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Police Will Watch Super Bowl From Above; Fans Warned of Counterfeit Merchandise

Aired February 01, 2014 - 19:00   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome, everybody, again. Top of the hour, you are in CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow and out in what used to be called Times Square is our Don Lemon.

It is now Super Bowl Boulevard tonight, because the NFL's biggest weekend is upon us, right, Don?

LEMON: Oh, it certainly is.

And the Denver Broncos will meet the Seattle Seahawks tomorrow evening in MetLife Stadium in nearby East Rutherford, New Jersey. More than 82,000 fans will brave the show with temperatures expected in the low 40s, at kickoff.

But we're going to talk about security right now for the Super Bowl. Police are closing some roads. They're scanning train cars, they're beefing up airport patrols, all around New York and northern New Jersey, and there's plenty of eyes on the sky. Our Alexandria Field took flight with the Super Bowl's airborne security corps (ph).

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD (voice-over): Protecting MetLife Stadium and patrolling the spectacular airspace around it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We practice for this all the time.

FIELD: It's 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 Black Hawk helicopters that will form part of Super Bowl XLVIII's defensive line, a 10-mile perimeter, a strict no-try zone. If anyone breaches that perimeter for any reason, they should expect to see a Black Hawk up close.

(on camera): Sort of a scary experience if you're up there flying and you unintentionally breach the perimeter?

PHIL PETRO, AIR INTERDICTION AGENT: Exactly. You know, unless you've been trained in the military, it's highly unlikely you've ever flown in formation with another aircraft, meaning you've never been within 500 feet of another aircraft when you're flying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got the Black Hawks in sight.

FIELD (voice-over): In the case of an air space intruder, a Black Hawk will be first to intercept, flying alongside the offending the aircraft and escorting it to the ground where federal agents would be waiting.

PETRO: They're going to first be shocked to have a large aircraft like this come up very close to them. And then, secondly, they're going to come to the realization that something is wrong.

FIELD: On our own tour, we got a surprise, although this was a welcome one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chinooks and Black Hawks, amazing.

FIELD: A fleet of military helicopter appearing in the distance, and then heading for MetLife Stadium where military aircraft will perform ceremonial Super Bowl duties on Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a spectacular sight.

FIELD: An exception to the no-fly rule and a stunning one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just going to hold out here for a few minutes.

FIELD: Alexandra Field, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Yes, an amazing sight to see - the helicopters, and really, all of the security out here. Police car just over my shoulder here behind me, and tons of presence, Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes, absolutely. A fun, fun evening and event down there, but the police are everywhere, making sure everyone is safe. That is for sure.

Also, checking some of the other top stories this hour.

Former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is in an intensive care unit in Chicago after his spokesman said that he became ill after a business trip to Arizona. His family is with him as he is undergoing tests. No word yet on his condition. Daley, who is 71, is Chicago's longest serving mayor with six terms.

And staying in the Midwest. They cannot get a break from the snow. Chicago getting hit particularly hard. It's been snowing all day there and by the nightfall, the city could get as much as eight inches. Last month was the third snowiest January in history for the city.

<19:05:03> And I think I can speak for most of us when I say, come on, Phil, let's wrap up the winter. That is right. Punxsutawney Phil, tomorrow is Groundhog Day. All eyes will be on that little guy when he emerges from his (INAUDIBLE) in Pennsylvania.

There are -- these are the pictures from last year. Let's get a preview of tomorrow's groundhog forecast for our own meteorologist Jennifer Gray.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Poppy, one of the biggest days in weather coming tomorrow. Phil, the groundhog, will see a shadow or not. It is Groundhog Day tomorrow.

We have the forecast -- 37 degrees. It looks like they'll be a lot of cloud cover. But a 40 percent chance of rain/snow, and we are going to hope that this groundhog does not see his shadow, because if he does, it will be six more weeks of winter, and if Phil does not see his shadow, spring is going to arrive early, and a lot of the cities are hoping that spring can come early like Detroit, Flint, Toledo, Ohio, and so on.

We have had just incredible amounts of snow in these areas, 39.1 inches in Detroit. The previous record was only 29. So, record January snow in Flint, Fort Wayne, record January snow. Chicago, I know you've had your third snowiest winter. So, a lot of folks, especially out to the north, hoping that spring can come early -- Poppy.

HARLOW: I'm certainly hoping for that. But it's a getting a lot warmer here, which is welcomed news ahead of the big game. And the Super Bowl is also big business, as you well know.

And it can also mean big money for the fake merchandise. Now is a busy time for those trying to stop the counterfeiters.

Also, our Don Lemon at the Super Bowl Boulevard, party in full swing there, it looks, right?

LEMON: Yes, Super Bowl is bringing thousands of fans to New York and New Jersey this weekend, some of them behind me. And they all need a place to sleep. I'm going to check out the newest hotel on the water.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

<19:10:10>

HARLOW: Well, New Jersey gets to host the Super Bowl tomorrow, welcoming tons of tourists and their cash. You know, the NFL sells more than $3 billion in goods, and the Super Bowl frankly just really helps that.

But what comes alongside it is counterfeit gear. The feds have already seized more than $21 million in fake goods since last June from hats to jerseys to t-shirts and as we found out, even fake tickets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW (voice-over): Along with the big game come the big bucks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything is back. And we have no UPCs here, no holograms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got NFL stuff. Super Bowl stuff.

HARLOW: Federal agents are getting a leg up on the criminals pedaling fake jerseys, hats, even fake Super Bowl tickets.

This undercover agent is texting an unsuspecting seller.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said that yes, I have them, ready to go.

HARLOW: And Jersey City feds found this --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be at least 500 pieces. It's going to be 500 to 1,000.

HARLOW: Are these real?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

HARLOW: Did you know that they were not real?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just ordered them.

HARLOW (voice-over): Hundreds and hundreds of fake jerseys and fake Super Bowl gear for sale in plain sight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They should have been lasered on and they tag here at the end, instead of stitched on. Very substandard product.

HARLOW (on camera): About how many did you sale?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably about 100.

HARLOW (voice-over): Raking in hefty profits. He bought this for 15 bucks a pop online and sold them for up to 70 bucks. But the real deal will often cost you hundreds.

(on camera): Why is this worth the taxpayer money? Why have all of these agents out here to take this guy down? Why it is worth it?

BRAD GREENBERG, SPECIAL AGENT, I.C.E: It's taking away jobs from the American public and money is moved through various criminal organizations and funneled back through drugs and weapons.

HARLOW: Why are we seeing more big enterprises getting involved in the counterfeit game not just drugs anymore?

GREENBERG: They're getting involved in the counterfeit game because of the profits that are involved.

HARLOW: Higher profit margin than drugs? GREENBERG: Yes, absolutely.

HARLOW (voice-over): Higher profits and sweetening the deal for criminals, often much less if any jail time if they are caught.

ANASTASIA DANIAS, V.P. LEGAL AFFAIRS, NFL: I think in certain way, having the harsher penalties will always be a disincentive.

HARLOW: Anastasia Danias believes the NFL's fight against counterfeits.

(on camera): This is a Bronco jersey, number 88, that we bought yesterday. Is it real?

DANIAS: Well, I am not seeing the tale-tell security features, like the NFL hologram. Some of the stitching is coming off.

HARLOW: So, this is fake.

DANIAS: I believe that this is fake. Yes.

HARLOW (voice-over): It's not just jerseys. Fake Super Bowl tickets scam people out of thousands of dollars.

DANIAS: First line of defense is hologram. This graphic is painted and what's known as thermo chromic ink. So, if you heat up the ink, it will disappear.

HARLOW: Online, the fight is harder with a burgeoning multimillion dollar market for fakes.

GREENBERG: It's a fast and safe delivery. Anybody who is selling genuine product would not be worried about safe delivery. If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

HARLOW (on camera): It's 28 bucks.

GREENBERG: It's 28 bucks for a jersey that typically is $300.

HARLOW (voice-over): And some sites selling fakes are doing so with the sole purpose of stealing your credit card information.

It's an uphill battle for agents against the fierce black market seemingly unafraid of the consequences.

(on camera): Why risk it?

GREENBERG: Money. So, it's about greed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: And it's one thing to get ripped off for a fake jersey. It's another to pay thousand of dollars tickets and realize tomorrow when you are heading into the big game that they are not real. So, bottom line, buy them from a reputable, reputable source, some you trust or the NFL ticket exchange. Do not get scammed heading into the big day. All right. There is a push to legalize pot in many parts of the country. This week, the president may have just boosted this pro- marijuana stance. Is President Obama doing the right thing here? We're going to debate again with Ben Ferguson and Marc Lamont Hill. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

<19:16:58>

ARLOW: President Obama tells CNN he stands by his recent remark that marijuana is not any worse for a person than alcohol. Of course, he talked about how both, though, can be abused. He made these comments during an explosive interview with our own Jake Tapper.

So let's bring in our political commentators, Marc Lamont Hill on the political left, conservative Ben Ferguson. Both with us now. And in a little while later, we'll talk Super Bowl picks.

But, first, let's talk about the president and pot.

Here's how President Obama described his approach to marijuana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I stand by my belief, based I think on the scientific evidence, that marijuana for casual users, individual users, is subject to abuse, just like alcohol is, and should be treated as a public health problem, and challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. So, Marc, I want to start with you, because the president also went on the say, "but when you end having very heavy criminal penalties for users and then he said, some cases with racial disparity, I think that's a problem.

So, what is your take on what the president said first in the "New Yorker", and then to our Jake Tapper about marijuana in this country as we watch states like Colorado legalizing it for recreational use?

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I agree with the president wholeheartedly and I have been critical of the president with regard to the criminal justice issues, with regard to mass incarceration issues, and with regard to drug (INAUDIBLE) issues in the past. So, this is sort of a turn for me.

The president is accurate, first of all, by pointing to the medical evidence that says, look, no one is saying marijuana is the best thing in the world, but it's no more of a problem than alcohol. And one thing we have prohibition against, the other thing we legalize and make money off of, that's a problem.

The other issue here is not just that we also that we overstate the dangers of marijuana, is that we assess all these criminal penalties to something that if it is even abused, it's a medical problem, not legal problem. We have jails filled with people who are small time users, and the president sees that as a problem.

HARLOW: At the same time, Ben, you have the president saying this, and then you also federal law which has marijuana is classified as schedule I, right alongside Ecstasy and heroine. So, he's running counter to the law of the land right now.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He's job is supposed to support the law of the land and not to make a mockery of what our law enforcement officials are doing on the streets of America.

HARLOW: You think he's making a mockery?

FERGUSON: I know, because you're basically saying -- you're basically advocating for criminal activity and normalizing something that as of now is against the law. And if you are the commander in chief, you're no supposed to say that you can pick and choose what laws Americans you want to agree with or not abide by. Your job is to say as president, this is the law.

HARLOW: Well --

FERGUSON: If you want to change the law, change the law. But you normalize, but I think the president normalized an illegal activity in the mass majority of this country, and that's what I have a big problem with him. If you want to change the law, change the law.

HARLOW: You know, Marc, the president also said in this "New Yorker" article, he said, "It's not something I encourage. I've told my daughters it's a bad idea."

<19:20:02>

But we are at a time when we are in sweeping change in this country right now in terms of more and more people getting on board -- not everyone of course -- but more and more people getting onboard with the easing or the legalization of marijuana. We have seen it play out in several states.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. And that is why this is somewhat of an absurd argument, and Ben said a few things that I disagree with.

First, the president wasn't advocating violating the laws. If you remember the "New Yorker" article, he said we need to change the law.

FERGUSON: He wasn't up back the law. He wasn't backing up the law.

HILL: Remember, there's a gap between what's going on with the state level, and what's going on in the federal level. The president is saying we need to change the law.

He also said you shouldn't do it. So, let's not pretend the president is telling to roll up an (INAUDIBLE) tonight.

FERGUSON: Marc, he's the point -- I'm OK -- let me say this, I'm OK with the president of the United States of America coming out and saying, look, maybe we shouldn't put people in jail if they're using it for recreational use. That's one thing.

HILL: That's exactly what he said.

FERGUSON: Hold on, let me finish. When you come out and you normalize smoking marijuana, when you are the president of the United States of America, to young people --

HILL: He didn't normalize --

HARLOW: Well --

FERGUSON: He did normalize it because he equated it with alcohol. He equated it with alcohol, which is normalizing it.

HARLOW: Let me jump in here. Marc, to you, to the "New Yorker", and also in his interview with Jake Tapper, the president said a cautionary note here. He said that those who think that legalization are a panacea need to ask themselves some tough questions -- Marc.

HILL: Yes, he said that we should not romanticize legalization. Number two, he said, I tell my kids not to do it. Number three, he said it's a bad idea.

I don't see how saying something is a bad idea, maybe we shouldn't legalize, and it's not a panacea -- that's not normalizing it, nor is it making sound like a good thing.

HARLOW: Ben?

HILL: He's simply not willing to be like a group of people who say that it is the worst thing ever.

Marijuana is not heroin, and we don't have to pretend it is.

HARLOW: Ben, to you, do you think -- what do you react to the president saying, look, I'm not saying that you legalize it then, that that's a panacea?

FERGUSON: I think though when he came out and he talked about it and looks at it in the way of on the same level playing field with alcohol, and using it in the same sentence. It was done on purpose, and I think that is a very cautionary tale from the president of the United States of America to say that to kids, because some kids may not read into anything but say, you know what, the president of the United States say it is different, mom and dad or Mr. Police Officer, than alcohol, so back off me a little bit.

And when you are this important of an individual, this much of a role model, you don't let young people, especially, when this is something that people look up to him, and you don't equate it to alcohol and give the young kids the ability to say, look, the president said it's no different. Why are you going hard at me, Mr. Officer?

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: All right. Guys, guys, I have to wrap it up for a time. I will say, though, that he did say both are subject to abuse, and for anyone out there listening, young, any age of course, anything -- any substance like that being abused is a very bad thing.

Guys, stick around. We're going to have more after the break. Thank you for the lively discussion as always.

Make sure to tune in tomorrow morning for "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley. We're going to bring you Jake Tapper's entire sit-down with the president. It is a fascinating watch, covers a lot of topics that is only here on CNN, 9:00 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

<19:26:38>

HARLOW: All right. Back with the political commentators. They've agreed to talk. They're not so mad after the last segment. Marc Lamont Hill and Ben Ferguson.

We are done with the politics. We're done with the pot talk. We're talking about the Super Bowl.

I am sorry that your Eagles, Marc, and, Ben, your Cowboys, are not in the big game this year.

FERGUSON: No, they're not there.

HARLOW: Nor are my Vikings. But I want your predictions.

Let me start with you, Marc. Who is going to take it home tomorrow?

HILL: I've got to go with Denver. You know, Peyton Manning is maybe the best of all time and the best of the generation and I'm ready for him to tie his brother.

HARLOW: What do you think?

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: Can I just hold this up? I'm just going to have that there for you. That's all of the way.

And, by the way, a shout-out to, you know, the Tebow. We still believe. I got this when he went there and I thought, well, you might as bring it, because you know that somebody else is going to, so I am going with the Broncos.

HARLOW: But don't you think that people are watching to hear what Richard Sherman has to say after the game?

FERGUSON: Absolutely. I mean, I am, I'm not going the lie. Like it's going to be a great game, if he loses or wins, it doesn't matter.

HARLOW: Marc, don't get mad at Ben, but he is going to the game? What row, Ben?

FERGUSON: I'm not going say, anything, but it might be the fifth row, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Marc. If I had a extra ticket, I would have given it to you like a handout.

HARLOW: Right, and I will believe it when I see it.

Don, let's bring Don Lemon down in Super Bowl Boulevard into this conversation. Don, what are people saying down there? Who are they picking down there for the big one?

LEMON: Do not bring me into this mess between these two guys, because it is always a problem.

I'm going to say, listen -- oh, my gosh, they are so loud. This is from the "Simpson's" in 2005, the Seahawks 14 and the Broncos 19, and I'm going for the Broncos, and I want to show you to the score.

And who is going to win tomorrow?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seattle, Seattle!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, Denver, Denver.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I cannot heard a word that you are saying. I can't hear my own voice.

But listen a lot of people are going to the game, a lot of people are partying tonight, and some very lucky people, Poppy, are getting to stay in what is called the Bud Light Hotel. It's down on the Hudson River. It used to be a Norwegian cruise ship, and they have taken over the entire cruise ship, 3,000 guests, and mostly the VIPs for Budweiser, they're going to be there and they're going to be staying on this boat. They are going to be partying on the boat.

They took all of the logos of the Norwegian logos off, and put on the Bud Light Hotel logos.

HARLOW: Nice.

LEMON: There's also a big concert venue where you can see, who are the guest producers?

The Foo Fighters. And Run DMC, and the Fallout Boys and the Dragons. Everybody, Poppy.

So I know a few people, and maybe I can get you in, just so you know.

HARLOW: Hey, maybe. Hey, Don, Don, before we go, I have a lot of tweets about the nickname, and since you called me Popito, and we've got Donatello, and Lemonator and the Don. I think my favorite is Lemonator.

LEMON: I cannot hear you. (CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Thanks to Don on Super Bowl Boulevard. Thanks to our guests, Marc Lamont Hill, and Ben Ferguson, who are with us. Great to have guys, has always been. Have fun at the game.

Marc, have fun at home watching from your couch with some good treats, snacks. It's been fun being with you tonight.

<19:30:01>

Everyone, thank you for joining us here on CNN. Have fun Super Bowl CNN.

"Jay Leno, Mr. Comedy" begins right now.