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Unidentified Objects Shot Down Off The Coast Of Alaska; Trump Team Turns Over More Classified Materials; NORAD Monitoring Objects That Could Be Additional Spy Balloons; Rescue Crews Still Finding People Alive Almost Six Days After Earthquake; White House Says Biden's Super Bowl Interview With FOX Is Off; Poll: Trump, DeSantis Dominate Early 2024 GOP Field; Parents On Upcoming Fifth Anniversary Of Parkland Massacre; Biden Calls For Assault Weapons Ban During SOTU; More Than 100 Million Expected To Watch Super Bowl LVII. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired February 11, 2023 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:29]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

New this hour, dramatic new details about the unidentified object shot down by fighter jets just miles off the coast of Alaska yesterday. Unlike the Chinese spy balloon shot down last Saturday, this object demanded more immediate action yesterday. Officials say it was flying much lower at 40,000 feet making it a dangerous potential threat to civilian aircraft. But now we are learning that U.S. Military pilots who approached the craft have given conflicting accounts of what they saw.

This new report coming in now from CNN national security reporter Natasha Bertrand.

Natasha, so this is interesting. This is kind of unusual that these pilots saw different things and that is sort of, I guess, adding to the mystery of all this.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, not even the pilots apparently were really able to identify what they saw.

Just to take you back for a sec. On Thursday the U.S. Defense officials sent F-35 fighter jets up to try to figure out what this object that was flying around near Alaska. Those pilots we have learned have given very conflicting accounts of what they actually experienced with some pilots saying that the object interfered with the plane's sensors. Other pilots saying that they didn't really experience that. Other pilots saying that when they looked at the object they could identify no identifiable propulsion system and they did not know how it was actually staying in the air cruising at that altitude of about 40,000 feet.

So this has all added to the Pentagon's weariness of describing in more detail what this object actually is until they can get more information through the debris that they are recovering right now. ACOSTA: And what do we know about the efforts to recover the wreckage

of this second object? It looks like NORAD just put out an e-mail a short time ago and it sounds like they're trying to recover it.

BERTRAND: It did, and what we were told yesterday is that the object was shot down over frozen water. So it landed on the ice essentially. We don't know what kind of condition it's in, whether it is intact, for example. But recovery efforts have been launched. And according to the Defense Department, they have been able to recover a significant amount of debris. Now notably they still don't know what this object is, where it came from, or even what direction it was headed in, or what direction it came from.

It is just all very murky at this point. But they do say that the FBI is going to be taking the lead on analyzing the debris. If that sounds familiar, it's because just last week we saw that another Chinese spy balloon, another -- I shouldn't say Chinese spy balloon because we don't know what this one actually is.

ACOSTA: Right.

BERTRAND: Was shot down, also being analyzed by the FBI. But right now there are just so many more questions than answers -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. And as the hours go on it gets more and more mysterious.

All right, Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much.

Let's bring in former CIA operative Bob Baer.

Bob, this is starting to sound like something out of the "X-Files." I don't want to get carried away here but what do you make of these different assessments coming in from the pilots of what they saw?

ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Jim, the speed of those airplanes, F-35s, it's no wonder they all saw different things. And as far as intercepting communications to that vehicle, it's very difficult. I don't want to get too technical but it could be, you know, frequency hopping, you know, the propulsion. There's so many questions out there that you're absolutely right, not until they actually go through the debris and see what it's made of and what it looks like and the communications.

Obviously there was some sort of propulsion system that was driving that vehicle. And don't forget NORAD, the Doppler radar is probably going back and looking at where it came from, and see if they can track it back to, I don't know, China, Russia, wherever. But it's a great mystery. I'm absolutely fascinated by this.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, one U.S. official tells us there was no obvious surveillance equipment on board. You know, some of this is the initial information, initial reporting that comes in. And I suppose things change as they assess what they have on the ground or on the ice there. What does that tell you if that ends up being the case?

BAER: Well, there's a couple of things that I take away from this, and if it's a foreign made object and it was sent from a place like China or Russia, it's some sort of provocation against us. I can't imagine a vehicle like this would give the Chinese or the Russians a real intelligence advantage of collecting photograph or signals or things like that. But I think what bothers NORAD and the White House is these probes.

We now know there was, what, a total of five balloons, Chinese balloons that have come over the United States?

[16:05:05]

Why are the Chinese doing this? Who's ordering it? And why would you do it right before Blinken, the secretary of State, is on his way to Beijing? That makes no sense to me, is the -- you know, with the balloon, was it the Chinese military? Did it struck out on its own? So all of these questions, analysts at the CIA and the White House are looking through, to try to piece this together.

Remember, these balloons are flying over 40 places across the world, these Chinese balloons, and there are a lot of aerial vehicles. I've been involved in. We've never been able to identify from radar. One we saw I remember I was involved in was going Mach 6 which made no sense at all to anybody. And eventually it was shelved to figure it out.

ACOSTA: Wow. And I guess, you know, the question that you're leading me to with the comments on China is that we have one of two situations, I suppose. One is they're just trying to provoke the U.S. to see what the response might be. The other would be that Xi and the military might not be on the same page, that the folks who want to try to conduct diplomacy with the United States are not on the same page as the military. Could that be it?

BAER: Exactly. The People's Liberation Army is very difficult to understand and would they act in non-accordance with Xi? We don't know. I mean, is China close to some sort of military takeover with all these COVID protocols that closed down the economy? These are very hard questions to answer and for American intelligence getting inside these circles is nearly impossible. It's always been impossible, but it's certainly something the analysts are picking through right now.

ACOSTA: All right. Bob Baer, we'll stay on top of it. The truth is out there. Thank you very much.

Turning now to the classified documents saga, speaking of mystery and intrigue. In recent months former President Donald Trump's legal team gave federal prosecutors more materials with classified markings plus a laptop belonging to an aide. That's according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation.

And CNN's Zachary Cohen is here. What else did the Trump team turn over? It sort of feels like the saga continues here a little bit.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. In addition to the laptop and documents they also gave over a thumb drive that our sources are telling us that an aide to Trump, a current aide, unintentionally copied these classified files on to this thumb drive and on the laptop itself. Those were both given over to prosecutors.

But what's really remarkable here is that, you know, multiple months ago the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago with a search warrant, you know, had to go in there because they believed that there was evidence that records were being concealed, they were moved, and now, you know, two months after that raid we're still seeing classified documents being found at Mar-a-Lago. So a lot of questions as to why that's the case and are there more out there, too?

ACOSTA: Right. I thought they had assured everyone that this was it. That everything had been turned over and they had gone through all of this trouble and being in the middle of the special counsel probe on top of it.

But let's turn to the FBI search for documents inside former Vice President Mike Pence's home. That did not come up empty exactly. What can you tell us about that?

COHEN: And this search is done voluntarily. Pence allowed the FBI to come in and search his home after his attorney did initial search and, you know, it did turn up another classified document with classified markings and six additional pages that didn't have classified markings on them but they were taken by the FBI. So it's not clear exactly what level of sensitivity these documents are, what they're really about.

But it couldn't -- it was not what the Pence team was looking to have happened. They did not want this review to be extended, to be prolonged. And now of course this is going to make it go on longer. Especially as Pence is eyeing a 2024 run he doesn't really want this hanging over his head.

ACOSTA: No, he does not. All right. Zachary Cohen, thank you very much.

Joining me now to talk about this is CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI director Andrew McCabe.

Andrew, the Trump team handed over these materials in December or January, at least that's how we understand it at this point. Does this suggest that the Justice Department's efforts to retrieve these records may not be done yet? I mean, it sounds like they haven't looked under all the sofa cushions down at Mar-a-Lago, I suppose.

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, if you remember, Jim, there's never been a cooperative kind of understanding between the two sides in this dispute, that being of course the Trump team and now special counsel investigators. We had our search warrant last summer at Mar-a-Lago and apparently the search warrant didn't pick up all of the items that were located on the premises.

The investigators have also never had a chance to search other premises so they haven't seen the Bedminster golf club, they haven't been to Trump Tower as far as we know.

[16:10:01] And we also know that the special prosecutor's team has really gone a few rounds in court with the Trump team about the private search that they conducted with their own attorneys or investigators. So there's clearly some unfinished business here on the part of the government in terms of being confident that they've located and recovered all of the classified material.

ACOSTA: And how concerning is this laptop issue would you say?

MCCABE: I think it's quite concerning. It's possibly far more concerning than just individualized documents which, you know, if they were held in some sort of storage at Mar-a-Lago it's possible they were never exposed to anyone else. The first question I'd have for the electronic versions of these classified materials would be where was that laptop? Was it plugged in and connected to the internet?

Is there any possibility that that laptop was targeted by any individuals who should not have had access to classified material be they state sponsored or criminal actors or fraudsters or whoever that might be? So I think it opens up a whole -- a whole new doorway on many questions that we haven't thought about with respect to the hard copy documents so far.

ACOSTA: And what do you make of these latest reports in terms of what was turned up at the former vice president's home, Mike Pence's home?

MCCABE: You know, I'm not surprised, Jim, that the FBI found one additional classified document. I mean, it's unlikely that a private search by the former vice president's attorneys is ever going to be quite as thorough as a bunch of FBI agents who do this for a living.

The six additional pages that did not hold classified markings, that could be anything from materials that the agents thought might just qualify as presidential records and therefore unclassified but should be returned to the National Archives or it could be just matters that discussed in their content, things that are likely classified, for whatever reason they were never portion marked with classification markings.

And that's the sort of stuff that typically gets what we call up classified after the fact. So that might be handwritten notes from a telephone conversation or something like that. So obviously they're taking that stuff back to review it and kind of make a more, you know, thoughtful determination as to what exactly that is.

ACOSTA: I just have to ask you about this object that was shot down off of Alaska. Did any of this kind of business, spy balloon business, spy craft business ever come across your desk over at the FBI? Is this something that the FBI would be involved in in terms of monitoring or trying to get to the bottom of?

MCCABE: You know, Jim, the FBI is very deeply involved. As the lead for counterintelligence in the United States, the FBI is very deeply involved in tracking all sorts of aggressive foreign intelligence collection within the continental United States, and oftentimes that involves actors like China, like Russia deploying technologies that we haven't seen before, deploying methods and individuals that we haven't seen before.

So the surprise -- and being in this position of trying to figure out what happened after the fact is a very familiar place for the FBI. I'm not surprised that they are essentially running the exploitation phase of looking at the remnants of these devices and trying to put them back together and make good assessments as to what their capabilities were and what they might have been doing.

ACOSTA: Yes. And it's a huge mystery right now as to what this other object is. Everybody is trying to get to the bottom of it.

Andrew McCabe, thank you very much. As always, we appreciate it.

MCCABE: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. It's a miracle in Turkey where they desperately need one. A 16-year-old boy is one of several children rescued alive five and a half days after this major earthquake. CNN is live as rescue efforts continue there.

And almost five years ago to the day, a gunman went to Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida and started shooting. Coming up, I'll talk to two fathers about how their lives have dramatically changed since that tragic attack.

And later, Florida's governor takes on Disney as Ron DeSantis is ready to sign a new bill into law that gives him more power over the state's famous theme parks. Stay with us.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:18:40]

ACOSTA: Breaking news just now into CNN. NORAD says it is tracking additional objects that could be spy balloons. One day after shooting down a high altitude object near the U.S.-Canadian border.

CNN's Paula Newton joins us on the phone. Paula, what can you tell us?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, it would seem that this would be at least a third now high altitude device that they have told NORAD, confirming to CNN that military aircraft are currently, right now, observing that there is in their words a high altitude airborne object over northern Canada.

The NORAD, of course, the North American Airspace Defense Command, (INAUDIBLE) specifics at this time. But you could imagine, Jim, how worrying this is and whether or not the chain of command, again either Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or U.S. President Joe Biden will be making a decision as to whether or not this is a threat, if it can be brought down safely, and if there was an issue as to whether or not it must be brought down. Again, they're calling it a high altitude object. They're not saying what it is at this point or if they, you know, have been able to get eyes on exactly what it is. But I know, Jim, just from CNN's reporting in the last few hours, I

mean, you just discussed, right, the confusion that there is in terms of understanding what these objects are, why they are flying through the northern territories of both the United States and Canada, and what is at work. And remember, again, that although we understand that the first object that was shot down was from China, we still have no confirmation who is responsible for the second one or who possibly is responsible now for at least this third one.

[16:20:08]

Again, a bit worrying if you're the U.S. administration or Canada right now trying to understand exactly what the motive is, who might be behind this and whether or not you actually need to scramble jets at this hour, whether it's from Canada or the United States, to shoot down this object -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Paula Newton, we know you will stay on top of it. Get back to us as soon as you can if you have any other developments for us.

Paula Newton reporting that NORAD tracking an additional object detected over northern Canada. As those developments come in, we'll bring them to you. But moving on to other news this afternoon.

The death toll in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria is now over 25,000 people. The U.N.'s aide chief is calling it the worst disaster in the region in 100 years. Despite all the devastation, rescue crews are still finding and saving people trapped in the rubble nearly six days after the incident.

CNN's Nada Bashir joins us now from Istanbul. Nada, what's the latest on the recovery effort?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Jim, that recovery effort is certainly still ongoing. While hope is dwindling, we have seen some remarkable rescues throughout the day today across parts of southeastern Turkey. Some amazing videos of the efforts by rescue workers still digging through that rubble to find survivors in the city of Kahramanmaras.

We saw video of a 16-year-old boy named Hadid (PH), he was rescued by recovery workers around 135 hours after being buried beneath the rubble. That video showing him being surrounded by rescue workers and medics. And he wasn't the only one. Another pretty amazing video which emerged of a young girl around 3 or 4 years old. She was rescued in the same city after 132 hours buried beneath the rubble.

Video showing her being rescued, cared for. Of course, she was a clearly distressed in this video, but the medics were seen there caring for her. And another video shared online as well. We see her being cared for by medics, telling them that she wants a whole lot of Coca-Cola once she is able to. But also her father was later rescued also buried beneath the rubble for 132 hours. He was rescued in good health according to the medics. Crowds, of course, gathering around the area waiting for their rescue.

But there's also a sad message there from the father pleading with the rescue workers to continue searching for his wife who he said was still alive lying beside two dead bodies. And of course that is the reality here. While we are seeing these remarkable videos emerging, there are so many others missing believed to be buried beneath the rubble. Many loved ones waiting for news of their relatives who they are waiting for desperately searching for, across southeast Turkey and also (INAUDIBLE).

ACOSTA: So, so very devastating. All right, Nada Bashir, thank you very much for that report.

The sheer scale of this disaster has left aide groups stunned and in need of so much help. Chef Jose Andres knows a lot about that. He joins us now. He is founder of World Central Kitchen, an organization serving up meals to people in need in disaster zones and war zones all over the world.

Jose, it's great to see you. I know you're dealing with so much right now. And it's very late. What can you tell us in terms of what it's like being on the ground where you are? What are you seeing?

JOSE ANDRES, FOUNDER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Well, I want to add to our previous reporter was telling you. We were kind of having a mini- celebration with a simple soup in the place where we were staying because we met a young man called Morat, that him and his friends volunteers. They came to east far remote city called Elbistan. They heard a voice as they were walking. They heard the voice of a young girl.

ACOSTA: Wow.

ANDRES: And a few hours ago, less than four or five hours ago, they went to the rescue workers that they were already leaving the town, they plead please come back, we think we heard a voice. They said we've been working there now for one day, and we couldn't hear anything. At the end, they came back. They found that young 23-year- old girl. The town is celebrating because everybody celebrates every moment, every rescue. So sorry, I wanted to share this with you following the previous report.

ACOSTA: Of course. I mean, it just shows that there's still hope of finding people in this rubble. And I guess I have to ask you, that means a lot of food is going to be needed to go into these areas for not just the survivors but the rescuers as well. Is it difficult to get supplies in because of the devastation?

ANDRES: I will say that slowly but surely supplies are moving but obviously, remember, this is a very extensive earthquake.

[16:25:05]

This is like 10 Port-au-Prince earthquakes from 2010 at once. It's the only time that you see these by many other small cities all across a huge area of more than 350 kilometers. So, yes, in these cities very much supermarkets are closed. The life has stopped completely.

Therefore, we need to make sure that we keep bringing food from faraway places like Adana, within the capital Istanbul. So it's a lot of people, a lot of restaurants, hotels. Obviously their FEMA of America, which is called AFAD, they have their own little kitchens in the different towns that they are building tents so they can host all the people that lost their homes.

So the job of everybody is making sure that we have enough food to be feeding everybody until a few weeks, or months from now restaurants begin opening, supermarkets begin opening again, and normal life continues. So it's essential that everybody, NGOs, and all the organizations, we do whatever we can to make sure that everybody is fed in this very difficult hour.

ACOSTA: And what is your sense of the rescue effort? Are there enough rescuers? I mean, you were just describing something along the lines of 10 Port-au-Prince scale disasters. Are there enough people there on the ground?

ANDRES: In the plane I came, it landed in Istanbul. I was in Madrid at the time and two SAR teams from Spain, from Valencia and Zaragoza, were coming. Each one with two to four dogs. I know many other came with dogs. Dogs, we know they are essential. Some of the SAR team members were telling me, this is so massive that there are not enough dogs prepared for search and rescue.

They are always telling me when I was talking to them because every day we would be talking to the people they found, and when they were happy, when they were not so happy because they were not lucky, that so many buildings were so much destruction that for them was, what building we search first? It never ends. So this is very massive. This is something like many say we've never seen something like this.

Two earthquakes back to back. Back to back of over 7.0 magnitude. 7.4 and 7.6. Therefore, their comments was not enough dogs maybe in the entire world used to do in less than four or five days that they say is the maximum time frame that they can hope to find somebody alive. Not enough people. Actually, in the place I am right now, I'm freezing. It's minus 10 Celsius degrees. So imagine people under the rubble for so many days on top of the cold. Obviously entire buildings above their bodies. Actually it's been really, really, really very lucky that today they were able to still find so many people.

ACOSTA: Well, we hope that continues and, Chef Jose Andres, we're learning just in the last several minutes the death toll has risen above 28,000 people in Syria and Turkey. We have to expect that number is going to continue to go higher.

Thank you, Chef Jose Andres, for the work you do at World Central Kitchen. Just an invaluable, invaluable organization. Stay safe. Thanks so much. We hope to check in with you again. But thank you so much.

ANDRES: Thank you. ACOSTA: All right. And for more information on how you can help

victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, go to CNN.com/impact. We have a list there of great resources and organizations like Jose's and of course we'll continue to bring developments from Turkey and Syria as they develop as well.

In the meantime, we continue to follow the breaking news as NORAD confirmed it is tracking another high altitude object that could be a spy balloon. We're not talking about the situation that was dealt with yesterday off the coast of Alaska. We're talking about a new object that NORAD is monitoring at this hour in northern Canada, as Paula Newton was describing to us a few minutes ago. Stay with CNN for the very latest on that.

And still ahead, will he or won't he? The strange back and forth between President Biden and FOX, and the possible snub. It sounds like it's not going to happen that could break something of a Super Bowl tradition.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:34:01]

ACOSTA: All right. The White House says President Biden will not sit down for an interview with FOX to be played during the Super Bowl.

The network and the White House have been going back and forth on scheduling an interview.

The sit-downs have been something of a tradition going back to 2009. And broken once by then-President Trump in 2018.

Let's discuss with our CNN political commentators, Democratic strategist, Maria Cardona, and Republican strategist, Alice Stewart. Together they co-host the "Hot Mics from Left to Right" podcast.

Maria, was this a missed opportunity? The president handled the Republicans fairly well on the night of the State of the Union. Why not FOX?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, I do believe he could have handled anything. He was incredible the night of the State of the Union and I think he showed he could handle anything that is thrown his way, including a FOX interview.

But look, the fact of the matter is that FOX news for a very long time now is not on the level. And I don't think that this was ever going to be a real interview.

[16:35:00]

And so for the purposes of what the White House wants to do and what President Biden is doing, I think him going out to states and districts and talking to the American people directly. About the huge accomplishments that he talked during the State of the Union about is a much better way to use his time. Much more effective giving that message directly to the American people.

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's a tremendous fumble on the part of the White House. Look, I think there are a few people at FOX that would do a fair job. Shannon Bream comes to mind. She would be fair and given a good interview.

Look, any time you have an opportunity to present your message and make your case to an audience, you should absolutely do so.

They're expecting 100 million people to tune into the Super Bowl. These are not just FOX News viewers. These are middle America people. These are undecided voters. These are people in states where he really needs to get his message out to.

The fact that he would not sit down to do this interview, I think he's missing a great chance to really get his case out there. If he wants to run on his record, this is a great time to debate it.

ACOSTA: Maria, let me ask you, speaking of the former president, he didn't do NBC, right?

CARDONA: Right. Right, exactly.

ACOSTA: He didn't do NBC during one of those Super Bowls.

But we saw -- I mean, Trump was really looming over a lot of the news this week, starting with the State of the Union. His former press secretary delivered the Republican response.

And then you saw during some of these hearings up on Capitol Hill this past week you had the Twitter hearing. That was obviously tailor made for an audience of one. Remember the old audience of one, Donald Trump.

The so-called weaponization subcommittee hearing also seemed to be going after old Trump grudges and so on.

I just wondered, is this what Democrats were hoping for?

CARDONA: Well, it is certainly the reality that Trump and specifically Trumpism is dominating the current Republican Party. And especially the Republican Party that is now -- has control of the House of Representatives.

We saw it when it took Kevin McCarthy 15 times to get the speakership. And each and every single time, he had to sell out and, you know, put together a corrupt bargain, each and every time because the MAGA extremist didn't think he was MAGA extremist enough. So he had to prove them otherwise.

But I do think it's dangerous moving into the presidential election at 2024 because I know so many people, including my dear friend, Alice, would love that the Republican Party's turning the page on Trump to be true.

I don't see that being true yet. And, yes, he certainly has been diminished. He certainly has -- you see it in polls apparently.

But you also see that so many people are getting ready to jump into this race. And the more people that jump into this race, the more it benefits Trump.

And the more I think it riles up his core native base. And they're the ones that will come out in massive, massive droves for him.

ACOSTA: Alice, you wanted the party to move on but it didn't seem like the party was moving on.

STEWART: It is turning the page. Rational Republicans, key Republican donors are looking elsewhere. And they want to see someone else besides Donald Trump. They want to see someone that has his policies and represents the issues that he represents but without the dumpster fire that Donald Trump brings along. We're going to see that.

Yes, I expect to see a large field on the Republican side because there are many people that represent what Republicans are looking for. Nikki Haley is expected to get in this week.

I think that's good. I think a robust, healthy primary is a good thing.

My message to anyone who's thinking about getting in against Donald Trump, let the vetting begin. Fight to win. And coalesce in the end. Coalesce away from Donald Trump.

Because we need all of those Republicans that are not Donald Trump to get together and get behind one person in order to beat him in the primary.

He's got a strong base. But the Republican nominee needs to keep his base on board, broaden the electorate in order to take on what appears to be Joe Biden.

CORDONA: The problem is Republican donors are very different from the core of the voters that have become the Republican Party.

And the dumpster fire was alive and well. We saw it the night of the State of the Union when they were acting out their dumpster fire-ness right in the president's face, and he took them on and he buried them.

So I think, for the presidential -- on behalf of the Republican Party, Alice, you know the more people you have running in the Republican Party, the easier it is for Trump to win.

Because he didn't win with a majority in 2016. He doesn't need to win with a majority this time around.

STEWART: And that's what's going to happen. Again, I expect to see a large number of people get in. We've heard and seen all the names of the people out there. But look, you have to remember, right now, it's very early. Comparable

--

CARDONA: Agreed.

STEWART: -- comparison in the 2016 race. This time in 2016, it was Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. Both out of money and enthusiasm by the time we got to the caucuses and the primaries.

[16:40:03]

This is very early. A lot of the names we're talking about now probably are not going to make it in the end.

But the polls show that if we get at least the top two or three behind Donald Trump and all of their supporters behind them, they'll have more of an opportunity to beat Donald Trump, and in turn, beat the Democrat.

ACOSTA: All right. We'll have to keep an eye on that.

CARDONA: We'll see.

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA: There was a lot there. The all-in-one pack.

All right, Maria and Alice, thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Stay with us for the very latest as NORAD confirmed it is tracking yet another high-altitude object that could be a spy balloon.

We're not talking about the thing yesterday in Alaska. This is something else that we're following today. Sometimes hard to keep track of but we're staying on top of it.

But next, Tuesday will mark five years since 17 people were shot and killed at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. We'll check in with the fathers of two of the victims that have since turned their pain into purpose. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:06]

ACOSTA: This Tuesday will mark five years since a gunman killed 17 people at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

For my next guests, that is a day of remembrance for their children who never came home from school that day.

We're joined now by Fred Guttenberg. His daughter, 14-year-old, Jaime Guttenberg, was killed in that school shooting. Fred Guttenberg is also the co-author of the upcoming book, "American Carnage, Shattering the Myths that Fuel Gun Violence."

Also joining us now, Max Schachter. His 14-year-old son, Alex, was killed that day. He's the founder and executive director of Safe Schools for Alex. Its mission is to ensure all children can learn in a safe environment.

Fred and Max, you're talking to a dad on this end. It means so much that you're both talking to me.

I know this must be a very hard time for each of you and your families. How will you be marking this anniversary on Tuesday?

And, Fred, let me start with you first. I see you're wearing a Florida Panthers jersey. That appears to be part of this process.

FRED GUTTENBERG, FATHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM JAIME & AUTHOR: It absolutely is.

And as always, good to see you, my friend.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTTENBERG: Tuesday we're going to spend privately with my daughter at the cemetery, which is how we've done it every year.

You know, the past five years has been a series of amazing people and organizations that have helped us to go forward and get through it.

For me, the Florida Panthers is one of those organizations. My son grew up playing ice hockey. We have a deep personal connection with the Florida Panthers family.

And they have gone out of their way since the shooting to always recognize our families, the community, to commemorate every year.

And in fact, maybe the only sports team with a permanent memorial inside their building dedicated to our 17 families. I don't know of another sports team that would have ever done something like that. But they've been tremendous.

I know Max has got some connections with the Heat. They've been wonderful as well.

It is such an important part of our ability to go forward in a way and continue to live life, which we still need to do.

ACOSTA: Yes.

Max, what will Tuesday be like for you and your family?

MAX SCHACHTER, FATHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM ALEX & FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SAFE SCHOOLS FOR ALEX: I'm going to be at the commemoration in Parkland. And I'm going to be with family.

We're going to be there remembering all the great times that we had with Alex and missing him every day and trying to do everything we can, like Fred, to prevent this from ever happening again.

ACOSTA: Both kids -- we're showing the pictures on screen. They're beautiful kids.

It's just great to talk with both of you.

Let me ask you a little bit about solutions, potential solutions.

Fred, President Biden called for an assault weapons ban at the State of the Union address on Tuesday night beginning by referring to the civilian hero who disarmed the Monterey Park gunman.

Let's listen to that just real quick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He saved lives. It's time we do the same. Ban assault weapons now!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: Ban them now!

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: Once and for all.

In the 10 years that ban was law, mass shootings went down. After he let it expire in a Republican administration, mass shootings tripled. Let's finish the job and ban these assault weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Fred, are you hopeful?

GUTTENBERG: I am. Because President Biden has promised things on gun violence to me in the past and he has been able to deliver.

We never had a real director of the ATF. We passed, for the first time, gun safety legislation in this country, for the first time in like 30 years.

I also am realistic. While in the past three elections, we have added more gun safety champions to the House and the Senate, even in the past cycle, we have -- in Florida, from an elections standpoint was a disaster, we still elected Jared Moskowicz and Maxwell Fos.

So I am hopeful. But we need one more election.

With this current House, with these current leaders in the House who refuse to govern or take safety seriously, we're going to have to fire them. But I think we can get it done.

ACOSTA: And, Max, the Parkland school shooter was sentenced last year to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He did not get the death penalty.

Max, I know that did not sit well with you. What do you see as some of the solutions here?

[16:50:02]

SCHACHTER: Yes. As I travel the country, Jim, there's still so much complacency. And so many people have the mindset that it's not going to happen there. We had that mindset in Parkland.

And, you know, unfortunately, we know that this is going to happen again. The next school mass murderer is out there. The next gun that he's going to use, he already has.

My mission is to make school safety a year-round priority. And not just after the shooting.

Every morning we need to think about how we can make our schools safer. When we wake up and when we put our heads down on the pillow.

And our country needs to be more proactive. Instead of being so reactionary, we want everyone to learn the lessons from Parkland so that it never happens again. And there's so much that we can do.

President Biden just passed the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which included the Luke and Alex School Safety Act, named after my little boy.

And that codified the new federal school safety clearinghouse that has lessons learned and best practices for every school district and every parent to go to.

It's a resource. And it's schoolsafety.gov. I encourage everyone to go to schoolsafety.gov.

Because there are solutions to make our schools safer, not only best practices but they have a grant finder tool that has billions of dollars of grants available for school districts to make them safer.

ACOSTA: Well, we certainly want to see that. And it was terrific to see that bipartisan action get going. And I think it wouldn't have happened without the movement that really got galvanized after Parkland.

And I know that both of you have been through so much, but what a legacy for you, the families there in that community.

We thank you both so much for your time. Of course, we'll have you back as the days go on because this issue is not going away. We'll have to talk to you again soon.

Thank you very much, Fred Guttenberg.

GUTTENBERG: Thanks, Jim.

(CROSSTALK) ACOSTA: -- thank you so much.

Great to see both of you.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: God bless.

If you want to know more about Max's organization, Safe Schools for Alex, visit safeschoolsforAlex.org.

Fred's book is coming out later this year. Be on the lookout for that.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:56:34]

ACOSTA: More than 100 million people are expected to watch the Super Bowl tomorrow. So what will they be eating?

Joining us to run the numbers, CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten, joins us.

Harry, I know I'll be eating a lot. What it is has not been determined yet. But I'm thinking some buffalo chicken for sure.

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA: But what are you looking at in terms of the game? The other thing that's happening tomorrow is the game itself. Are we expecting a close game? What do you see?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, I do think we're going to see a close game. Obviously, the spread is a point and a half in favor of the Eagles.

But if you look at Super Bowls this century, we see that 55 percent were within eight points or less. That is a one score game. Compare that to the 20th century, where just 26 percent of the final margins were within eight points.

So the games this century if you think the games have been getting better, you're absolutely right. That's what the numbers say.

ACOSTA: That's true. We haven't -- I mean, it does seem like the games are getting tighter. And it is more fun to watch.

But the commercials, we're all into the commercials. What can you tell us about how expensive the commercials have gotten.

ENTEN: If we go to the slide on how expensive the commercials have gotten, what's very interesting is essentially what you see is, this year, a 30-second ad -- get this -- it is going to cost $7 million, the cost of a 30-second ad, inflations adjusted. ACOSTA: Wow.

ENTEN: Compare that to where we were at Super Bowl One. Inflation adjusted, it was just $383,000.

So this year -- my goodness gracious, I wish I had had the money back then. Maybe my father might have invested in a family business. You would have gotten so much more for your dollar -- Jim?

ACOSTA: No question about it.

But I have to think, Super Bowl One, an ad costing $383 million -- thousand dollars. That's a lot of money, I would think, for back then. They have always been kind of expensive.

Let's talk about the food. Do we have any metrics in terms of the favorites when it comes to food? I need ideas.

ENTEN: Yes. So it or not, we poll apparently everything. So, you know, normally, it's political stuff I'm interested in.

But take a look, the popular Super Bowl snacks. The most popular, chips and dip at 75 percent. You mentioned chicken wings, 59 percent. I think I'm going to have a few of those.

Pizza, 59 percent, mixed desserts, brownies, whatever, 56 percent, and nachos at 55 percent.

But chicken wings are my favorite -- Jim?

ACOSTA: Chickens wings are always the best. It's a tradition. It's like the Thanksgiving turkey.

And finally, Chiefs or Eagles? Do we have any sense looking at the numbers how this is going to break down, what's going to happen?

ENTEN: Yes, so, you know, essentially what we have is, you know, how much interest is there in the Eagles and the Chiefs nationwide.

And we can look at Google search interest. And 60 percent of the searches have been for the Eagles, 40 percent for the Chiefs. The Eagles are favored to win the game, too, by a point and a half -- Jim?

ACOSTA: It's going to be very tight. All right, we'll all be watching.

Harry Enten, thank you so much. Thanks for breaking it down. We appreciate it.

ENTEN: Thank you.

ACOSTA: And be sure to check out Harry's podcast, "Margins of Error." You can find it on your favorite podcast app or at CNN.com/audio.

In the meantime, still ahead, NORAD says it's tracking another high- altitude object in northern Canada that could be a spy balloon. This is a new development we're following today, outside of what occurred off the coast of Alaska yesterday.

Military aircraft, we should mention, are in the area right now. That's according to NORAD. We'll have the latest in just a few moments.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)