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CNN Gets Behind-The-Scenes Look at Super Bowl Security Preps; NCAA Bans Transgender Athletes From Women's Sports After Trump Order; U.S. Economy Added 143,000 Jobs, Fewer Than Expected, To Start 2025; Super Bowl Ads Tackle Space, Advocacy and Unhinged Humor. Aired 8:30-9 am ET
Aired February 07, 2025 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[08:30:10]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: More than 700 law enforcement officers are in New Orleans, and that is just one aspect of the massive security plan now in place to secure the Super Bowl. And this year, they also have another security risk to contend with, as Donald Trump is about to make history as the first sitting U.S. president to attend a Super Bowl, all of this just after the New Year's terror attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14 people.
CNN's Ryan Young got a behind-the-scenes look at how law enforcement is gearing up now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC DELAUNE, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS' NEW ORLEANS OFFICE: You're going to see drones. You're going to see helicopters. You're going to see boats in the river. You're going to see people on rooftops, sniper teams.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the man spearheading Super Bowl security for the federal government.
DELAUNE: You will see more bollards in place. You'll see more temporary barricades in place. You'll see blast shields in some locations.
YOUNG: Homeland Security investigators, the division that's leading coordination this year, granted CNN access as they prepare for at least 700 federal officers to descend on the Big Easy.
(On camera): So you guys have been training nonstop. What do you use a building like this one for?
DELAUNE: The entries are never the same. They learn how to navigate corners and they learn how to navigate different pieces of furniture. These things test them in this environment where they can make mistakes and learn so they can apply that to real-world scenarios.
YOUNG (voice-over): Security around the Super Bowl is always high, but this year there is an additional layer of concern after a lone attacker drove his truck down the city's beloved Bourbon Street in the early morning hours of New Year's Day, killing 14 people and injuring 35 others.
DELAUNE: But lone wolf is hard to defend against, so what do we do? We harden the places we can as best we can. We stay vigilant.
YOUNG: We know there were IEDs put in coolers in that last attack. Luckily they didn't go off.
DELAUNE: There will be checkpoints set up all over areas, so we'll be on the lookout for those things. Our plans are very comprehensive. And all of our agents and law enforcement personnel, our K-9 handlers, they're all ready for this event.
YOUNG: Fourteen crosses now marked the spot where so much tragedy happened here in New Orleans and people have been showing up to pay their respects.
While this has been going on, they've been getting ready for the Super Bowl. So you see, the access points have been choked, they've added more bollards to the system here.
This is a triple layer of security. They have the sanitation truck, they have the two layers of security here, and these extra heavy gates that would stop anyone from getting on a sidewalk.
(Voice-over): The agency has designated the game as a SEAR 1 event in its Special Event Assessment Rating System, meaning it has the highest security tier assigned by federal authorities.
Still, back on Bourbon Street and across the city, the pride and excitement is palpable.
BARRY KERN, CEO, KERN STUDIOS MARDI GRAD WORLD: There's a reason why they've been here 11 times, because this is the best place to do it. Everybody knows that the one thing that we do better than anything else is entertain people. Mardi Gras, for us, is like having two Super Bowls every year.
YOUNG: What stands out to you with the level of security that's here in New Orleans?
HELENA MORENO, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL: Not in my 15 years of public service in the city of New Orleans have I ever seen the level of security in the city like it is right now. Unprecedented, not only from, you know, boots on the ground who are here in New Orleans, but also on the intelligence side. We know that things are different because of what's happened here. But our culture and our city, the way that we feel about our city and the love that we have for our city, that still remains.
YOUNG: Ryan Young, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. For those of you who don't really care which of these team wins, you still have a reason to watch, those $8 million commercials.
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[08:38:40]
SIDNER: All right, the NCAA has now changed its participation policy and is banning transgender student-athletes from women's sports. Right in line with an executive order President Trump signed Wednesday. Under the revised rules, only athletes assigned female at birth will be able to compete at the collegiate level.
In a statement, the NCAA's President said in part, quote, "President Trump's order provides a clear national standard." But the move is angering some.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHUYLER BAILAR, FIRST OPENLY TRANSGENDER NCAA DIVISION SWIMMER: I am deeply disappointed in the NCAA's atrocious decision to follow President Trump's order to ban trans athletes. This decision is cowardly, despicable, and crushes so many young athletes dreams. Instead of remaining a leader of excellence, the NCAA has discarded research and science to prioritize bullying and discrimination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: That was the first openly transgender NCAA Division swimmer. For more on this, I am joined by our Cari Champion, CNN Contributor and Host of "Naked Sports with Cari Champion." Your podcast, now we just should be clear that no one is naked --
CARI CHAMPION, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, we're all fully clothed.
SIDNER: -- during this podcast.
CHAMPION: Yes, exactly.
SIDNER: But you look fabulous.
CHAMPION: Yeah, of course.
SIDNER: All right, I do want to ask you this. So there, I looked up the numbers of female athletes, and as you know, I played volleyball Division 1 at University of Florida, and there are about 262,000 female athletes playing in the NCAA, and only according to the NCAA President, there are less than 10 transgender athletes in college sports as we speak today. So a tiny number of people. I guess the question is, why has this turned into such a big deal?
[08:40:20]
CHAMPION: I think that's a great question, because I do believe that people who cover sports such as myself and others are wondering, how did this become a huge topic and something that people really were upset about when there are only 10?
And to your point, there are a little over a half a million student athletes according to the NCAA, and I think this became a big issue because people were concerned or there was a fear that was put out in the atmosphere that was a real issue, and quite frankly, those that I've been speaking with said it's really not a concern in terms of there isn't a line of transgender athletes trying to compete in women and girls sports. And so they don't know how we got to this point, but now what they're trying to look at is what to do next with this executive order.
SIDNER: Yeah.
CHAMPION: Does it violate Title IX? Is it a constitutional violation? And so we'll see, because it's playing out right now in the courts.
SIDNER: I do want to, you know, talk to, because I've talked to several female athletes over the years, because this has been an issue that was brought up mostly by, you know, sort of Trump and the right, but it has been a long-standing issue that has been sort of blown up, and many of the -- the female athletes that I've spoken to, while they do not like most of Trump's policies, this is the only one that they say, you know what, I hate to admit it, but I actually think that this is a good policy, because they are concerned of the biological differences and the fact that they may lose scholarships that women have fought for so long to have in sports. So this is one of those issues that sort of jumps politics a little bit.
CHAMPION: I agree. You're right on. Most female athletes that I've talked to really don't like to get into it, because it's such a controversial conversation.
SIDNER: Right.
CHAMPION: But if they're honest they will say what you have heard as well, and what it is, and we'll talk about the science, I am no doctor by any means, but I think one of their main concerns, and what I keep hearing over and over again, is the puberty issue, especially if a transgender athlete has already gone through puberty, and then they decide, OK, I want to play in high school or college sports. They feel like there is an edge, a competition edge, a physical edge, as we talked to, as you just mentioned about biology.
However, I think right now, with Trump's executive order, they're in the process of, as we just saw, Charlie Baker, head of the NCAA, says we're going to institute this rule. We are -- this is the executive order, and if anyone needs, on the collegiate level especially, needs some sort of assistance implementing it, or if they're athletes who feel like they are being marginalized, they'll try to work with them as well. They're trying to say the right things, but this is one of these issues when it's all said and done. It's never, to me, a huge issue, because as you pointed out, ten.
SIDNER: Less than.
CHAMPION: Less than ten. And that was in December of 2024, less than a month ago when we got those numbers.
SIDNER: And those less than ten athletes feel attacked under the gun, because they are being attacked.
CHAMPION: Sure.
SIDNER: Cari Champion, it's always so wonderful to see you. Thank you so much.
CHAMPION: Thank you so much. Good to see you. And congratulations.
SIDNER: Thank you. I appreciate it.
Over to you, Mr. John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking just moments ago, the jobs report. Matt Egan is here, up, down, better, worse than we thought. What's going on?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Worse than we thought. We knew that the jobs market was going to slow down at the start of this year. It slowed a bit more than we expected. 143,000 jobs added in January.
Now, that's not a bad number overall, but it is noticeably slower than the gangbusters growth we saw at the end of last year. December's job growth was actually revised higher to 307,000 jobs. So this is less than half that pace. We So the unemployment rate, though, ticked lower, went down to 4%, which is obviously a good sign.
And when we look at the pace of job growth here, you can see, again, there was this acceleration at the end of last year, and then a slowdown here in January.
Now, we also know there were some one-time factors going on there, right? We had the L.A. wildfires. That was expected to slow job growth, and that may have been a role. We also had extreme cold, another negative that was likely to slow down hiring, so those factors are going to go away. Perhaps that could allow hiring to rebound.
We also have to look at what's going on with wages, because when we think about the economy, obviously it's all about the cost of living. I think there's some good news on that front, because we saw that paychecks increased by more than 4%, 4.1% year over year, and that is well ahead of the most recent inflation rate, which is under 3%. So this is a good sign for workers, because it does show there's still demand out there, and it also just shows that paychecks are outpacing prices at the grocery store and elsewhere. So we hope that this trend continues.
[08:45:00]
Then we also got some major revisions. They're very backwards-looking. These are routine revisions that are designed to try to give us a better sense of what happened to the jobs market last year. We're still parsing through some of those numbers. We'll have updates on CNN.com on that front. But I do think overall, look at this unemployment rate, clearly, it's low, historically low. And John, this jobs market, it's been historically resilient. This is now the second longest streak on record of consecutive months of job growth. More than four years at this point.
BERMAN: It's really, really interesting. Just a long run right there at or below 4%. That's just good news for U.S. workers. Matt Egan, thank you very much.
Kate?
BOLDUAN: I shall take it, friend. Thank you very much.
Kobe Bryant, not just one of the greatest basketball players of all time. In the final episode of "Kobe: The Making of a Legend," it explores his life as the ultimate girl dad and as an Oscar-winning storyteller. Here's a preview.
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SHERYL SWOOPES, WNBA HALL OF FAMER: The year, like, the WNBA orange hoodies first came out, Kobe is the first that I can remember wearing the hoodie sitting courtside.
JALEN BRUNSON, NBA ALL-STAR: Once they saw his focus on wanting women's basketball to grow, they wanted his mentorship, and he was more than willing.
KOBE BRYANT, PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER: I think there are a couple players that can play in the NBA right now, honestly. There's a lot of players that have a lot of skill that can do it.
SWOOPES: You know, training with players like Sabrina, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd, Kobe Bryant said, you're the gold mambo, Diana Taurasi, oh, you're the white mambo.
TRACY MCGRADY, FRIEND & NBA HALL OF FAMER: Yeah, if they put that billing label on you, don't run from it. Embrace it and turn it into being a hero.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We watched how he had transformed once he stopped playing basketball. You know, he's about to really be a whole another person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: You can tune into CNN Original Series, "Kobe: The Making of a Legend" tomorrow at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.
Coming up still for us this morning, the FBI has now handed over to Trump's Justice Department the names of thousands of FBI agents and staff who worked on January 6th related cases. What happens now as the Acting FBI Director says they still don't know what the department plans to do with them.
And from the nostalgic to the absurd, a look at the top trends of Super, Super Bowl ads this Sunday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll miss you Jasmoe.
JASMOE: I'll miss you too. You're the most snackable piece of meat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ahhhh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, that's --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[08:52:09]
BERMAN: So this morning, things are about to get weird. Well, frankly, they're already pretty weird around here this morning. But we're promised that Super Bowl ads are going to be at least as weird.
(MUSIC)
BERMAN: I think that was a little bit on the nose.
Jeanine Poggi is the Editor-in-Chief of Ad Age. Thank you for being with us. So I guess this absurdist thing is in. The question is, how in and why?
JEANINE POGGI, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, AD AGE: Yeah, look, we are seeing a lot of Super Bowl ads sort of adopt the humor we're seeing on social media. Sort of that unhinged absurdist humor that is resonating with Gen Z. I think the Mountain Dew spot you just showed seal -- as a seal. It sort of like hits the mark of what a Super Bowl commercial is. You take a celebrity with this sort of out-of-the-box kind of idea. Pair them together, bring back an iconic song. Some new lyrics and there's a Super Bowl ad.
BERMAN: I'm glad people are taking their cues from the cesspool of social media as to what is funny. We'll see how that works out for everybody.
I do understand, and I'm going to play one here. There are also some serious ads. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So at my last job, I was working across several different groups. You know what? Let me practice that one again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. When you're ready, tell me about the job that taught you the most.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right. So who is going serious and why?
POGGI: Look, most of the ads this year will definitely err on the side of humor lightheartedness. A few ads will take a more serious tone. This one is from Google promoting its AI capabilities.
I actually think this one will stand out because so many ads will have that slapstick humor to them. So when this comes on during the game, I think with such a different tone, people will stop and take a look. But there are not many ads that are going to take a serious tone. I think the mood of the country is to go into the Super Bowl to laugh and have fun, and that's what brands are trying to deliver.
BERMAN: So let's take a look now at a celebrity ad, a lot of celebrity ads, but here's one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILLY CRYSTAL, ACTOR AND COMEDIAN: I can't believe they let us back in this place.
MEG RYAN, ACTRESS AND DIRECTOR: Why?
CRYSTAL: Hello?
RYAN: Nobody remembers that.
CRYSTAL: Something wrong?
RYAN: It's not doing it.
CRYSTAL: No good?
RYAN: Nothing.
CRYSTAL: Well, we can't have that.
[08:55:01]
RYAN: Yeah. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.
CRYSTAL: What's happening?
RYAN: Mmm. Mmm.
CRYSTAL: There we go.
RYAN: Mmm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mm-hmm.
RYAN: Ahhh.
CRYSTAL: Oh.
RYAN: Oh my gosh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: I guess everyone's got a price, right?
So what are the celebrity ads people are going to be talking about, Jeanine?
POGGI: Yeah, look, celebrities are a staple of any Super Bowl ad, as is nostalgia. You saw the Hellmann's "When Harry Met Sally" remake. People love seeing sort of those iconic celebrity moments. This one, you know, from the 90s and bringing those back. And you're seeing a lot of those. We have an ad with Vin Diesel and Fast & the Furious from Haagen-Dazs. The Muppets will be in an ad from Booking.com. So you're going to see lots of celebrities. Matt Damon and Stella. There are just, you know, they run the gamut from really the a-list to even some cartoon Muppet characters.
BERMAN: I feel, and I maybe live in a cave, but I feel like people haven't been talking. We haven't seen as many of the pre-Super Bowl ads as normal. Are they more waiting to unveil them on Sunday night?
POGGI: I would say there's a good mix right now. There's definitely those that have been out early. I do think if you just hear sort of the chatter on social media about what consumers want and viewers want, a lot of people are actually complaining that ads are coming out early. There is that idea and desire to sort of save that creative to the game. We will see some Super Bowl advertisers making their debut during the game, which will be fun to see how those resonate. Will they resonate differently than the ones that are already out there? But yes, definitely some are holding creative back until the game.
BERMAN: All right, Jeanine Poggi, great to see you. Thank you so much. We will wait and see. Sunday night.
Sara?
SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.
All right. So will this be a Super Bowl three-peat for the Chiefs, or will those birds swoop in and get their second ever Super Bowl win? You can hear that lovely sound of New Orleans.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I love it. Let's go down to Bourbon Street.
SIDNER: So good. Let's go. CNN's Cory Wire has been there in New Orleans all week.
Oh, he's getting beat --
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: I love this.
SIDNER: He's getting -- he's getting beat up over there by the mascots.
Coy, you do it in style. I love that. All right. As the Chiefs look to make Super Bowl history, we're talking about a three-peat over Philly. What do the numbers tell us, Harry Enten?
ENTEN: Thank you for introducing me. I appreciate it.
SIDNER: Look, I just was so taken.
ENTEN: We do have the chyron just in case the banner can show it.
SIDNER: I was so taken by the music and Coy enjoying himself, and I just kind of wanted to be there with him, no offense.
ENTEN: Yeah.
SIDNER: But what are you seeing like here? Who's the fave?
ENTEN: OK. Who is going to win the Super Bowl? So let's just say you don't really understand football, but you're going to be one of those folks who are going to watch. You want to go into your Super Bowl party smart.
Let's take a look. Super Bowl favorites' chance to win. You know, of course, the Chiefs are going for a three-peat. This is the first time they are actually favored to win in these three Super Bowls that they've taken part in a row. They are a 55% chance favorite to win.
Last time around, the San Francisco 49ers were a 57% chance. This looks an awful bit like the repeat back in 2023 when the Eagles were a 55% chance. So the odds have flipped.
Historically speaking, favorites have won about 65% of the time. But here's what I'll note. Of course, in 2024, it was the Chiefs who won. In 2023, it was the Chiefs who won. So the favorites did not, in fact, win. We'll see this time around if the betters have it right. If they do, the Chiefs are going to three-peat. But if history repeats itself, in fact, the Chiefs will lose.
SIDNER: It could be Deja vu all over again. Don't hate me, Eagles, because you know those are some crazy fans.
All right, but who does America prefer to win? So who do they really want to win?
ENTEN: Yeah, who do they want to win? So these are the favorites. But who does America actually want? Well, this is interesting, because what do we see here? Well, when the Chiefs took place in their first part of their potential three-peat, folks wanted the Chiefs. The second time around, folks wanted the Chiefs. But do folks actually want the three-peat? Uh-uh, they don't want the three-peat. Americans don't want that freaking three-peat.
SIDNER: I mean, if you're not a Chiefs fan, to be fair.
ENTEN: I mean, look, if you're in Kansas City, Missouri, or Kansas City, Kansas, then maybe so. But the bottom line is that Americans do not want that three-peat. They want Karen Bronzo, my dear friend, Eagles, to fly high.
SIDNER: As my best friend Kia says, fly, Eagles, fly. She only calls them the birds when she's mad at them. So we will see what happens.
But when you look at this, this tells you a little story about how people feel about Kansas City, doesn't it?
ENTEN: Yeah, there is a bit of Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes fatigue, and it turns out that we can see this in another way. And this, I think, kind of says it all. Americans who don't care who wins.
I am one of them, and you can see it's a rising share. It was 43% in 2023, 47% last time around, and the majority, including myself, this time around. It's no wonder that Super Bowl prices are plummeting. We just don't care --
