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Authorities Prepare For Super Bowl; Former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley In Intensive Care Tonight; Florida Chemist Accused Of Tampering With Police Evidence; Interview With Joe Montanta; Who is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; Alleged Evidence Against Christie in Bridgegate; Achievements of 14-Year-Old Kicker With No Arms
Aired February 01, 2014 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That is awesome!
<18:00:00>
You to love the Bob Van Dillen's jersey accent.
BOB VAN DILLEN, METEOROLOGIST: You lightweights.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: How did I not get to do that? I am coming immediately after the show over to Bob, and we are going to be tobogganing together. So, see you in a few.
LEMON: OK. Let's do it.
HARLOW: All right, everyone. Thank you for joining.
Welcome to another hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm the Poppy Harlow joined by the one and only with Don Lemon with a good assignment in Times Square. Right, Don?
LEMON: Yes, it is Super Bowl weekend in Times Square. It is arriving, Poppy.
HARLOW: Arriving in New York City. And in just a few hours, the big game kicked off outdoors in a place where the winter can be pretty, pretty tough. But it is going to be warmer than we expected.
LEMON: Yes, it is going to be warmer than we expected. And fingers crossed, you know, it is not 100 percent scientific, but the forecast for the kickoff tomorrow in East Rutherford, New Jersey, calls for 43 degrees with the little wind. And it is now deep breeze that it could have been. But fans are going to have to bundle up anyway, Poppy.
HARLOW: And they are going to absolutely bundle up. But this is all about security where you are out in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the security is high and is visible and is intense. I have seen so many police officers all over New York City all week. And especially yesterday and today gearing up in Times Square, on all of the commuter lines heading on the stadium at New York and New Jersey's airport, train station, you get the picture. City officials, we know, are committed to making sure that Super Bowl XLVIII is safe for everyone. That is the security side, then there is the fun side that Don Lemon is having right now with all of the fans.
LEMON: Hey, but you know what, you have to check out -- there it s. Check out the skills.
HARLOW: Check out the skills.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: This way? All right. I want to go this way. Are you ready?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you want to go deeper or how far?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Pretty good. Not exactly sure I would have caught it. I'm not exactly sure I would have caught it, but you are the picture of athleticism down there, Don. And, you know, you have all of the fans packed this Times Square even though no local teams are in the game tomorrow night, they are excited because the spirit of the Super Bowl is alive and well in New York City. That is for sure.
LEMON: And you are absolutely right. So, let's talk more, Poppy, about the security. It is really important, security for Super Bowl. Tens of thousands of fans and the eyes of the world, what really be on MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, tomorrow of course. And that means plenty of security, the kind that you can see and the kind that you can't see.
Alexandra Field got an inside look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protecting MetLife stadium and patrolling the spectacular air space around it. It is expected 180 million fans will have their eyes on the field while U.S. customs and border protection agents take over the skies above it.
We took a ride on one of three Blackhawk helicopters that will form part of Super Bowl XLVIII's defensive line, and a ten-mile perimeter, a strict no-fly zone. If anybody breaches that perimeter for any reason, they should expect to see a Blackhawk up close.
(on camera): It is a scary experience if you are up there flying and say you unintentionally breach the perimeter.
PHIL PETRO, AIR SUPERINTENDENT AGENT: Exactly, you know. Unless you have been trained in the military, you are highly, as highly it might be you have ever flown information with another aircraft, mean that you have never been within 500 feet of another aircraft when you are flying.
FIELD: In case of an air space intruder, a Blackhawk would be the first to intercept flying alongside the offending aircraft and escorting it to the ground where federal agents will be waiting.
PETRO: They are going to be first be shot to have a large aircraft like this to come up very close to them. And then secondly, they are going to come to the realization that something is wrong.
FIELD: On our tour, we got our own surprise, although, this was a welcomed one. A fleet of military helicopters appearing in the distance and then heading for MetLife stadium where the military will hold ceremonial Super Bowl duties Sunday. An exception to the no-fly rule, and a stun thing one.
Alexandra Field, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Thank you, very much, Alexandra Field. They want to make sure that everybody is safe. You guys feel safe?
CROWD: Yes!
LEMON: Where are you from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York.
LEMON: Where you from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York.
LEMON: New York. Where you from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York, baby!
LEMON: Poppy, they are excited. We are excited. We are so glad that you guys are here. Who is going to win?
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: California.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nebraska.
LEMON: There you go, Poppy Harlow, Denver, Seahawks, somebody has to be a winner.
HARLOW: Yes. I love the energy and no matter who you are rooting for, who wins, people are enjoying new York City, the big apple to the fullest. It is an amazing sight. If you are watching us and you are in New York city, bundle up, get out there to join Don. We want to see you on air. It is a great time, don. Thank you is much.
You know, the weather here in New York is pretty good and it is not going to that bad for the big game, it looks like. But there are weather challenges across the country for some folks especially in the Midwest right now, specifically we are talking about Chicago where the snow has been coming down all day long.
Let's go to our meteorologist, Jennifer Gray. She joins us from the CNN weather center in Atlanta. How is it looking this there, Jennifer? JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Poppy, Chicago is seeing the third snowest winter on record. And the snow continues to come down. We are going to will see anywhere from four to six maybe eight inches of snow by the time that the system moves through later in the afternoon. You can see late today.
This is 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning and snow is clear in Chicago, high pressure moves in, and just in time for kickoff on Super Bowl Sunday, looking good, staying dry in the northeast which is nice temperature are actually going to moderate as well.
Look at the snow totals of four to eight inches around the Chicago area, four to six around Detroit, two to four in the great lakes area. We are going to see quite a bit and Chicago's forecast does not look great as you go through the next couple of days.
The lows tonight, zero, up to only 20 degrees by tomorrow. And then Monday afternoon, in the teens. So winter is far from over near Chicago -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Yes. No kidding. Being a Minnesota native, I know it all too well.
Thanks, Jennifer. Appreciate it. n
Well listen to this, a Florida chemist, now accused of tampering with police evidence and now at least 2,600 cases may have to be reopened as a result. This started when investigators discovered prescription painkiller pills missing from the state crime lab -- evidence locker. Some had actually been replaced, we are told, with over the counter pill. Now, the suspect is currently not working, and not clear whether or not that is temporary.
Criminal defense attorney Holly Hughes joins us now.
Holly, thank you for coming in. I appreciate it.
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Sure, Poppy. Good to see you. And Don Lemon is having way too much fun out there.
HARLOW: And how did he get that assignment, guys? Management?
HUGHES: Yes, we are inside.
HARLOW: I know. And all good things come to those who wait. Don, you know, is having a great time. I'm going to join him after the game.
But listen to this. When you talk about this, the magnitude, 2,600 cases, that this chemist was in one way, shape or form involved with in the state of Florida in all different counties, how do you begin investigating this? Do you bring in somebody from the outside, an independent party?
HUGHES: Well, what they are doing is to policing themselves essentially, because it was not the entire lab that was accused of being the problem. It was this one specific chemist. And when you talk about that huge number of 2,600 cases, they are not all suspect, because a lot of those were probably pleas. And when you enter into a plea agreement with the state, you are waiving your right to a trial, you are waiving your right to an appeal. So, not all of those will be called into question.
HARLOW: Do you think that they are going to have to bring in someone from the outside, and in terms of knowing if one of these might be one of your cases, how do you find that out? When and how are you notified in a situation like this?
HUGHES: Well, in any case, it involves drugs, they are tested in the lab, and then the lab report must be turned over to the defense attorney. So every defense attorney will have a lab report with the name on it. And they will know if this chemist who is now suspected of tampering with evidence had hands on their evidence. And they are the with ones who will go back and say, based on this, we want to have a do-over.
HARLOW: But don't you think that everyone who was found guilty would want to do-over, and just talk about the complexity of the process?
HUGHES: Well, there is a couple of the things that the court will look at. If it is found that there was tampering, and that is a high standard. How are going to prove that? Because each individual sample might not have been replaced. And what he was doing was taking the real drugs and replacing them with over the counter which would be helpful to some defendants. I mean, if you test it, and it comes back as Nyquil, who cares. That is not illegal.
HARLOW: Right.
HUGHES: So, what you are looking at is anybody whose evidence was tested by him, and they are going to want to challenge that and have it retested if the sample was not used up. And when they make that appeal, the court is going to look at what we call error, and is it harmless error? Was there so much overwhelming evidence to prove guilt that this lab test was not the only thing that proved it. So they may look at your case and say, yes, there was error, but it was harmless, and in light of all of the other evidence, and you do not get a do-over.
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HARLOW: Yes. We will see. Holly Hughes, appreciate the legal insight on this. What we know is ahead reams and reams of paper, and court filings and a lot of busy lawyers. That is for sure. Thanks. Appreciate it.
HUGHES: Thanks, Poppy.
HARLOW: All right, more to come from Super Bowl Boulevard, Don Lemon, what have you got down there?
LEMON: Let's talk about the Super Bowl ads, because that is what a lot of people will be watching. They cost millions to produce a few seconds of air time. It is all worth the money, the money they pay for? We are going to check it out coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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LEMON: Come on, just admit it. You can admit that some of you watch the Super Bowl as much as for the ads as you do for the game. So when you and your friends get together after the game, you will talk about the ads and that work and the ones well and that don't work so much. Well, you probably won't be thinking about how much those ads cost and whether the mega price is actually will lead to sales.
But that's OK. Our Christine Romans is covering those angles for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It could be the most expensive 30 seconds in sports and maybe all of business. Super Bowl ads sold out for weeks and some of them hitting $4.5 million a pop this year for just 30-second of TV time.
But the number of eyeballs, that is what is priceless to advertisers. More than 100 million viewers have tuned in for each of the fast four years, compare that to 40 million for the Oscars, 28 million for the Grammys, about 15 million for last year' s World Series.
SAM THIELAM, MEDIA WRITER ADWEEK: The Super Bowl is one of the few television shows are where you get a lot of reach. You will get people from all different walks of life with all different preferences is watching it.
<18:15:01>
ROMANS: But are millions of viewers worth millions of dollars for just a few precious seconds? Market research firm Communeikus (ph) recently only one in five Super Bowl ads actually motivates consumers to buy anything. But sales are not the only goals for advertisers.
THIELMAN: It is also kind of a great sort of badge to have, you know. We were in the Super Bowl last year. That is how big our brand is. And a lot of the advertising is about self-congratulation as well.
ROMANS: Forty-three advertisers bought ads this year ranging from the standard 30-second spot to 2:00. Some of the big spenders include Anheuser-Busch, Butter Finger, Doritos, Go Daddy, Jaguar, Dannon, Wonderful Pistachios and General Motors, jumping back in a game after a brief (INAUDIBLE) in 2013.
The big trend this year, teaser ads. They help companies build hype and give fans a head's up of what to watch for. Much of it driven through the social media which brings more buzz and gives advertisers a lot more than one little spot on TV.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't you think that it is time the we all get our own places? ROMANS: Super Bowl advertising becoming a game of its own, star players, millions of dollars on the line, and an audience who that likes to play favorites.
Christine Romans, CNN. New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And the social media aspect is big business this year. And survey from this week from crowd tap shows that two-thirds of the social media users plan to share Super Bowl ads. Companies are also getting creative online, and bud light and Volkswagen are buying ads on Google to promote the teaser ads. Very interesting. And another way the hype the Super Bowl ad, bring in this guy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Look, look, look! They are doing that for me by the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Yes. That is football legend Joe Montana. He is in an ad with Peyton Manning and it is Papa John's ad, and he is going to give us a sneak peek after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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LEMON: We are out here on Super Bowl boulevard. You can't throw a football without hitting an NFL legend. And those stars don't come bigger than Joe Montana. I sat down with the three-time Super Bowl MVP and four-time winner to the talk about the big game. Joe told me why he does not wear his rings and he talked about the cameo he made in the Papa John's commercial with Peyton Manning in honor of the company's 30th birthday. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE MONTANA, NFL HALL OF FAMER QUARTERBACK: Well, it is their 30th anniversary and they decided to go back in time where it began with Papa John and Peyton. And so as they are get back there and they are reminiscing, and also they have to come back to make sure they get back with the Super Bowl. And with an issue with the keys, they get that settled and next thing you know they are back and when they land, they have a stowaway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And come on, Peyton, we have to get back to Super Bowl XLVIII. We are giving away pizzas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody got the keys?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got it. Touchdown. Let's roll.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when you order now through Super Bowl Sunday at papajohns.com and use the promo code, pmjmvp, you will get a free pizza beginning Monday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish we could have brought 1984 (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next time I call shotgun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, it is Joe Montana. You get his autograph.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you.
LEMON: Did you offer Peyton any advice? I am rooting for him because he makes us old guys look good.
MONTANA: I'm rooting for him too. I offered him the advice that the next time we do the commercial, I am on the front seat. He does not need any help. He is having a great year, and I am sure it will continue.
LEMON: Any predictions? I know everyone has been asking you.
MONTANA: I have. Defense. It is kind of hard to route -- pull against the number the number one defense. But I'm going to go with the offense of Peyton, 27-24.
LEMON: So, four rings?
MONTANA: Four rings.
LEMON: Where are they?
MONTANA: Are you serious?
LEMON: Yes, everybody comes out here and they have the rings with them at least one. Why don't you have yours. You don't like to throw off the bling?
MONTANA: It is like a trophy to the me. It is something that I won, and my life mostly is not about the past. And you know, until you come around things like this. Plus, they are big. They fit on this hand, and when you do a lot of these things, you have to shake hands and there is always a number of people who still want to prove how strong they are when they squeeze your hand. And it is not a lot of fun.
LEMON: And is the John Candy story true that you looked up and saw John Candy and came back to the huddle, and said, I just saw John Candy.
MONTANA: Well, there was a guy in our team, Darius Barton (ph) who was a people watcher. So every night, when we were free for dinner, he would go to see a celebrity or something, he would go, you can't believe who I saw. I'm so excited. So, we have been on time-out, it had been going on for a while, and I was just standing there waiting for him to give us the signal. And between the guys was John Candy, and I was, I don't remember hearing Harris saying he saw John Candy, so I thought that he would appreciate it, he appreciates it more now than back then. LEMON: Thank you, sir. You are awesome. It is indeed an honor the meet you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Thank you, Joe Montana, a living legend.
You know, there is offense and there is defense. And then there is special treat.
Coming up, a punter who made his name on a Super Bowl winning team stopped by to give me some kicking lessons. That is coming up in about 25 minutes. Up to the back now to Poppy in the studio.
HARLOW: I was down there when you were taping with Joe Montana yesterday, Don. Very cool to meet him and to have it on. I am looking forward to all those commercials there in the Super Bowl, absolutely.
Straight ahead here in the NEWSROOM on a more serious note, he will now face a possible death penalty when he stands trial for the Boston marathon bombing. We are going to take a closer look at the life of Dzhokar Tsarnaev. That is straight ahead.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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HARLOW: Hey there, everyone. Welcome back. You know, you are watching CNN on this Super Bowl weekend. I'm Poppy Harlow. Don Lemon down there in Super Bowl Boulevard.
You know, Don, right into the break, I think you called me Popito. Did I hear you right?
LEMON: I always call you Popito. You know do that.
HARLOW: I know. And you know what? The people were messaging me saying how could you not hear that? I am so used to Don calling me Popito. That was nothing out of the norm, folks. But now, we all need to make up our best nickname for Don Lemon. So please, tweet it to me, and Don, we will have one for you by the end of the show.
LEMON: And you can call me DL. And you know, you saw me at an NFL pass, catching NFL pass from Roger Staubach just a few moments ago, Poppy. Well, coming up, the Don Lemon foot. I'm going to put on a kicking clinic right here in Times Square. That is just in a few minutes. So Poppy, back to you until then.
HARLOW: All right, we are going to stick around for that.
Before we get back to Don on Super Bowl Boulevard, let's talk about some other top stories right now. First of all, ouch! Look at Chicago. They cannot get a break from the snow. They are getting hit particularly hard. It has been snowing all day in the city, It could get as much as eight inches today alone. Last month was the third snowiest January in Chicago's history.
Meantime, also in Chicago, former mayor of Chicago Richard Daley is in intensive care tonight at a Chicago hospital. His spokesman says that he came back from a trip in Arizona where he became ill. His family is with him as he is undergoing tests. No word yet on his condition. Daley who is 71 and Chicago's longest serving mayor with six terms.
And now for this next story, we must warn you some of the images we are going to show are very difficult to look at tonight. It is in Indonesia. Recovery operations are under way for people feared dead in a massive volcano eruption. Mt. Sinabung is on the western side of Sumatra. Its huge porching (ph) ash at top of village sending people running for their lives. We know at this hour that at least 14 people were killed. Authorities unfortunately believed that death toll will go much higher.
For more on that and the survival, please go the CNN.com. It is the top story there right now.
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HARLOW: And this, heinous, cruel, depraved. This is how the federal prosecutors described the actions of accused marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. And now the feds can seek the death penalty for him in the upcoming trial.
But who is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev? Not many people know much about him.
One man who does know about him is David Filipov. He is a "Boston Globe" reporter, who has an in-depth look of the family. And his book is called "The Fall of the House of the Tsarnaev."
Rosa Flores sat down with him, and asked if we know more now about this bombing suspect now that he is in jail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID FILIPOV, REPORTER, BOSTON GLOBE: Well, there has been very little information from within the prison, right? He is in a solitary atmosphere. And the one time we saw him was during the indictment where his demeanor seemed to people that there is -- I don't want to -- insolence or a lack of regard for where he finds himself, like this is not serious. You don't want to read too much into the expressions and the demeanor, but a lot of people were struck by that.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And what about his accent, because it changed, didn't it?
FILIPOV: Yes, there is video of him talking. And he is fluent in English, and talks like an American, and maybe slight lilt there of a person who grew up in a different country. But most of his life was spent in the United States. And then he has this strong Russian accent. It is a strange affectation to put on. Tamerlan, his older brother, had a strong Russian accent, but both of them are fluent in English.
FLORES: What was the driving factor for these two brothers to roll out this terrible attack?
FILIPOV: Well, there a narrative that came out at the beginning that Tamerlan, the older brother -- and they are half Chechen. And in Chechen society, the elder is an enforcer type. And he obviously bullied the younger brother into this thing. But what we discovered is a shockingly different story. Dzhokhar is a leader among his friends. He's a thrill seeker. He has a drug business he does outside of his room. According to very close friends --
(CROSSTALK)
FILIPOV: -- he owns a weapon. He makes more money than anybody else in the family. He has made hundreds of thousands of dollars. And he has a weapon. And he is the one, allegedly, who downloads the "how to build a bomb" on to his computer.
FLORES: What was the relationship between the brothers?
FILIPOV: Well, the people who talk about it, they tell that story that led to that narrative that we had of Tamerlan, the guy in charge. He would, you know, go -- you know, Tamerlan with was a boxer and a good boxer for a while, and he had dreams of being on the American Olympic team. And by the way, one of the things that happened to him as the time goes on is the American dream is falling apart, and he does not get a U.S. passport. He realizes he is not going to be on the Olympic team, and he stops training.
When they used to go together, he would sort of encourage, and sort of like push Dzhokhar into the training thing. And Dzhokhar is not really into the sport. He was a wrestler when he was a kid. But there is the kind of, he's the older brother, and this narrative that he is kind of the bully comes out of there. But that is not the relationship that seems to be unfolding once you get beyond this moment when, you know -- we are not -- we are not in on what they are doing, or when exactly they made this plan. But the story that comes up with friends is nothing like that.
FLORES: And what would you say is the most revealing information that you learned from all of this research?
FILIPOV: That there is not a terrorist cell in Boston churning out more Tsarnaevs that we have to worry about blowing up the next marathon.
FLORES: With that, let's switch gears to Sochi, because you are headed there. How worried are you about the security?
FILIPOV: Well, who wants to prevent this from being a disaster more than the Russians? Because they want it to be the showcase of Russia. Russia has arrived and we can do the best Olympics and the safest anywhere, A. B, when the Olympics were in London, had people blown things up in London before? Had there been terrorist attacks there? Sure. I mean, yeah, I definitely believe that the Russians are doing everything that they can.
The problem is more logistical. The Russians have brought together a bunch of different security agencies, their version of the FBI and the police trying to communicate with each other that don't often work together. There can be communication breakdowns. In fact, when they were looking for the suspected suicide bombers, the black widows, the alluring sounding names, the widows of the militants who had been killed, one of the people put up on the wanted posters around Sochi is someone that police said had been killed three days ago. So they are looking in one place for somebody who is dead. That is not a good sign.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: And thank you to Rosa Flores for that interview with David Filipov.
<18:35:00>
Coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM, Bridgegate is far from over for Governor Chris Christie. And now a close ally of the governor may have evidence against him. Can Chris Christie's career survive if there is any more damage? We don't know what the evidence is. We will discuss it. Ben Ferguson and Marc Lamont Hill will join us live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: We are following the latest developments this hour involving the governor, Chris Christie. He should be glowing in the spotlight because the Super Bowl is taking place in his home state this weekend. But instead, he is on the defensive, fielding new claims of a former ally and long-time friend. A lawyer for David Wildstein says he has evidence that contradicts what Christie said he knew about the shutdown of the lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge. Those lanes in Ft. Lee, New Jersey, are a main artery between New York and New Jersey. And that September shutdown was allegedly political payback for the Ft. Lee mayor or the not supporting him. Now, Christie has fired a top aide over that shutdown and he has insisted that he knew nothing about it.
Let's talk about this with two political commentators and CNN contributors, Ben Ferguson, sitting next to me here in New York, on the right; and Marc Lamont Hill, joining us from Philadelphia, who sees things from the left.
(LAUGHTER)
Good to see both of you. We appreciate it.
Marc, let me start with you.
Because this is coming in this the letter that I have here from the attorney representing David Wildstein. And in it, it is a long letter asking for the port authority to pay for his legal fees and other things. But there is a part in it where he says that they have evidence that involves Chris Christie, and he knew something about the shutdowns, not that Chris Christie found out about them afterwards from the press, like he has said publicly, and like his campaign and his team came out and said today in their statement. They said that, "As the governor said, he only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press."
Why not reveal the evidence? If you say that you have the evidence, and why not put it right out there?
MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN COMMENTATOR (voice-over): Well, it is an eyebrow raiser. Maybe because there is nothing to it, which is I'm certain that the Christie administration would want us to think.
<18:40:00>
But also some dramatic entry into the 15-minutes of fame and he is milking it for all he can get from it, but the bigger point is that we can't overestimate what is in the information. Assume that everything that we see is true, but it does not mean that Governor Christie organized the conspiracy or that Governor Christie was acting out some act of political vengeance. It could mean that he did not tell us the whole truth of when he found out. But the bad part for Christie is that's enough to sink a presidential candidacy and probably enough to have your position as governor at least unsettled and compromised because you did not tell the whole truth.
HARLOW: And that is an important point, because we cannot say it enough that we don't know what the purported evidence is. And until we do, no assumptions can be made.
And, Ben, I feel like you and Marc agree. That is rare thing.
(CROSSTALK)
BEN FERGUSON, CNN COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
LAMONT HILL: Well, he is right for once.
FERGUSON: Yeah. HARLOW: Yes. And when you look at where this is coming from.
FERGUSON: Well, you have to take it a huge grain of salt. This is a guy who pleads the Fifth, and he says I will not talk when he is asked under oath to talk about what happened with the lane closures. And so I automatically say, you won't tell the authorities what you knew when you knew it, but now you want to use a lawyer to come out the make these claims?
And the other thing is that at the same time that the lawyer is talking to press, he says that we will tell you everything if we get immunity out of the deal, so I have no reason to believe --
(CROSSTALK) HARLOW: Well, they can subpoena.
(CROSSTALK)
FERGUSON: And the fact is that he is basically a guy going, you know what, I'm going down, and if I can hurt the governor, I'm going to do it, and I want immunity if I tell you everything. And, oh, by the way, but I'll plead the Fifth when you ask real questions about the lane closures, so I don't buy into more being here at all.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: -- an ally of the governor for a long time.
Go ahead, Marc.
LAMONT HILL: Well, do not assume that somebody because they want immunity they are not offering the truth.
(CROSSTALK)
LAMONT HILL: It is equally plausible that Governor Christie was in it up to his waist, and this guy, and this guy is a rat trying to get out of the trap to tell the truth.
FERGUSON: Or maybe it is a guy that went off of the reservation, and he went out there and actually decided to do something stupid and the governor didn't know about it. And now he is in a bad situation asking for immunity and pleading the Fifth. Why would I trust that guy?
(CROSSTALK)
LAMONT HILL: Well, this is the part for you, Ben --
HARLOW: Let me jump in here, guys.
LAMONT HILL: And I am going to say that the bad part for Ben or for the conservatives and certainly Governor Christie is that drawing out all of the scenarios and the implausible possibilities. And as long as we are talking about that, we are not talking about what Christie wants, which is how he could be president.
HARLOW: And could be and should be. And let's talk about what is. Governor Christie is in the spotlight and he had a long press conference and answered all kinds of questions about this. Does he feed to come out again now? We have the statements from the team. Does he need to come out publicly now?
FERGUSON: No, he does not need to do that, but a he has already done it. He did the right thing by saying, all right, media, I'm here, and I will stay here as long as you want me to stay here, and I will answer every ridiculous or serious question, and repeated question. I don't think that there is any new information.
(CROSSTALK) FERGUSON: All you have is a disgruntled employee who is angry at this point with no new information.
HARLOW: And to your point, Ben -- Marc, you think that he should come out, but why should he come out the talk before anybody has any idea what this purported evidence is? Why get in front of it?
LAMONT HILL: Well, I am not saying that he should come out before the evidence comes out, but once the evidence comes out, he needs to respond it.
And, Ben, you were having a good day today. You were saying so many things that are correct today. And you --
(CROSSTALK)
FERGUSON: Thank you. I'm glad that we agree on that today. I'm being brilliant.
LAMONT HILL: And, yes, until now. Because now you are going back into the normalville, because you are saying that Chris Christie, if there is evidence that contradicts the press conference, he should remain silent. That is going to make him look like a liar.
(CROSSTALK)
FERGUSON: No, I'm saying don't come out and have a press conference about information if you don't know the information. What would he say, I heard this guy says we know something, but we may not know something, and so I am going to talk about nothing. And I'm the governor of the New Jersey and having a great time at the Super Bowl. What would you do there?
LAMONT HILL: I think we're on the same page. My only point is, at some point, Governor Christie does have to respond and he can't do it through the staffers or the press releases, but the same way he came out --
(CROSSTALK)
LAMONT HILL: -- and talk, and he needs to come out and respond.
HARLOW: And you know what, we will know a lot more Monday, because we are hearing that is the earliest when we will see what the evidence could be. And then, I think that we probably would hear from the governor if there is something to address, considering how he reacted the last time, and coming to have the long press conference.
<18:45:01>
We will see.
Ben is just excited, because he is going to Super Bowl and has incredible tickets.
FERGUSON: You better believe it. HARLOW: We will talk about that coming up in the next hour.
Marc, Ben --
(CROSSTALK)
LAMONT HILL: And they better hope that the Broncos better hope that they are not routing for him, because he is not very good for routing for the right team.
(CROSSTALK)
FERGUSON: I'm rooting for the Broncos. All the Broncos.
HARLOW: Football -- football talk in the next hour, gentlemen. Stand by for me here. And I appreciate the insight on this as always.
Let's head back to Super Bowl Boulevard, and Don Lemon.
D.L.?
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That is the real matchup there. And you know what I deal with trying to corral Ben and Marc.
HARLOW: Right.
LEMON: You know, Poppy, the difference between winning and losing an NFL championship could come down to a single kick. And I got some tips from the Super Bowl winner, Steve Weatherford. Wait until you see my kick. That is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So if you are going to kick a field goal, you need to learn from the best NFLer you can. The one important lesson I learned, if you don't have the right equipment, get rid of it.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You recognize this guy? Steve Weatherford of the Giants. The punter of the New York Giants.
You might recognize that as well. This is actually mine.
STEVE WEATHERFORD, NEW YORK GIANTS PUNTER: Well, for the day, you just got a lot more handsome.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: I know that a lot of more people will want to date me, because of that.
Listen, show me how to do this, because I am going to be in competition this week and I want to be as good as you are. You ready?
WEATHERFORD: OK. We will need more than a few days to do that.
LEMON: Maybe a few years.
<18:50:00>
WEATHERFORD: But this is the crash course, so make it happen.
LEMON: OK.
WEATHERFORD: I will prop up the ball.
LEMON: All right.
WEATHERFORD: To make it easy, I want you to take three steps back and two steps to the side.
LEMON: One, two, three.
WEATHERFORD: Stand behind the ball.
LEMON: Stand behind the ball.
WEATHERFORD: Yes. Three steps back.
LEMON: One, two, three.
WEATHERFORD: Two to the side.
LEMON: OK. One, two.
WEATHERFORD: So I want you to come straight at the ball, and pick an aiming point where you want the ball to go.
LEMON: Right.
WEATHERFORD: Lock the ankle, and make contact and swing through the ball.
LEMON: How much --
(CROSSTALK)
WEATHERFORD: Well, you want to be explosive, because this is the distance of an extra point.
LEMON: All right.
WEATHERFORD: But you need to get the ball past the uprights and higher than the uprights.
LEMON: All right. Here we go.
WEATHERFORD: It is a place to start. LEMON: I am wearing boots. I am wearing the boots. I am wearing boots.
(LAUGHTER)
I tried! One more! One more!
WEATHERFORD: I did this with Jennie Finch, and she is girl.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
WEATHERFORD: But she is a professional athlete.
LEMON: Ah, go on.
WEATHERFORD: And it took her five kicks.
LEMON: All right. So I'm doing it again.
WEATHERFORD: So if you can get it inside of five, that is beating a star athlete.
(LAUGHTER)
(SHOUTING)
LEMON: The fourth time is a charm. Fourth.
OK. We are not stopping until I do this?
(SHOUTING)
WEATHERFORD: No shoes.
LEMON: No shoes. Seriously, the problem is the boot. I could feel the ball sliding on the boot.
WEATHERFORD: OK. We have to get him a Nike contract to make him some leather socks.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: All right. Now, you do one.
(SHOUTING)
LEMON: Now, that is how it is done.
And that is the reason for this thing right here.
Whoa! Don't fumble it.
That's the reason for that.
Very nice. Very nice.
WEATHERFORD: You did good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And so, Poppy, the problem is that I was wearing the snow boots. And when I took it off, that is what happened.
HARLOW: Yes.
And that is totally the problem, not your calling. Stick to the anchor desk, my friend.
LEMON: Poppy, you met someone who is a great kicker, didn't you?
HARLOW: Oh, my gosh. He is an amazing kid. He is a 14-year-old kicker born with no arms. And wait until you see what Isaac Lufkim has achieved at a young age. His story is right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
<18:55:40>
HARLOW: All right. Well, as we start the Super Bowl weekend, we want to salute one player who is truly making his mark. He is not playing for the Broncos or the Seahawks, at least not right now, but Isaac Lufkim is a remarkable 14-year-old. And you have to see it to believe it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's a lot more to this kick. And a lot more to Isaac Lufkim than the winning field goals.
(CHEERING)
ISAAC LUFKIM, KICKER: I want to play in the NFL for the ravens or --
HARLOW (on camera): You want to keep wearing purple.
LUFKIM: Yeah, purple.
HARLOW (voice-over): He is riding high from the undefeated season and the freshman football state title. He led the division in onside kick recovers this year.
(SHOUTING)
HARLOW: Remarkable considering that this is what Isaac goes through just to suit up.
(on camera): You don't want anybody's pity?
LUFKIM: No, I don't like pity. Pity makes me weaker.
HARLOW (voice-over): He means it? LUFKIM: Yes, I don't like people helping me, because I don't like think people think I can do it. If I drop my backpack and somebody else picks it up, I drop it again and I pick it. Because if I don't do it, then somebody later won't.
LORI LUFKIM, MOTHER OF ISAAC: For me, I seem him put on his football jersey and I'm just filled with pride, because he is my star.
HARLOW: There is no question Isaac he has overcome an unimaginable challenge of being born without arms to the perseverance born within.
ANNOUNCER: Isaac Lufkim filling in.
BOB PALOZO (ph), ATHLETIC DIRECTOR: As soon as he walked in, I pointed and said that you are the place kicker.
HARLOW: And his talent was immediately shown to his athletic director, Bob Palozo (ph).
PALOZO (ph): I would not want to be the guy to tell him that he could not do something, put it that way.
HARLOW (on camera): What does he do for the teammates?
PALOZO (ph): He gives them hope. I mean, you see a guy with no arms and strap up to put a helmet on and launch himself into a violent pile, and get up and smile.
HARLOW (voice-over): Palozo (ph) calls Isaac's knack for accuracy a skill that is tough to teach.
(on camera): You want to do more than kick?
LUFKIM: Yes, I want to be a defensive lineman.
HARLOW: Hit people?
LUFKIM: Yes, hit them. They can't grab my arms or Jersey, and the only thing they can do is to block, but I can still crawl under them, and they can't sit on me, so they have to let me through.
HARLOW (voice-over): His determination is clear from the beginning. This is Isaac learning how to dress himself.
LUFKIM: I give up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, don't give up.
There you go!
LORI LUFKIM: There.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very good. Very good.
(LAUGHTER)
HARLOW: Here he is throwing the football as a toddler, with his shoulder.
LORI LUFKIM: It was never easy for him, but he never gave up.
HARLOW (on camera): Is he disabled?
LORI LUFKIM: No, he is not disabled at all. I don't look at him that way. And I always knew that the sky was the limit.
HARLOW (voice-over): Today, Isaac can do nearly anything on his own. Eggs sunny side up? No problem.
(on camera): High five.
LUFKIM: Yeah.
HARLOW (on camera): That is awesome.
LORI LUFKIM: He is not always going to have somebody there to do it for him, so that was my greatest gift to him was to be independent.
HARLOW (voice-over): He has learned how to do remarkable things with his feet -- eating ice cream, playing the keyboard --
(MUSIC)
HARLOW: -- and even playing video games.
As a child, Isaac navigated the world with his toes. And now in high school, he has learned how to use his chin, shoulder, and what he calls his stubs.
(on camera): There have been bullies --
LUFKIM: This one kid, he just wouldn't stop. He would whack me in the back of the head with books, and then knock me down, and take my sleeves and tie them around my throat.
HARLOW: -- but football --
ANNOUNCER: It's good.
HARLOW: -- and the killer onside kick has brought a new sense of pride and acceptance.
(CHEERING)
(on camera): Some say that you are like a secret weapon on the team, is that true?
LUFKIM: Yes, because when I first time of the onside kick, I will run up to the guy, and he is going to have to block me, and I will fly backwards. And the second time, I will juke it, and he will not expect to block me, so I will get him at the weakest point.
HARLOW: And what have you done for the football team?
<19:00:00>
LUFKIM: Well, now they can't be lazy, because no matter what, they have no excuse not the show up to practice or to throw the ball or run the ball. If I can kick a ball and set it and do my own thing, they can do anything.
HARLOW (voice-over): And what is maybe even more astonishing, Isaac is not the first armless kicker at classical. Exactly 50 years ago in 1963, Chris Shuman led the classical football team to the national championship title, prompting President Kennedy to send this letter. It's his example that has opened up the door for Isaac to dream big.
LUFKIM: I want to see if we can go undefeated for four years straight.
HARLOW (on camera): Is he destined for the greatness in one way or another?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he's already achieved it. He's overcome things that I don't know if I could overcome, and he's managed to bring our whole program to another new level.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I know it before he was born and he will be great. And he will be everything that everybody said he wasn't going to be.
HARLOW (voice-over): And in so many ways, he already is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: And we have a great update to tell you about since our piece first aired this week. Apparently, it caught the attention of the NFL. They saw our piece, and they have sent Isaac and his mom up her to New York. They have just landed. They are going to be the guests of the NFL, Don, at the Super Bowl tomorrow.
LEMON: I saw the story earlier, and everybody in the truck out here, and we were in tears. Amazing, amazing story, and congratulations.
HARLOW: Great kid. Great kid. All right. Thanks so much. Go, Isaac!
