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Wreckage of Chinese Balloon at FBI Lab for Analysis; Bill Would Let Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) Appointees Oversee Disney's Orlando-Area Parks; House Hearing on Close Calls, Travel Issues at U.S. Airports. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired February 07, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Just moments ago, the U.S. military released new images, there you can see them, these are Navy sailors recovering wreckage from that downed suspected Chinese spy balloon. It looks like pieces of the balloon infrastructure there, this taking place just off of the coast of South Carolina. Some of that debris has now made it to the FBI's laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, to be analyzed. They are going to be trying to extract whatever intelligence they can from it.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: These new images being released as China's government is now saying this morning, hey, that debris, that's ours. It belongs to China, not the United States. Good luck getting that back.

Joining us now is CNN's Carlos Suarez, who is North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, near the recovery effort this morning, CNN's Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon.

Carlos, just to begin with you, what is the latest there on the recovery effort?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim and Erica, that recovery effort is well under way. In fact, just a few minutes ago, it appears that the FBI has started to secure an area about 21 miles north of the main debris site. It's an area just to my right. It is where for the past three days the Navy has prepositioned a lot of their equipment, a lot of their boats as well as personnel. In fact, we were here bright and early this morning when more boats were brought out, more personnel came out. A lot of these folks were carrying some equipment with them. They had these oxygen tanks and at least two of those boats made their way toward that debris site.

Now, for better part of the day, we are told that crews out a few miles off of the coast of South Carolina, they have been using equipment essentially to try to get a better sense of just how much of this balloon is in some pretty shallow water. They apparently have been able to remove all of the debris that was at the surface of the ocean. However, they are still trying to get a better picture of what is out there. And then the hope is once they are able to do that, then they are going to be able to start the process of removing some of this debris.

But just as you guys mentioned, it is our understanding that some of the debris has already been put on a shape and has already made its way to Quantico for the FBI as well as other agencies to get involved, but again, right now, 21 miles north of that main search site, it appears that the FBI is working with the Navy to try to keep this area safe and secure in the event that any of that debris gets brought out to this location. Guys?

SCIUTTO: Oren at the Pentagon, we have been told that this surveillance balloon had surveillance capabilities, limited surveillance capabilities. And I know it is early in the investigation of the debris, but has the pentagon revealed anything about how much the U.S. has learned about those capabilities?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Not at this point, and that is going to be highly classified. So, that's not information that will simply come out easily or quickly, as the U.S. is able to get an up close and personal look at this and start to pick it apart and pull it apart.

It is interesting to follow what is now continued war of words between the U.S. and China on this. China went from repeatedly apologizing for them balloon, insisting it was a weather balloon and it was simply blown off course, now to an almost indignant statement saying that this balloon and wreckage of it is Chinese property and it should be returned to China. The U.S. has made it clear that's simply not happening at this point and it was over the U.S., in U.S. airspace and it was shot down in U.S. airspace, and the U.S. is going to keep it.

That continues this exchange of words that we have seen over the last couple of days, and the change in tone from China has been interesting to follow, again, going from apologetic to almost indignant at this point. China had also said that it reserves the right to do the same to any other surveillance balloons over Chinese territory. The Pentagon responding pretty much angrily to that, saying, the U.S. doesn't fly surveillance balloons over your territory, the U.S. abides by international law.

[10:35:03]

So, we are seeing this continued exchange here as we see the ongoing recovery effort. The next step will be recovering what's underwater. Navy divers have gone to just take a look, as well as unmanned underwater vessels with side-scan sonar. So, they're trying to get a sense of what's down there, how big it is and how best to lift it.

SCIUTTO: In terms of the escalation, genuine concerns, particularly as the rhetoric ratchets up. Oren Liebermann, Carlos Suarez, thanks so much to both of you.

HILL: Just ahead, Ticketmaster is facing a major test at this moment. The Beyonce pre-sale, so as we know, kicked off yesterday. How are things going? Are they going to avoid a Taylor Swift-style disaster? We'll discuss next.

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[10:40:00]

SCIUTTO: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ratcheting up his fight with one of the biggest companies in his state. Republican state lawmakers are proposing a bill that would allow DeSantis to pick who governs Disney's Orlando-area theme parks.

HILL: The measure is likely to pass, the Republican-led legislature within the next few weeks.

CNN's Leyla Santiago is following this legal fight for us. So, Leyla, what is in the bill? I think a lot of people who don't live in Florida aren't familiar with this, scratching their heads and saying, wait, how can they do that with a company? So, how will this work?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Listen, this is a very, very sort of complicated setup that Disney has here for now, anyway, but in this bill, it would essentially give the Florida governor more control over who governs Walt Disney World, and essentially take some of the power away from Disney. It gives the governor the ability to appoint who serves on the board for the special district. That special district is called Reedy Creek Improvement District for now, anyway.

And for more than half-a-century, it has allowed Disney to sort of self-govern in those Orlando-area theme parks. It allows them to maintain their own buildings, their own roads, even have their own fire department. On that board right now, land owners with ties, close ties to Disney, this bill would change that, and put that control into the hands of the governor. This bill would also change the name of that special district.

Now, the Republicans that I have talked to tell me, look, this is about leveling the playing field, this is about making sure that one company, in this case, one of the largest employers in Florida, does not have any sort of special privileges here. But the critics will remind you quickly of the history here, because this has been sort of a year-long feud of Governor DeSantis and Disney.

And if you can remember last year, when Florida decided to strip Disney of that special district, this came at a time when the critics said this is about retaliation, this is about the governor seeking revenge for Disney speaking out against a then-bill that limited how gender identity and sexual orientation was discussed in the classroom.

What Disney is saying today, well, we got a statement after this bill was filed yesterday, and in it, the president of Walt Disney World Resort says Disney works under a number of different models and jurisdictions around the world. And regardless of the outcome, we remain committed to providing the highest quality experience for the millions of guests who visit each year.

Again, this was a bill, a very long bill, 189 pages, filed yesterday for the special session. So, we will have to see sort of if any changes or what actually gets through this legislature, but it is a legislature that is controlled by Republicans. So, by all accounts, it is expected to pass. Erica, Jim?

SCIUTTO: Leyla Santiago, thanks so much.

HILL: Well, the beehive is buzzing with activity this morning. In just a few hours, Beyonce fans who managed to sign up for pre-sale access to her world tour will have a chance once again to snap up the ticket. So, everybody watching this really intently, because remember T. Swift and Ticketmaster? Boy, was that a mess.

So, how are they doing things differently this time around for Beyonce? Joining us is Lance Ulanoff, he's the U.S. editor-in-chief TechRadar. Always good to see you, my friend.

So, there was a lot of blowback understandably for how poorly that was managed. We even saw some hearings about what happened. This has been a little bit differently. So, fans who want to go, how to pre- register, they're also rolling this out in a staggered fashion, so not all dates are on sale at the same time. How is it working so far?

LANCE ULANOFF, U.S. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, TECHRADAR: Much better. I mean, I am hearing stories about people getting through within ten minutes and I think that's -- look, it is the big difference between saying opening the door to a billion people all at once or opening 100 doors scheduled over time, and you just even the best and the most powerful and scaled up system is going to have trouble when you do it all at once. So that's been a big difference, location base has been a big difference. They are really trying with the pre-verification to weed out the bots.

You are looking for, before you even get to the point of trying to buy these tickets, any kind of activity that looks like bot-like behavior. And there are all these different -- it is a lot of hoops to jump through because you have to be kind of like verified, like you have to sign up for fan sites. There are multiple of this, the Bey Hive pre- sale site, there's the Citibank pre-sale site, there's the Verizon one. So, you can sign up for any of those.

But one of the things that I'm reminding people is, I demand, no guarantee you're going to get this. And even after you have done all of that verification, you still get an access code. Now, the access code is texted to you. That is very important. Because, right away, it is almost like two-factor authentication, coming to the phone that you used to sort of register for everything. So, it starts to put people together with tickets as opposed to a bot, where it becomes harder for a bot to basically act as if it is human.

HILL: There were also some questions about, right, hopefully getting more of the bots out of the picture so that they are not buying up tickets and then reselling them at astronomical prices. We see humans reselling them at astronomical prices We also refuse to that. I mean, my producer, Deb and I, we looked this morning we found some seats here in the New York area, nosebleed, $321. You can pay a lot more there, and we know, in other places. We look at some of those prices there.

In terms of limiting the resale, though, there has also been talk about shifting when and how you can resell your tickets.

ULANOFF: Yes. Well, look, at this moment, that is obviously not happening. There are already tickets for resale on StubHub, and other sites like that, and on eBay, I found tickets for thousands of dollars. So, people are turning around and reselling the tickets, but I have not seen as many. So, this -- the process and sort of the hurdles that Ticketmaster has put in place seem to be helping some.

HILL: It is such a difference of from when I remember sitting on the phone for hours on end, right, trying to get through or even going to wait in line to get a ticket. I am dating us now, Lance. But this --

ULANOFF: Well, even then, there were bots. Even then, we were fighting technology. It is just that the technology is so much better and so faster. So, I have to give Ticketmaster credit for what they have done, because at least at this moment, it seems like a better situation for people.

HILL: Do you see -- really quickly, do you see this as sort of the way of the future especially for these big, super popular tours, you have to jump through a few hoops, you have to pre-register, a staggered rollout, is that the answer?

ULANOFF: Well, it is certainly part of the answer. It's what they should have done in the first place, and how they did not understand this was going to happen. And, by the way, it is kind of a monopoly, so all of the ticket-buying is consolidated in one place. So, this was going to happen. This is how they have to handle in the future. And they're going to have to continue to work to fight the bots because the bots will change strategies starting from now.

HILL: Yes. Lance Ulanoff, I appreciate it. Thank you.

ULANOFF: My pleasure.

SCIUTTO: Well, right now, lawmakers are getting their chance to grill the officials from the FAA and the airline industry about the myriad travel issues we have seen in recent months, from near misses, dangerous one, to the Southwest holiday meltdown. Details on what exactly they are pressing for, coming up.

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[10:50:00]

HILL: Happening now, officials from the FAA, the NTSB and the nation's largest pilots union all on Capitol Hill for a highly anticipated hearing on aviation safety. Lawmakers are looking to address several recent issues, which include that recent close call between a Southwest and FedEx jet in Austin. That happened on just Saturday.

SCIUTTO: It was so close. I mean, and look at that simulation there. They will also examine the FAA computer outage because of nationwide ground stop last month, and the Southwest Airlines meltdown that left thousands stranded over the holidays, a lot of bad moments in recent weeks.

CNN's Pete Muntean joins us now. Pete, I wonder what's the top of the list. I mean, they've got a lot to discuss here.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, really, these last two issues involving these planes that were having near collisions on the runway are really apparently what is taking center stage right away. And what is so interesting is that we have already heard from the NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. She leads that agency that's investigating this latest incident in Austin where two planes almost landed on top of each other. She tells me now that they came within 100 feet of one another. And she is speaking right now at this hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

And she said what is so interesting here is that the cockpit voice recorder data was lost from one of the planes in this incident the limitation, the requirement right now, is only for that data to last for two hours. It records for two hour and then everything before it is gone, it vaporizes.

SCIUTTO: So, it kept rolling, in effect, and that was lost?

MUNTEAN: That's right. And the NTSB wants this extended to 25 hours. They say that should be the minimum.

The common thread between this incident and everything the incident in JFK of a couple of weeks ago, three weeks ago, where two planes almost hit each other on the runway, one crossed on the taxi in front of it, is that data from the planed that continued on, the American Airlines plane that crossed the taxiway, that flight went to London, that data from the cockpit voice recorder was also lost. So, this is something that the NTSB is really zeroing in.

SCIUTTO: You're telling me you have close encounter like that , and you don't -- there's no requirement to automatically save that data?

MUNTEAN: Yes, in some cases, in some instances, the data just gets deleted, it gets wiped. And so that is just the really key part here that the NTSB is missing some really key investigative evidence in both of these cases. They have the air traffic control audio. Of course, they will listen to interviews from the pilots. They will also interview the air traffic controllers involved in these cases. But without the actual audio on board the plane, which is so telling, it's not just the conversations between the pilots but you also hear what the engines sound like, what is actually going on, you hear throwing of the switches, it is really granular detail, and so that can provide some really key insight, and that's what the NTSB is zeroing in on now.

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SCIUTTO: Necessary to prevent the next one from happening.

MUNTEAN: That's right.

SCIUTTO: Pete Muntean, thanks so much. HILL: Thanks to all of you for joining us today. I'm Erica Hill.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

At This Hour with Kate Bolduan starts right after a short break.

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