facility like that, they would have it, in an arena like that. Things were going so well for New Orleans when it came to recovery for Hurricane Katrina, every time I go back, the city really looks like it's recovering.

This is a huge black eye, the world is watching, all of a sudden in the middle of the biggest game of the year, the biggest sporting game of the year, the power goes out and the momentum of the game changes. This is not good for the city. And I love the city. I'm just being honest, Mark?

MCKAY: No. And we've had an incredible week here. It has been one incredible week this city has been looking forward to since the recovery from Katrina. They wanted the people to come back to enjoy themselves. And it certainly has been a festive atmosphere throughout.

You know, you have to wonder, yes, where will this go? The aging infrastructure of this facility itself, yes, it's been through massive renovations since Katrina, damaged it, remember the rooftop damage that we saw here. But a lot of renovation in the stadium, and now the questions will be asked, not necessarily about the city but the facility itself. And we're waiting to here, like everybody else why this happened. Why during the second half of the biggest game of the year, why did the lights go out here at the Superdome. We don't know.

LEMON: Mark, stand by, as we look at those images, the pictures, I saw, we have our very own pictures from being inside the Superdome, when that gaping hole was at the top and it's very reminiscing to that.

Mark, stand by. We will get back to you. We are going to get back live to New Orleans as we continue to try to figure out what happened in New Orleans at the Super Bowl. Super bowl XLVII, when the lights went out for about 40 minutes and changed the entire momentum of the game.

And now there's going to be lots of questions answered about what exactly happened. Will this game be contested? What is this going to mean for the city of New Orleans? And all of the officials who are connected to the Superdome down in New Orleans.

We're going to be back with in a, plus the other headlines of the day on CNN.

Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

We're keeping a close eye on the Superdome down in New Orleans where the lights went out not long ago right during Super Bowl 47. We're just getting some information in down from the officials in New Orleans. I will get to that in just a moment. But I want to get you up to speed on the other headlines tonight so we can get back to the story just as soon as possible.

Officials in Alabama say they are still communicating with suspect Jimmy Lee Dykes to negotiate the release of a 5-year-old boy. He's being held in an underground bunker since being abducted from his school bus Tuesday.

A funeral was held today for the school bus driver who was killed trying to shield the children. Bus driver Charles Poland is being hailed as a hero.

And we started our broadcast earlier this evening with news of a killing at a gun range. And it is also developing tonight. Everyone involved on this, the alleged shooter and all the victims are all full military men.

One of the dead is well known former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle who wrote a bestselling book all about his career in special operations. He described himself as the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history.

Here's where Kyle and another man died yesterday, a gun range outside Fort Worth, Texas. Police say a third man shot them both dead. The suspect is now in custody. Full details and a live report in just a minute.

Pakistani teen activist, Malala Yousafzai, is awake and talking after its successful operations to repair her skull and boost her hearing. Taliban gunman tried to assassinate 15-year-old Malala in October because she had spoken out in favor of girls education. She is recovering in a British hospital.

Police quickly ended a dangerous situation outside London's Buckingham palace today. A man who looked to be in his 50s, holding a large knife to his own throat, broke through a security cordon. This video shot by a tourist shows him getting agitated as police close in. He starts yelling and slashing the air with his knife, finally lunging at police officers. The officer fired his taser, knocking the man to the ground where police handcuffed him.

Tomorrow in Manhattan, New York City will say good-bye to its three- time mayor Ed Koch. Koch died early Friday of congestive heart failure. A who's who of New York political power is expected to attend the funeral. Former president Bill Clinton will give a tribute and current mayor, Michael Bloomberg will deliver the eulogy. Ed Koch was 88-years-old.

The Dow will start the trading day tomorrow above 14,000 for the first time in five years. But that can be threatened by what are expected to be weak factory orders due out this week. In addition, the consumer credit report comes out Thursday, along with earnings reports from Sony, Nextel Sprint and AOL.

The Super Bowl may go down as the strangest in history. The lights went out at the Superdome, stopping the game for 35 minutes. Players sprawled on the field stretching and talking. Half the lights went out leaving gloomy shadows and an eerie glow over the field. No one seems to know what caused the power outage. The Ravens had a huge lead before the power outage. That lead started to evaporate when the play resumed. San Francisco made three quick scores.

So we want to bring in Terence Moore, CNN.com sports contributor who is at the game in New Orleans. It's going to be interesting to get your take on what's going on because you were there, Terence to see.

Can this be contested? What exactly happened? Don't answer until after the break.

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. We are back. I'm going to bring in Terence Moore. He is a sports contributor at the game in New Orleans.

Terence, let me tell you, this is a mess. This is a mess because when this all happened, it was 28-6 in the Ravens' favor. OK? Right now it is 31-29. Baltimore's still winning, but quickly the momentum quickly shifted.

Let me tell you what's going on. All right. So Entergy, which is the power supplier to NOPSI, which New Orleans Public Service Inc., right? They supply the power. Entergy is a little bit inside baseball. I worked at the power supply company in high school down there. It was Gulf station until this. Then it was bought by Entergy. Entergy gives the NOPSI is about 190,000.

Here's what NOPSI said. It says, "at all times energy distribution in transmissions meters were serving the Mercedes Benz Superdome. We continue working with the Superdome personnel to address any outstanding issues."

So they are still checking to figure out what is going on. This is a statement from Superdome's spokesman, Eric Eagan. He says, "Power has been restored. We sincerely apologize for the incident."

And this is a statement from unnamed NFL spokesman. That spokesman says, "Stadium authorities are investigating the cause of the power outage. We will have more information as it becomes available."

OK. So those are all those statements. And then, when they called the Saints officially, because that's where the Saints play officially, officially from the Saints, they are deferring all questions to the NFL or SMG says this is not a Saint issue. Obviously, the Saints were are like, we're not playing. It's not our issue. Do not ask us.

OK. So Terence, this is -- listen. I have to tell you, if you're playing, if I am the Baltimore Ravens, and I have all of this momentum it's right after hal time.

TERENCE MOORE, CNN.COM SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, sir. LEMON: My players just ran the ball back 109 yards. I'm winning, 28- 6 and I have to sit 40 minutes on the sideline. And then, all of a sudden, I lose momentum. Somebody's got some explaining to do.

MOORE: Well, you know, there's one group left out there, Don. And that's the New Orleans police force, and they say simply there was too much power going into the Superdome. So I'm blaming al this on Beyonce's halftime performance. She must be a San Francisco fan. I know she's from Houston. But that's the cause of that because, as you say, after that halftime performance it went all downhill for Baltimore.

I'll tell you something else, Don. They are very lucky, there was not a riot in that stadium because it was 35 minutes. I was in that dome, if it had lasted another four or five minutes, it would have been the heal to pay because people were about to lose their freaking minds.

LEMON: Terence, it's not over yet. It is not over yet. And listen, I would hope -- I'll tell anyone within the sound of my voice, and I am praying and hoping that everyone remains calm. But if this game turns out to go the other way, people are going to be ticked off.

And I want to say another word that you know what I mean for ticked off. And quite honestly, I was hoping the Ravens would win tonight. And when I saw this, I said, wait a minute, momentum has changed. And then I said, the lights go out, what does it mean for the Superdome, what does this mean for New Orleans? Will they ever get another game?

MOORE: Yes, well, here's the other factor here, is that in the beginning of the blackout, the fans were taking it pretty light heartedly, doing the wave. Then, after they started doing the wave, people got tired of the wave, and people started booing the wave, OK? There are some people who started a Ravens chant. Of course, the 49er fans didn't like that, and then people got plain irritated.

And you know what? Remember, Jim Harbaugh, the coach of San Francisco, is a ticking time bomb anyway, OK? So I mean, this is going to be really bad for a lot of people, as you just said. And what was making it worse they kept coming on the P.A. system saying, "Everybody stay calm. Stay in your seats." It was like that scene from "Animal House". There's nothing to see here. Stay calm.

People are starting to panic. This is as bad as it gets. And you figure, here we are post-Katrina, everything was going so well, everybody was happy, until this happens. And as you say, people might question again whether or not New Orleans can handle a Super Bowl.

LEMON: Yes. I spent a lot of time in the dome for a lot of games that were won and lost for my team, and there's a lot of drinking going on there.

I'm looking at social media, they say, "What happens when the lights go out in the Superdome? You get drunk. What a difference a blackout makes." This is on social media.

"It's a flat out conspiracy if the 49ers win tonight." "WTF." You know what that means. "WTF is up with this blackout bowl?"

You know what? I would love to know how this game would have gone without the blackout. Can't believe the respective change of play. BBCS Super Bowl. And on and on and on. And that is on social media.

So Imagine the people in the stadium and the people who paid all that money for those tickets and all that money for that to go down in New Orleans. They're going to be really upset. Right now it's 34-29. Baltimore is in the lead with, you know, a couple minutes left to play. But anything can happen. And put your sports marketing hat on as well. Go ahead, Terence.

MOORE: Sure. I'm going to say, let's put this, let's not get out of control yet here. Let's remember, San Francisco is a really good team. San Francisco is a team that has a habit of coming back. Their previous game in the divisional series against Atlanta, they were down 17 points. Never notice history has a team come back --

LEMON: Terence, everybody knows that.

MOORE: They came back.

LEMON: Everybody knows that. Everybody knows that. But even in your -- professionally or personally, in your personal life and professional life. When you're on a role, you're on a role. And when you're feeling positive, and you have energy and everything's going your way; that begets more success. Success begets more success. And so, if you have a time and you take a time-out or you get injured and you have to rest. You start looking from the sidelines and like and you are looking at everybody else and lose that energy. Come on, man. That's the truth.

MOORE: Well. But again, playing devil's advocate, OK, San Francisco also had time to sit around and think about this huge deficit, being in the Super Bowl, embarrassing themselves. They got their quarterback, the American quarterback, all of the sudden, the pixie dust is gone. So can it can work the other way too.

I'm just saying that balancing this out a little bit. We've got to get San Francisco some credit here, OK? This is a team that's been very resilient. And you have that other factor going there. You have brother against brother. You have John Harbaugh for Baltimore not wanting to be embarrassed. So you know, I'm just tell you that there's a yin and a yang here too, that you have to look at.

LEMON: Terrence -- .

MOORE: It's my story and I'm sticking to it.

LEMON: No, no. I agree with you. But as I look at social media, and this is true. This person is right. Someone said, Twitter isn't been this live since Obama versus Romney. And they are absolutely right. I can't even keep up with my Twitter feed people are talking about this so much. There are a lot of people that are happy. Obviously, they are 49ers fans. There are a lot of people who are not happy about this and they are Ravens fans.

If you were not interested in these two teams, you're interested in this story. So I want you to put your sports marketing hat on.

MOORE: No question about it.

LEMON: I want you to put your sports marketing hat on and tell me what this means, and your commerce hat. What this means for the city of New Orleans and what this means for the Superdome. Will they ever get another Super Bowl game or a game really close to this magnitude after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone.

Tonight is the night the lights went out in New Orleans, delaying the Super Bowl for about 40 minutes. The lights went out for about 35 minutes. It took a couple minutes to get play resumed once again.

And boy, did it change the momentum of the game and some people down in New Orleans and beyond have some explaining to do. The momentum has changed. When the lights went out, the score was 28-6 in favor of the Ravens. Now, guess what, the San Francisco 49ers, it's looking like they are going to take the lead at any moment and could very well win this thing.

Did that delay in the game change the momentum and what are the repercussions from that, we're keeping a close eye on it for you. But we have some other headlines we want to get you updated on, and then we'll get back to that story in a moment.

Officials in Alabama are still communicating with suspect Jimmy Lee Dykes to negotiate the release of a 5-year-old boy. He's been held hostage in an underground bunker since being abducted from a school bus Tuesday.

A funeral was held today for the school bus driver who was killed trying to shield the children. Bus driver Charles Poland is being hailed a hero.

Near Fort Worth Texas, a man is in jail charged with murdering two men. Both victims were former military, both dedicated to helping their combat with combat stress. One of the dead is a nationally known former Navy SEAL and bestselling author Chris Kyle. He was celebrated in military circles for his impressive combat record and work on behalf of veterans. Tonight, police are working on a motive.

And CNN's Susan Candiotti is following the story for us.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Son, this is so stunning. So sad. When legendary Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield took another marine vet, Eddie Ray Routh, to a gun range, they never could have imagined any weapons would be turned on them. But police say that's exactly what happened. With Kyle and Littlefield shot dead multiple times at a remote area of a gun range near Fort Worth, Texas. Police say their bodies were found nearly two hours later by a guide at the range. Investigators say Routh drove up in Kyle's pickup truck and headed to his sister's house. He allegedly told her and his brother what had happened, then he left and his family called police. When a team of officers arrived at his house, Routh was sitting outside in Kyle's pickup. A hostage negotiator tried to talk him out, but he took off down the road. Here's how a witness describes it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was scared. I'm sitting below the window lying , still picking out. But they had him -- they had like four shotguns on him, I believe. It's dark out here, so I really did the best counting I could. And Next thing I know, a little time passes, he starts up the truck, and then all of a sudden, he rushes down the road and they all take off after him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Police sped after him and arrested Routh without a struggle. About 25 to 30 other weapons were found at the crime scene, including handguns, ak-47s and long guns. They believe the murder weapon is a semiautomatic handgun they found at Routh's home and they're running tests on it.

As for motive, we may never know because the only witness is the alleged killer. Police believed this is the first time Kyle and Littlefield met Routh. Kyle has a foundation that helps veterans with Post Traumatic Stress. The three went to the range together in Kyle's pickup. So police think this could have been part of their treatment for Routh. Here's how police explained it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has been some mention of the suspect's mother was a schoolteacher for what we understand for a long time. She may have reached out to Mr. Kyle to try to help her son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Police say they don't know whether Routh suffered from PTSD. He's being held on $3 million bond and is in a cell by himself, so police can keep an eye on him. He's charged with two capital murder counts and is not yet entered a plea --Don.

LEMON: Susan, thank you very much.

And as a decorated former Navy SEAL, Chris Kyle was doing a lot of good work for fellow veterans.

Here's Nick Valencia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a Navy SEAL, Chris Kyle survived four tours of combat duty. But it was at this gun range outside of Dallas, Texas where he died, around the corner from his home at the age of 38.

He was known to millions of Americans as the author of the bestselling book "American sniper," where he chronicle his combat missions. In six years, Kyle said he killed more than 150 Iraqi insurgents. He became so hated by them, Kyle said, he had a bounty on his head.

CHRIS KYLE, AUTHOR, AMERICAN SNIPER: It started, every time someone would be shot by a sniper in the area. They associated that with me.

VALENCIA: To Iraqi insurgents, he was known as the devil of Ramadi. But to his fellow Navy SEALs, Kyle was called the legend. Born in East Texas, Kyle loved horses, but most of all, he loved his family and helping people.

According to his friends, almost immediately after returning from combat, Kyle started the hero's project to help soldiers suffering from PTSD.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had a vision to support veterans and their needs and he was fearless in that. And he gave his life in doing so.

VALENCIA: His friends remember him as a family man. The emotional exhaustion of being away from his family took such a toll on them, he finally came home.

KYLE: I took it as an ultimate um, either you get out or she and my kids were going to be gone.

TAYA KYLE, CHRIS KYLE'S WIFE: Of course, he looked at that and thought the marriage would be over. And you know, he is probably right. I honestly didn't think that far ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Kyle is survived by his wife and two small children -- Don.

LEMON: Thank you very much, Nick Valencia.

We're talking about lights out at the Super Bowl. Our correspondents and contributors were in the Superdome when the lights went out and we're going back to New Orleans live. We're going to hear from them and guess what. This game the momentum of this game may have changed and it may very well be because the lights went out in the dome tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Terence Moore, are you down there in New Orleans with me?

MOORE: Yes, sir.

LEMON: Terence Moore is a CNN.com sports contributor who is at New Orleans game with us. And I'm stretching because it's getting real close here. And boy, it's 11 seconds. They just put one second back on the clock.

Terence, as I wait for this, I have my tweet all ready in my pocket and then I'm going to hit send here. But Terence, I want to read something from CBS, OK, as we wait for this. And I'm looking here. Here -- this is from CBS, a statement from CBS Sports on the power outage during the Super Bowl.

And it says, immediately after the power failure in the Superdome, we lost numerous cameras and some audio power by sources in the Superdome. We utilized CBS's backup power, and at no time did we leave the air. During the interruption, CBS sports (INAUDIBLE) and our studio team reported on the situation as a breaking news story providing updates and reports while full power was restored to the dome including our sets and broadcast booth. All commercial commitments during the broadcast are being honored.

So as we were watching it in the NEWSROOM, Terence, I was saying, been there before. The producer's in your ear saying, keep dancing, keep talking, major technical problems, major technical problems. The lights had gone out, just keep talking. So I imagine that's what's happening to him.

I asked you before the break to put on your hat, your commerce hat and your sports marketing hat. First to sports marketing, OK, as we wait for just a couple seconds left here. First for sports marketing, what does this mean for the Superdome?

MOORE: I'm going to surprise you, Don. I think they're going to be OK. And here's why I think they are going to be OK. The best thing that happens is New Orleans getting another Super Bowl and multiple Super Bowls was bounty-gate. Because of that, there's no way in the world that Roger Goodell wants to look like he's being anti-New Orleans, that's number one.

Number two, New Orleans to the NFL is what Indianapolis is to the NCAA and basketball. Indianapolis is the perfect place for the Final Four, the way the city is built, just as New Orleans is the perfect place for a Super Bowl. So they will be just fine. People will be irritated but they will get over it.

LEMON: I want to bring in Sean Gregory now. Sean Gregory is with "Time" magazine producers? Yes, Sean Gregory, "Time" magazine. Can you hear me? Sean Gregory, can you hear me, sir? Can you hear me?

No Sean Gregory. Back to Terence Moore.

So Terence, so let's talk about -- so, you say you think they will get a number of other Super Bowls, so, this won't be a black eye for the Superdome. And you don't think it's a black eye for New Orleans. This is your commerce hat. You're talking to the chamber of commerce and they say, how do we fix this? What do we do? Do they have to do any sort of PR fixing come Monday morning?

MOORE: Yes, there's no question about that. But that's a short run, short term problem. Long term, because of the two things I just said, they're going to be fine.

And Don, I just thought about something here. There's a song by Journey, OK, where they talk about San Francisco and it says, when the lights go down in the city. This is so ironic, San Francisco here in New Orleans and, of course, the lights went down in this city. The Crescent City, not the city, but the Crescent City. I don't know what that means, but it sounds interesting.

LEMON: Yes. You thought it sound in your head, it sounded good. Then, it came out, you are like, I don't know what that means. It certainly would be a good night to be down in New Orleans. I mean, there is no other city in the United States that, and I've been to almost every city in the U.S., there's no other city in the U.S. that's like New Orleans. It is unlike any other. It's like a European city.

MOORE: Yes, for something like this, you know. And I've been here for three Super Bowls. And this kind of reminds me, in 1986, the bears Super Bowl, you had this talk with people in the French Quarter, and what have you --

LEMON: Can I stop you?

MOORE: Sure.

LEMON: So I have to say, Terence, congratulations to the Harbaugh brothers, but the Ravens win tonight 34-31. The blackout may have stopped the momentum, but it didn't stop the Ravens from wing. They probably, if not for this blackout, they would have won by a much more significant margin. John and Jim Harbaugh, John obviously with the Ravens, Jim with San Francisco. John is probably the happier brother. But -- and they just shook hands. They look happy. They don't look like the -- there was not much brotherly love there, was there? No, not much.

MOORE: Well, so far.

LEMON: Not so far.

Anyway, seriously, we still have this issue of the blackout that I want to talk about. And as we see this one long -- we are looking at one lone 49ers player still sitting on the bench there. We still have this issue of the blackout.

I think that quite honestly, this is my city. I think that you are romanticizing this a little bit, Terence, I really do. I don't think this looks good. I want to congratulate the Ravens and I want to be happy for them. But I do think that this does not look good. This is not a good look for New Orleans and it's not a good look for the Super Bowl.

MOORE: Well, Don, you know. I got no dog in this race here and, of course, you do. Looking at it objectively, knowing how the NFL looks at things, knowing how it's about logistics and everything else, New Orleans is going to be fine in the long run. Now, you know how we are in the media. We are going to take a pounding on Monday probably by Tuesday. But you know, starting in a couple weeks, you have the NBA all-star game, this is going to be forgotten. You have the NFL draft coming up, you have the final four, in about two, three, for months, this is going to be yesterday's news. And people will want a Super Bowl back here in New Orleans, because of Bourbon Street, because of the French Quarter, because this is New Orleans, and people love it.

LEMON: Let me tell you. I just texted Mitch Landrieu down in New Orleans, the mayor. And hopefully he will get back to me. You know how to fix this? It's to come out right away and say, you know what, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, whoever, New Orleans has been through a lot over the past couple years, we've worked our butts off to fix our infrastructure and everything, and we're trying to do it. We are working as hard and as fast as we can. We only have so many resources. We just went through a recession like the rest of the country. And we were hit harder doubly so because of Hurricane Katrina and everything else, and everything is going through housing, everything. We're trying to come back. And so, this shows the need for people to support us more than ever, right?

So you get ahead of it, and this can be in their rearview mirror by 3:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon or by the end of the nightly news cycle tomorrow, if they do it the right way. If they hide, then maybe by Wednesday. That's what I say.

But -- hold your thought. Hold your thought, Terence. I got to get to a break.

But listen. We don't want to be haters. We don't want to be Debbie Downers here. We want to say congratulations, Ravens. You win. You win 34-31. More after the break.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Have you ever seen anything like that before during a Super Bowl?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: It's pretty crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. No. I wasn't sure if it was a rat that ate the wire or somebody pulled a plug out of the computer or was it a transformer, whatever. But in my mind, it is it what it is. And you know what? It is the best. The Ravens are a good football team, so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Does it ruin the Super Bowl experience for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Does this reflect poorly on the city of New Orleans when something like this happens?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it's happened once in San Francisco I guess last year it happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: During a football game?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: You paid a lot of money for your ticket?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Does it ruin your experience at all?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we hung out. We did the wave. Hunk out with the crowd. We're in the San Francisco section, so it's a little harder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: The fans seemed to be OK with the fact the power went out. Do they seems so restless?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A couple people were restless. But other than that, everybody else was calm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: So win or lose, the power going on the middle, it doesn't affect your experience?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It means nothing. It means nothing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Breaking news here on CNN, the Ravens win 34-31. And look at the celebrating going on down in New Orleans. On the left, Baltimore Maryland, WJZ, that's our affiliate. On the right, the French Quarter, WWL. And you see, the French Quarter is not packed yet because people are still partying and celebrating in the Superdome. As soon as they make their way from the Superdome, which is a 10, 15 minute walk. But if you have been drinking, it is probably getting you a longer than that because you will get lost and you are standing a little bit, you know.

So on the left, they are really excited in Baltimore, which they should be. Because the Ravens -- the 49ers were the favorites. And I remember Terence Moore, who is, Terence, you know what I'm going to say, don't you?

Terence Moore is the CNN.com sports contributor. He sat on this desk with me, this very same anchor this last week and what did you say to me, Terence?

MOORE: Yes, I didn't know there was going to be a power outage.

LEMON: No, no, no, no. I didn't ask you that. What did you say to me last week?

MOORE: I said the best team always wins the Super Bowl and the best team is San Francisco. LEMON: OK. You said that San Francisco was going to win. And I said I think you're wrong. I said the Ravens are going to win and that's what happened.

MOORE: This is correct.

LEMON: Yes. So listen. We're joking around here. But something --

MOORE: Pre-power outage.

LEMON: Yes. Well, something very serious happened.

Right after halftime, down in New Orleans at the game, there was a power outage that lasted for about 35 minutes. Most of the power, about 75 percent of the power, went out in the Superdome, as the Baltimore Ravens, they just ran back, one of their running backs ran back 109 yards to score 28-6. The momentum was in their favor. Beyonce had just performed. The lights were out. And then, you could see one of the Harbaugh brothers, John Harbaugh, looked up and he goes, what happened? The lights are out. The coach. And then, they have to wait.

OK, so now, we're starting to get statements in. This is from the mayor of New Orleans. I texted him earlier. I haven't heard back from him personally. But he also sent out a statement. This one came to my e-mail, and this is from Mayor Mitch Landrieu issuing the following statement regarding the Super Bowl power outage.

He says, the power outage was an unfortunate moment in what has been an otherwise a shining Super Bowl week for the city of New Orleans. In the coming days, I expect a full after action report from all parties involved. For us, the Super Bowl is not over until the last visitor leaves town. So we're focused on continuing to show our visitors a good time.

So again, this statement coming from the mayor's office. And he says to the last visitor leaves town for the Super Bowl. That will probably be next year when it comes to New Orleans.

But as we're looking at the celebration, the Baltimore Ravens win. WJZ on the left side of your screen. That is the city of Baltimore. People are celebrating there. The city completely lighted tonight. It looks beautiful.

And on the right, the French Quarter, that's probably Bourbon Street, WWL. That's out affiliate there. People are really excited. Of course, we are not showing you -- look fireworks going off in Baltimore. We're not showing you San Francisco because I'm sure people are not so happy on the streets of San Francisco tonight.

It came over, 34-31. But man, it was close, because before this blackout happened, the momentum was clearly on the Ravens side. It was 28-6. Everyone was like, what is going on? San Francisco didn't even show up tonight. They couldn't get near, not really close to the end zone with a touchdown. They kept getting field goals, two field goals, two field goals. It was six points. And then, all of a sudden after this, when the lights finally came back on, everyone said, what happened? The Ravens are blacking out after this blackout. People began to wonder, can this game be contested? What happens if all of a sudden San Francisco won this game? What would they do?

Well, they didn't. So some people are probably really happy and really lucky that that didn't happen. Because, boy, would they have some explaining to do.

The game is over, but we're not done yet, as a matter of fact, we don't know what time we're going to go off the air, because we're going to try to talk to everyone and get to the bottom of exactly what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)