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Biden, Trudeau Order Shoot-Down Of "Unidentified Object"; Pentagon: Object Shot Down Today Was Detected Over Alaska Friday; FAA Reopens Airspace Over Montana; Earthquake Death Toll Rises Above 28,000 In Syria And Turkey; Massive Team To Patrol Skies And Ground Around The Big Game. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired February 11, 2023 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:02]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: Those are the lucky ones. The death toll has already surpassed 28,000 people and is expected to climb even more in the days ahead.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. We begin this hour with more breaking news.

Yet, another shoot down at a high-altitude object. This one confirmed a short time ago in the skies over the Yukon and northern Canada. President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave NORAD the order to shoot down the object earlier in the day. A U.S. fighter jet successfully brought it down.

It's not clear if this latest shoot down is related to yesterday's downing of another object off the northeastern coast of Alaska that was near the Canadian border. Nor is it clear if it's related to the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down last Saturday.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is that the White House. Arlette, the President was just making some remarks to some governors there in the White House a few moments ago. It doesn't sound like he took any questions or made any remarks there.

But, obviously, this is top of mind for the administration after what you and I were reporting on last Saturday, which was the shoot-down of that Chinese spy balloon. And now these latest downings, one object yesterday in Alaska and another one today in Canada. What's the latest over there?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, President Biden, Canadian Prime Minister took that incredibly rare step today and jointly authorized the shooting down of that unidentified object over Northern Canada. And this marks the third time in just the last week where the U.S. has had to shoot down an aerial object over North America.

So just kind of to walk you through a bit of what we've learned this evening about how they've been tracking this latest object. According to the Pentagon, NORAD first detected this latest unidentified unmanned object over Alaska on Friday evening, as they monitored it and tracked where it was going, it did cross into Canadian airspace space.

At some point today, President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both spoke, they had both been monitoring the situation for the last 24 hours. And they ultimately decided that out of an abundance of caution, they wanted to follow the advice of their military leaders and authorize the shooting down of this object.

Now, at this point, once this operation was underway, it was ultimately an American F-22 fighter jet that shot down this unidentified object over Canada. Now, there's so many questions about what exactly this object entailed includes -- including the size, its origin, and its purpose.

And a few moments ago, the defense minister of Canada talked a little bit about what they know at this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANITA ANAND, CANADIAN MINISTER OF DEFENSE: Recovery operations are now underway, and will be supported by the Canadian Armed Forces in conjunction with the RCMP. This coordinated operation will allow a further investigation into this object.

We have no further details about the object at this time, other than it appears to be a small cylindrical object, and smaller than the one that was downed off the coast of North Carolina. There is no reason to believe that the impact of the object in Canadian territory is of any public concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, there's some details that she shared there that they felt were different from the object that was down just last week. It's also worth noting that the object that was over off the Alaskan coast yesterday, and then today that those were flying at about 40,000 feet.

At that point, there's some concern that there could be some impact for civilian aircraft. Now, just to recap, there's this object today. Yesterday, there was another unidentified object near the coast of Alaska that President Biden ordered have to have shot down. And then just one week prior, we were here talking about that suspected Chinese spy balloon that was off the Carolina coast that President Biden had ordered shot down as well.

Now there still are so many questions about these latest two unidentified objects and who exactly they belong to, whether it's a country, whether it's a private entity. Right now with a focus will be is on the recovery missions for both the one that was shot down today and the one shot down yesterday to try to determine as much information as they possibly can about their origin and also the purpose.

ACOSTA: All right. Arlette Saenz, we know you'll stay on top of it. Thanks so much.

Joining us now to talk about this, CNN transportation analyst, Mary Schiavo. She's also a former Inspector General for the Department of Transportation. Mary, where do we begin? Let's -- I guess let's start with some of the information that was coming from the Canadian defense minister just a few moments ago. Because I have, you know, I listened to that press conference and I had lots of questions.

[20:05:08]

First of all, this Canadian defense minister said that the object that is, I guess, of interest here and all of this that was shot down over the skies in Canada earlier today, was cylindrical in shape. That was the -- that is the exact word she used. She said cylindrical in shape. She said it was flying at about 40,000 feet. Going back to the conversation you and I -- you and I had earlier this evening, you can't have objects flying that low could get in the way of civilian aircraft, obviously.

But what is your sense of it listening to that kind of information, particularly the shape of this object that is very odd?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, it's very odd, you know, if you're looking for a traditional balloon or an aircraft, but throughout history, there have been many cylindrical flying objects.

ACOSTA: OK.

SCHIAVO: Not to mention dirigibles. And there have been rigid formed dirigibles. They don't have to be just a Gossamer balloon, so to speak. So the fact that no one has reported that the object took the base of action that suggests that perhaps it was not being remotely controlled. Perhaps it was moving with the winds, et cetera.

But right now, it could be a lot of things, not to mention -- as mentioned before, it could be a rigid form of a balloon or other object that had been used both by the United States and other countries in the past.

ACOSTA: What -- I guess one of the questions that I have, Mary, is why is it here we are about a day, I mean, more than a day after this object was shot down off the coast of Alaska, we still haven't been told any information as to the specifics of what that object was. And, you know, then we have this other object shot down today. It's very peculiar.

SCHIAVO: Right. Well, I can tell you from firsthand experience, since I've been up here working in Alaska for about two and a half weeks on another plane case, aircraft case. The weather is really bad. Not bad per se, there's just a lot of snow, it's a bit windy, it's very cold, it's very foggy.

So between the snow and the fog, and you're trying to land on, instead it was a, you know, an ice pack, an ice Island, even for our great, you know, aviators and seafarers and U.S. military, that's tough. And so the weather here is rather obscured, so to speak, and the snow is coming down heavily in Anchorage.

ACOSTA: So it may just be that they can't get to this object in a safe way. And that --

SCHIAVO: Right.

ACOSTA: -- this is just a dicey kind of operation to go and inspect it because what Natasha Bertrand, our national security reporter was telling us earlier on this program, was that the pilots who were trying to fly up close to this object in Alaska yesterday, were having different accounts, offering different accounts as to what they saw. So I suppose the elements to your point might be a factor in all of this.

SCHIAVO: Visibility is rather poor. I mean, I'm working very close to an airport. And believe me, it's all IFR instrument flight rule operations. Right now, planes that are taking off, they disappear into the clouds very quickly, especially with snow coming down.

So the fact that the pilots couldn't identify, and particularly if it was, for example, a rigid form of an airship, you know, dirigible, so to speak, and they wouldn't have had any occasion to see those over the last decade or so or a couple of decades.

So I think that they're just having difficulty actually getting eyes on. And the equipment that they use to shoot them down obviously does not depend upon human eyes to have eyes on. They have the ability to do that, you know, with their -- with their computers. So I think that the visibility is a big issue up here.

ACOSTA: All right. Mary Schiavo, thanks so much for springing into action for us.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

ACOSTA: We've added an additional hour of CNN NEWSROOM this evening. We appreciate it.

Paula Newton joins me on the phone. Paula, I guess, you know, you and I had just a brief couple of moments to parse through what the Canadian defense minister was saying during that press conference.

But I want to go back and reiterate what she said just about 20 or 30 minutes ago, and that is that this object was flying at about 40,000 feet. It was over the Yukon Territory. And that it was some -- it was in -- it was cylindrical. It was a small cylindrical object, which obviously sounds very strange.

But as Mary Schiavo was saying, there might be some perfectly fine explanations for that, but your impressions as to how much information you're getting from the Canadian side of things. We're not getting a whole lot from the American side at this point.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no. And if any officials wanted to get ahead of this, obviously, because it was shot down over Canadian airspace and it was up to them to make these kinds of, you know, pronouncements really to say what was shut down exactly what was going on. And the fact that it was shut down about four and a half hours ago now, and that they were going through debris fields to try and ascertain what it is.

[20:10:02]

I think there were a couple of significant things and I think -- and Anita Anand, the Defense Minister, saying that it was at 40,000 feet, right? And that gives us some explanation as to why they decided that it had to be brought down.

Now, we're showing a map right now of Yukon, that is a huge territory. She said it was shot down in Central Yukon. You know, it's going to take a while to really determine where it came down, even though they -- I'm sure they had line of sight on it, but obviously, pick it up and then analyze it. This is going to be a joint operation. It is obviously Canadian Forces right now that are doing that kind of -- that kind of investigation right now.

But in conjunction with the RCMP, Canada's national police force, and in fact, the FBI, and you know, U.S. forces as well. So was it the same kind of object that was shot down over Alaska by the United States? Might have been.

I think many questions right now would be that the minister, Anita Anand, went out of her way to say to us, Jim, that this was unprecedented, an unprecedented action on the part of NORAD to shoot something like this down over Canadian airspace.

The question she did not answer was whether or not they have seen objects like this before in their radar.

ACOSTA: Right.

NEWTON: She went on to say, obviously, that they're going to be really beefing up their surveillance there. That does involve an entire new security infrastructure up there that they have been working on for years.

But I also, Jim, want to point out something that Secretary Austin said in -- after meeting with Defense Minister Anand in Washington just yesterday. And that he referenced the increasing assertiveness of China.

Now, while they were talking about China because of the spy balloon that was shot down off the Carolina coast, at issue is that they know they have other actors in the Arctic, Russia being just one. And they do see a more robust defense structure that needs to be put in place there.

But I thought that language was quite strong on the part of the Secretary, saying it was Anita Anand together that is this -- it's this assertiveness that bothers them. So certainly a menacing factor now. Three objects, high-altitude, and taking action on all three.

ACOSTA: And, Paula, one question I wanted to ask you, maybe what's getting in the way of all of us getting some more information as to what is going on with these two objects, one in Alaska and one in Canada, is the weather.

And Mary was just alluding this few moments ago that the weather is quite awful right now in Alaska and getting aircraft rescuers, I guess, military personnel to retrieve that piece of equipment, it just might be difficult to do it because of the weather, in terms of where it went down. Might that also be the case in this area, the central part of Yukon?

NEWTON: Absolutely. That's absolutely, Jim. And no one should underestimate that challenge. And I'm glad that Mary came in to describe that. The main issue with the weather up there, Jim, is that they can't be too careful. It can change literally in an instant.

So at one point where you have had visibility instantly, then you do not have visibility. And so they don't want to put any lives in danger, obviously. But also, what's the point of going out there if you do not believe that you actually have line of sight?

Now, while they would have certainly picked up the location of where some of the debris fell, you know, if you're talking about miles and miles in terms of the debris stretching on for that, that kind of distance, you know, you want to be careful when you go up there and you want to make sure you're doing it in adequate weather so that you can retrieve everything. This may take several days.

And then obviously, as has been pointed out, it then needs to return to labs, right, in the United States and Canada so they can have a good look at it and get some forensic detail as to what it actually was.

But absolutely, Jim, no one should ever underestimate how difficult it is to run these kinds of operations in that weather and in those kinds of extreme circumstances.

ACOSTA: All right. Hopefully, there's not too much snow on them. We can get a -- an eyeball on things soon. Paula Newton, thank you very much.

We're taking a quick break. We'll be right back on all of this. The breaking news coming into CNN, the shooting down of another unidentified object over Canada. Earlier today, the Canadian defense minister just wrapped up a press conference in the last half hour or so describing the object as cylindrical and shaped, but that it was flying at about 40,000 feet as was the object shot down off the coast of Alaska yesterday. More on all this when we comeback.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:15:35]

ACOSTA: Back with the breaking news. The Canadian defense minister says today's shooting of a high-altitude object in Canadian airspace is the first time that NORAD has shot down an aerial object. Natasha Bertrand joins us now on the phone. Natasha, what was NORAD's role on all this? What's the latest in terms of what you can tell us? There's a lot of unanswered questions at this hour.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Jim. That's for sure. So according to the Pentagon, this was a joint action that was authorized by President Biden and by the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, who authorized U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to NORAD to work with Canada to take down that high-altitude airborne object over at Northern Canada today over the Yukon.

And what we're told by the Pentagon is that NORAD had detected the object over Alaska, actually, late Friday evening, and then two F-22 fighter jets from Alaska, monitor the object over U.S. airspace, and then tracked it as it went into Canada.

Now, this was obviously the U.S. and Canada working very closely together, because obviously we have seen these kinds of objects floating around in the area over the last several days. Just yesterday, the president authorized the shoot down of yet another object that was flying over Alaskan airspace and that was shot down yesterday about 10 miles off the coast there.

This one, we're told, they just want had to wait and monitor it because it was first spotted over Alaska and they did not feel like it was the right time to shoot it down immediately so they waited to see where it was going. It did end up going over Canada, and then U.S. fighter jets, Canadian fighter jets working together under that NORAD hat. They work together to bring it down, but it was ultimately a fighter jet, a U.S. fighter jet that fired that missile that took out that object over Canada, Jim.

[20:20:26]

ACOSTA: All right. Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Retired Air Force, Colonel Cedric Leighton is back with us. Colonel Leighton, you thought you were leaving for the evening. But we -- like that line from the Godfather, we pulled you back in.

Let me ask you, because the Canadian defense minister just had this press conference about a half hour or 45 minutes ago. And some of what she was saying was intriguing. And feel free to come in and throw cold water on some of the suspicions that are going on as to what's happening.

But, you know, she described this object as flying at about 40,000 feet, similar to what took place in Alaska. So that brought into the equation, this issue of civilian aviation safety, that it was shot down over Central Yukon and that it was cylindrical in shape, which sounds curious.

And I talked to Mary Schiavo, aviation analyst earlier and she said, well, that's not unusual. There are cylindrical shaped objects flying around from time to time. And so it's not that strange. What is your assessment as to what we're hearing from the Canadian side of things? We're not hearing a whole lot from the American side at this point.

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. And I think that's partly, Jim, because, you know, it happened on over Canadian airspace and Canadian territory. So it's only right that the Canadians are the first ones to talk about this and discuss this in this way.

Mary Schiavo is absolutely right about cylindrical objects. There are a whole ton of them floating around in space right now, you know, well over -- I forget the number now, it was over 6,000 objects, I think, that are flying out there that are orbiting us in various stages of decay and all of that.

But for this particular object, it takes me back to the first spy satellites that went up in the early 1960s. Many of them were actually cylindrical in shape. So it leads me to believe that there is a possibility that this might very well be, you know, perhaps an imagery effort, an imagery collection effort.

ACOSTA: Like a lower altitude, lower flying surveillance craft of some sort.

LEIGHTON: Exactly. Exactly. So, you know, if we take the designs of the 1960s, and advance them, you know, what six decades, I -- you can see that there are some, you know, some possible similarities there that they may want to use some kind of a imagery collection system that goes in and takes pictures of things at a lower altitude than a satellite would.

So it's -- in many ways, this might be a very ingenious way of collecting intelligence. It might be also a very ingenious way of collecting signals data. We don't know that to be the case. It doesn't sound like there was an antenna array on this system. But you never know, this is something that do the forensic analysis is going to have to piece together.

ACOSTA: Well, and if it's this odd, sort of cylindrical shape, that might go to what Natasha was hearing from her sources, which was that the pilots in Alaska couldn't figure out what this thing was doing and all sorts of -- sort of different assessments as to what it was doing, if it's the same type of object as the one that was shot down over Canada.

LEIGHTON: Right, exactly. And, you know, one other thing that was interesting about Natasha's reporting is that a lot of the -- well, several of the pilots said that their equipment was jammed by the system, in other words, that there were electrical magnetic interference with their radar systems or their weapons systems. That part is not clear exactly which systems were affected.

But that is going to be something that they're really going to have to assess. Because if these objects are doing things like jamming, then they become very dangerous in terms of not only commercial aviation, but definitely military aviation. Because if these objects are jammed, you know, we've already know these objects are jammers, then they can potentially impact the safety of flight. They can vector that result in the vectoring of aircraft to the wrong targets, all kinds of things like that. So they would need to be destroyed a as quickly as possible at least rendered safe, you know, teams, the military term for that.

ACOSTA: Yes. And what is your sense of the fact that we saw this, I think, in dramatic fashion? Both yesterday and today, the Americans and the Canadians sort of working in lockstep in terms of their tolerance of these types of objects flying over U.S. or Canadian airspace.

There was a -- there's no does -- it doesn't appear to be at this point an inch of space between Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau at this point now it terms of tolerating these kinds of objects flying over North America. Both seem to be saying, they come in, take them -- take them down.

[20:25:07]

LEIGHTON: Take them down. And I think they -- the two leaders agreed that that would be their course of action. They both observed the first object being the Chinese surveillance balloon. They said, OK, this is the one that -- we're going to assess this. We're going to see what it does. We'll let it fly over Canada, we'll let it fly into Idaho, Montana, and then into, you know, the rest of the United States all the way out to the Carolinas, and see what it really can do.

And once we do that, then we'll have a better chance of assessing the next systems. And that's, you know, I don't think we expected it to happen that quickly. But that's the kind of thing that we're seeing right now is that assessment being put to work and now they're saying, OK, we've done enough assessing. Now it's time to either get rid of these things or find a way to prevent them from collecting data on us.

ACOSTA: And sending a message to whichever country is sending them. You can send them, we're going to shoot them down. We're going to use them as target practice.

LEIGHTON: Exactly, exactly. And it's kind of shows off your airmanship skills as well.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. All right. Colonel Leighton, thanks so much. Thanks for letting us call you back in here for this expanded coverage of CNN NEWSROOM.

As we continue our coverage of the order to shoot down this unidentified object that was taken down over the skies of Canada earlier today. Well, more on this after a quick break. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:30:05] ACOSTA: Breaking news into CNN, we continue to cover the downing of an unidentified object earlier today, over the skies of Canada. We are learning that the FAA right now is closing some airspace over Montana for Defense Department activities. That is the latest coming into CNN. At this very moment, we're learning the FAA is closing more airspace over Montana.

Natasha Bertrand. She joins us now on the phone. Natasha, what can you tell us?

BERTRAND: Yes, Jim. So we are just learning that the FAA has restricted some airspace in Montana for, quote, "National Defense airspace. And it is not immediately clear the reason for this, but the FAA has made similar flight restrictions in recent days when operations took place to shoot down the spy balloon last week and the object on Friday, near Alaska.

Now, CNN has reached out to the FAA, NORCOM, and the Department of Defense for comments on this, but it is obviously very notable that this closure of the airspace over Montana has happened roughly a few hours only after we saw that object shot down over northern Canada. That object had originated over Alaska and was flying towards northern Canada when it was decided by President Biden and Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister that they would shoot it down.

So still unclear what the reason would be for the FAA to be shutting down with airspace over Montana. But, of course, Montana is where we saw that Chinese spy balloon enter the United States just last week, Jim.

ACOSTA: And, Natasha, I mean, you just made the point a few moments ago, but just to expand upon that, obviously, the FAA would not close airspace over Montana for Defense Department activities. If we were talking about the same object that was shot down hours ago over the skies of Canada. So it appears, we're reading between the lines here, that we may be talking about a different object of some sort.

BERTRAND: Potentially, Jim, and we don't have that recording yet. We don't know why this airspace has been restricted. But, yes, it would -- it would be very, very unlikely that this would be related to the shoot down of an object all the way in Northern Canada, right? It would be very unlikely because the jets that were scrambled for that object when it was shot down was scrambled from Alaska and from Canada. So this restriction over Montana is certainly very interesting. And we'll just continue to monitor it for update.

ACOSTA: All right. Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much for a long day of coverage. We appreciate it.

Joining us now -- coming back to us now is CNN transportation analyst, Mary Schiavo. I hope you've put on another pot of coffee. We're thinking about doing the same over here.

Mary, of course, the former Inspector General for the Department of Transportation, the FAA restricting airspace in Montana for national defense reasons. We've not been given a reason at this time as to why that is. But, Mary, obviously they would not be doing this for some aircraft or object that was down earlier today in Canada.

And we should -- I guess note to our viewers, this is what the FAA did before the Chinese spy balloon was taken down off the coast of South Carolina about a week ago.

SCHIAVO: Yes. The FAA is not known to willy-nilly restrict airspace. I mean, obviously, they do it frequently over important events like Super Bowl. And, you know, they did it through the, you know, with the China spy balloon, et cetera. So the fact that they are restricting airspace and, of course, they can do it for military operations and do so. And they can do it for the presidential planes and other significant aircraft. But the fact that they're doing it is pretty telling.

And, again, I mean, there's a lot of clues here. The route seem to line up with the jet stream. So whatever -- you know, whatever the military, U.S. and Canadian forces are getting, it does seem to still be following some form of the jet stream, although the one over the Yukon would have been probably out of that -- out of that typical jet stream. And proposing here is, yes, we can -- we can probably assume there is something going on there because the FAA doesn't like to do that.

ACOSTA: Right. And also with us is retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. He's joining us with the discussion. And keep -- let's keep Mary as well, in case you guys want to play off one another.

LEIGHTON: Sure.

ACOSTA: But Colonel Leighton, let me ask you this. I mean, this is just damn puzzling. This is just -- and we just need -- I think we need to pause for a moment and say this is just damn puzzling. You have an object shot down off the coast of Alaska yesterday. Government hasn't told us exactly what it is. I know weather and so on. We have an object shot over at Central Yukon earlier today. The Prime Minister thought this was serious enough to go ahead and shoot it down. And now the FAA is restricting airspace over Montana.

[20:35:08]

LEIGHTON: Yes. So these are some really significant issues, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes.

LEIGHTON: -- just, you know, and just to put everything in perspective, you know, as Mary was mentioning, these closures occur for certain reasons, but they are highly unusual in this sequence of events.

And when you see what might be happening here, one of the possibilities is that there are more objects, as we're calling them right now in the sky that may be emanating from, you know, in other country, they could potentially pose a risk to commercial flight activities, but they could also be posing a risk to military operations. And I think the issue here, because we're talking about Montana, it seems as if they're -- you know, there may be another pass being attempted over the military installations that exist in Montana. And as Mary mentioned, this is conveniently by the jet stream.

I could very well be that they, you know, perhaps this was an attempt to flow go along the same -- flow the same course that the initial Chinese balloon surveillance balloon went over. And if that's the case, you know, perhaps they're looking at in testing our defenses. OK. We responded in this way the first time around, but now let's try something that they may not be able to detect and go that way. So that is, you know, obviously, the speculation, but it is something that could possibly be happening here. And we might be seeing some type of military operation as a result of this.

ACOSTA: And, of course, there could be just a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this, Mary and Colonel Leighton, at the end of the day, we may just get an explanation that makes perfect sense. But at this point, we don't have a whole lot of information to go off of only that we have had to object shot down over the last 24 hours or so, a little bit more than 24 hours, and the FAA shutting down airspace again, like they did last week, Mary Schiavo.

SCHIAVO: Yes. And again, in recent years, I know it sounds like ancient history or a throwback to the Hindenburg, but in recent years, there has been a renewed interest in rigid wall dirigibles, you know, I don't think of the Goodyear Blimp, think of something more cylindrical with a more rigid wall. And there are developments of those kinds of crafts in the United States. There's some in England. There were some in -- some out of -- out of Ukraine was very interested and obviously not now.

But there were a lot of developments for this. And when you think balloon, you think something that's just kind of floating along in the jet stream. However, and jump in here, because I'm sure the military knew about this, you know, does this too, and you can control them by changing the altitude.

So if you have equipment that can tell you where the winds are, and what altitude winds are going certain ways, you do have some control of an unmanned craft that may not have a power source on board. I remember one of the pilots commented about the one in Alaska that he or she didn't see a power source, but you do still have some control over balloons through altitude.

ACOSTA: OK.

LEIGHTON: Yes, that's --

ACOSTA: OK. All right. I'm just getting some new information. Producer just got my ear and said that, do I have this correct gentleman, that the FAA has reopened the airspace? Is that we just -- said to be in my ear? I believe that's what I was just -- that is correct. OK.

The FAA, we are told, has just reopened the airspace over Montana. In the last several minutes, we were just told they had closed the airspace over Montana. So let's take a quick break. Let's take a pause. Take a -- take a breath and we'll have more on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:40:32]

ACOSTA: Welcome back. We continue to follow the breaking news as the FAA has just reopened airspace over Montana that was closed briefly, as far as we know at this hour for Defense Department purposes.

CNN's Paula Newton joins us now. Paula, this comes after word that the U.S. shot down an unidentified object over the Yukon -- Central Yukon earlier today. But this breaking news just came into us here in the CNN NEWSROOM in the last 15, 20 minutes, which is that for a brief period of time, the FAA closed airspace over Montana, but that that airspace has been reopened. We're obviously trying to get to the bottom as to why that occurred. What more can you tell us?

NEWTON: Well, given what's going on today, and look, we're approaching five hours now that the Canadian government says that now third high- altitude object was shot down.

So, Jim, earlier in the day when we were seeking information from NORAD, when we thought perhaps there might be more than one object, NORAD came back and confirmed to me that there was one that they were observing. And then shortly after that, we heard from Justin Trudeau saying that indeed in --that U.S. fighter planes had been scrambled to go and shoot it down, but only after both U.S. and Canadian aircraft had been up there observing it.

So then there was this issue as to whether or not there had been yet another object that they had observed. Now, even if it had happened for a short time, I Just want to bring up a tweet from Matt Rosendale. And he is a representative in Montana. And he confirmed that he says he was in direct contact, you see it there, with Northern Command and monitoring what could possibly be another object at that northern border, and that airspace, as he says, had been closed. And that they were going to observe it again in the morning. What does this mean? Does this mean that it's no longer a threat to commercial air traffic, but there's still -- that radar is still catching something there? It's all quite a mystery.

I will say in quite a lengthy press conference that the Canadian defense minister had, Anita Anand, at her side was the chief of Canadian defense staff. So this will give you an indication how serious this was. And the fact that the defense minister herself had said that it was cylindrical, that that object that they shot down was at about 40,000 feet, that it was much smaller than the one that was shot down over the Carolinas or off the coast of South Carolina by the U.S. military, but also that it was unprecedented, right? The first time, in her knowledge, that NORAD had done something like this jointly with the United States and Canada shooting it down.

[20:45:01] Now in another part of the press conference, the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Wayne Eyre, actually kind of indicated that while it was cylindrical that there might have been some kind of a balloon apparatus involved as well. I don't know if he misspoke. Or if, you know, he was knew something, because we do know, Jim, that on that object that, you know, both Canadian and American aircraft had eyes on it for several hours before Justin Trudeau ordered it to be shot down.

So, look, very intriguing in terms of what's going on in Montana. And whether or not this could possibly be now a fourth. And I want to caution, as I'm sure you want to caution as well. We have no idea that it is another fourth object and we have no confirmation of what's going on here in Montana.

ACOSTA: That's exactly right. The last thing we want to do is add two plus two and get 22. We want to get to the bottom of this. We're going to wait as the facts come in and report them to you as they happen. Paula Newton, thank you very much.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: The death toll on the earthquake in Turkey and Syria is now over 28,000 people. The U.N.'s aid chief is calling it the region's worst disaster in 100 years. Despite all the devastation, rescue crews are still finding and saving people trapped in the rubble nearly six days after the earthquake. And CNN's Nada Bashir has the latest from Istanbul.

[20:50:15]

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Jim, we're also seeing the rescue effort continuing across southeastern Turkey, and indeed, in northwestern Syria. And while the death toll continues to climb, there have been some glimmers of hope with survivors still being rescued days after Monday's deadly earthquake.

Today, a one young girl in the city of Kahramanmaras [ph], around 3 or 4 years old, was rescued after being buried beneath the rubble for 132 hours. Her father was also rescued shortly after, but they're, of course, were also pleased for his wife, who he said was still buried beneath the rubble and still alive. And, of course, that is the reality that many people in Turkey and in northwestern Syria are facing. Many waiting for news of their loved ones and relatives buried beneath the rubble hoping they have still survived days on after the earthquake.

And, of course, there has been a real focus on the aftermath and the impact this has had on those survivors with aid pouring in from across the globe. And there has been an enormous aid effort here in Turkey. We've seen volunteers distributing aid at centers here in Istanbul. We've seen ships carrying aid and even medical supplies being departing from Istanbul just today.

And there has been a real focus as well also at northwestern Syria where it has proven so difficult, both logistically and diplomatically, to get aid to those areas most in need in the rebel- held northwestern territories. Today, the United Nations says at least 22 aid trucks were able to cross the border from Turkey into Syria.

But also here in Turkey, there are questions mounting over accountability. The Turkish authorities say that they are now carrying out an investigation that they've already carried out some arrests of people they believe they are holding accountable for negligence over the construction of now destroyed buildings in parts of southeastern Turkey. Jim.

ACOSTA: Nada, thank you. 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 organizations and resources for you to take a look at and do your part.

Coming up, history will be made both before and during the Super Bowl. We'll explain. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:55:14]

ACOSTA: While football fans will be watching the Chiefs and the Eagles on the field during the Super Bowl, there's going to be a huge team watching them, both on the ground and in the air, before, during, and after the big game.

CNN's Rosa Flores takes us inside Super Bowl security.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Whether a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll flight about 500 feet.

FLORES: -- a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All clear.

FLORES: -- and an F-16 fighter jet doing over Glendale, Arizona. Their task with guarding the skies over Super Bowl LVII. With nearly 200,000 fans expected for the big game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, security is a multi-agency effort.

What types of threats does the FBI prepare for when it comes to the Super Bowl?

AKIL DAVIS, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF PHOENIX FIELD: Yes, a wide variety, anything from active shooters to explosive threats, IED threats to bomb threats, suspicious packages.

FLORES: From this operation center, the FBI, alongside more than 40 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, will use these 360 degree cameras to have eyes on every inch of the stadium. Scott Brown is the federal top official in charge of security.

SCOTT BROWN, HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: I was in New York for 9/11. I've seen the devastating impacts of terrorism on our soil. I am deeply committed as are all my partners to making sure that we don't have an incident like that here.

FLORES: Sky patrol is in the hands of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations.

When your teams are patrolling, what would they be looking for?

JOSE MURIENTE, TUCSON AIR BRANCH, CBP AIR AND MARINE OPERATIONS: We're going to look for anything out of the ordinary. It could be anything from smoke to disruptions.

FLORES: CBP Air and Marine Operations will be able to fly over the stadium during the big game, but no other aircraft will, because the FAA will be imposing a flight restriction that's 30-mile wide.

Those flight restrictions will be enforced by NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, with these Air Force F-16 fighter jets.

ANDREW SCOTT, U.S. AIR FORCE, 601ST AIR OPERATIONS CENTER: Since 9/11, we've been able to safely escort out any aircraft that's violated restricted airspace.

FLORES: NORAD is taking no chances. This KC-135 Stratotanker is part of the fleet on hand.

This aircraft can carry up to 200,000 pounds of fuel. There are 10 tanks on board, including some on the wings.

And it can refuel an F-16 midair in minutes.

ANDREW SEE, CAPTAIN, NORAD: So it prevents us from having to return for fuel on the ground. So it's absolutely critical.

FLORES: The fighter jets refuel from a receptacle that's right behind the pilot.

SEE: And my job as the pilot is just to remain within the basket and a safe controlled stable position.

FLORES: If the FAA's flight restrictions are broken, NORAD or CBP Air and Marine Operations will engage.

MURIENTE: Our role in the event of a criminal event is to bring special response teams to the scene.

FLORES: The message from law enforcement to when you when thinking about committing a crime during the Super Bowl is simple.

DAVIS: Don't do it. You're going to wind up in cuffs.

FLORES: Rosa Flores, CNN, Glendale, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: For the first time in history, an all-women team will perform the annual pregame flyover to kick off tomorrow Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. The team will commemorate 50 years of women flying in the Navy, the first eight women began flight school in Pensacola, Florida in 1973.

According to the Navy, the aircraft in tomorrow's flyover represent the capabilities of the carrier air wing of the future. The flyover normally comes at the crescendo of the Star-Spangled Banner signaling that the action is just minutes away. Can't wait to watch that. That'll be some show.

All right. Stay with CNN for the latest on the object shot down over Canada. We'll bring you updates as we get new information as it comes in.

Thanks for joining me this afternoon and this evening. I'm Jim Acosta. CNN will be back tomorrow with more news on all of this, so stay with us for that. We appreciate it.

The CNN film, "American Pain" is coming up next. Have a good night.