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U.S. Jet Shoots Down "Unidentified Object" Over Canada; Over 28,000 Dead In Turkiye And Syria; New Russian Strikes Across Kharkiv Region; New Developments In Trump, Pence Investigations; Rihanna Returns To The Stage At Halftime Show. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired February 12, 2023 - 05:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of you watching us in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, another shoot-down. This time the unidentified object was in the skies over northern Canada. We'll look at the differences.

Plus we'll take you live to Istanbul with a look at incredible stories of hope and survival still coming from Turkiye six days after the deadly earthquake.

And Ukraine is facing a new barrage of Russian strikes. We'll show you the latest on the front lines.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We're working to learn more details about what caused Canadian and U.S. fighter jets to be scrambled Saturday and what triggered the shooting down of yet another unidentified object over Canada.

Prime minister Justin Trudeau and President Biden agreed to the shoot- down. This is the third time in a week U.S. jets have shot down an object over North American airspace.. Trudeau said the latest object violated Canada's airspace. More now from Canada's defense minister.

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ANITA ANAND, CANADIAN MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE: Recovery operations are now underway and will be supported by the Canadian armed forces in conjunction with the RCMP.

It will allow a further investigation into this object. We have no further details about it now 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.

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BRUNHUBER: It's not clear if all three unidentified objects are related. Natasha Bertrand has more.

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NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau jointly authorized the shoot- down of an unidentified object that was flying over northern Canada Saturday.

The shoot-down was the third time in a week that U.S. fighter jets were scrambled to shoot down an object that had entered U.S. airspace. The object shot down on Saturday over Canada had first been spotted over Alaska Friday night, according to the Pentagon.

And it was ultimately shot down by U.S. fighter jets over Canada after being observed for 24 hours.

U.S. and Canadian officials say it is still not clear what the object is but the incident does come one day after the White House and Pentagon revealed President Biden ordered another unidentified flying object shot down on Friday off the coast of Alaska.

Sources told CNN, for that object, some pilots sent up to investigate it reported that their aircraft centers had been impacted and others said it was not clear how the object was propelling itself.

The Canadian incident comes exactly one week after the U.S. military, also on Biden's orders, shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina. It is not clear whether the object shot down Saturday over Canada is related to the Chinese balloon or the object downed on Friday.

But U.S. officials said on Saturday that the FBI will be helping to recover and analyze the debris in all three incidents to try to get a better sense for what these objects were and what they are actually capable of -- Natasha Bertrand, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: Iain Boyd is the director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado and he joins me now.

Thanks so much for being here.

First of all, what do you make of these new unidentified objects?

Any idea what they could be and how different they are from the first balloon that was shot down? IAIN BOYD, CENTER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY INITIATIVES, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: Well, from the reports that have been released so far, it sounds like these balloons, number two and three, are much smaller than the first one.

So the first one was described as being the size of three buses in terms of the payload that's underneath the balloon itself. And then these newer, more recent balloons are being described as the size of a small car. So that's -- maybe they're 10 times smaller, so certainly they're going to be doing something very different with such a different size.

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BOYD: And it also sounds like they were flying, the newer ones, at lower altitude, at 14,000 feet instead of 60,000-65,000 feet. There's clearly some differences in terms of the size and how they're being operated. But that's about as much as we know for now.

BRUNHUBER: The fact that they're being referred to as objects and not necessarily as balloons seems strange. And then we have different accounts of what the pilots are telling us, about what happened when they came near it. Some said it interfered with their sensors.

What do you make of that?

BOYD: Well, if that's true, then that suggests that the payloads on these newer balloons are emitting some kind of electromagnetic signals that's under the general heading of electronic warfare.

It's used by militaries all across the world -- and jamming is one example of that. At the very least, it suggests there's a lot of electrical activity on those newer balloons.

BRUNHUBER: So looking at the bigger picture, what's going on here?

Is it all of a sudden China -- we assume these are from China -- is ramping up what appears to be an aerial surveillance campaign?

Or are we now aware of the spy balloons, we're now on the lookout or the public is at least being told about them?

BOYD: I think it's a little bit all of those things. It seems clear the U.S. is now shooting first and asking questions later. I think that's partly because the U.S. and Canada and some of the countries down in South America are probably all on heightened alert because of that first balloon.

So the skies are being watched more carefully than usual. And then obviously in the U.S., there's been mounting political pressure to act more quickly. And at the same time, China's denials, I think, with the multiple balloons and those denials, it's increasing suspicions that there is a campaign of surveillance being conducted here.

BRUNHUBER: You mentioned some of the U.S. allies here. Clearly this requires the cooperation of other nations, particularly Canada, in terms of surveillance and response.

Is NORAD up to it?

BOYD: Well, I'm sure NORAD's up to it. You know, the shooting down today over Canada is probably, you know, a strong reflection of that alignment between U.S. and Canada.

You know, at the same time, I think part of the story appears to be here that, you know, when objects of a certain size are being detected, they're being let go in the past. So with the first balloon, I think it seems like it was certainly detected up in Alaska and just allowed to continue on its path.

You know, this may stamp on the fact that weather balloons are used a lot. And they probably are detected by NORAD and other defensive tracking capabilities. And maybe they've just been let go because they're assumed to be benign. There's a possibility that, you know, China has realized that this is a little bit of a chink in the armor.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. It sounds like we're going to see a lot more of this.

Is this evidence that China and other nations are prioritizing the stratosphere, the so-called near space, and turning it essentially into a new battlefield?

Explain why that is.

And what do you think is next?

BOYD: I think the first balloon, just taken as an example, flying at 65,000 feet, you know, that's much higher than regular airplanes fly. But it's not in space. And so in some ways, that's what we call a seam. It's a crack in the defensive posture of all nations really. We're not used to looking in that area.

It's also an area where another technology, hypersonic weapons, are often deployed and operated, too. And so I think that there is an increasing understanding, in the U.S. for sure, that we have to develop capabilities to better track that.

BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. All right. We'll have to leave it there but we really appreciate your analysis. Iain Boyd, thank you so much for joining us.

BOYD: Thank you.

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BRUNHUBER: Almost 150 hours after that powerful earthquake destroyed parts of Turkiye and Syria, Turkish state media reports that a 35- year-old man has been rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building.

[05:10:00] BRUNHUBER: He's one of the latest survivors of Monday's disaster, which so far has killed more than 28,000 people.

Now the tragedy continues. You can feel the agony there. In Turkiye, a woman is crying over the body of a relative who was pulled lifeless from the rubble. Others desperately wait by the ruins, hoping their loved ones will be found alive. CNN's Nada Bashir joins us live from Istanbul.

Nada, more than 100 hours after the quake hit, people are still being pulled alive from the rubble is.

That giving some families hope?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are small but remarkable instances of hope for many people in southeastern Turkiye, waiting for any news of their loved ones still missing, still believed to be buried beneath the rubble.

And we are still seeing some of those survivors being pulled out. Just this morning, a 10-year-old girl was rescued 147 hours after being buried beneath the rubble, six days after the earthquake hit on Monday. So it is remarkable to see these rescues still taking place.

But of course, as the days go on and the death toll climbs, hopes are dwindling. People are still waiting for loved ones. There are many impacted by the earthquake who did survive but are now facing the tragedy, the reality of being homeless, facing the frigid temperatures of southeastern Turkiye.

And those in southwestern Syria, of course, already have faced years and years of war at the hands of president al-Assad's brutal regime, now facing the worst tragedy this nation has seen in a century.

Those rescue efforts are continuing in southeastern Turkiye with the support of many international teams. Take a look.

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BASHIR (voice-over): A call for silence, a moment of desperate hope, then cheers of relief, a woman rescued from beneath the rubble after 132 hours.

But in Turkiye, the search and rescue effort is quickly turning into a recovery effort. Here in Gaziantep, the grief is overwhelming. A gut- wrenching scene reflected across the expansive quake zone, not least in northwestern Syria.

The U.N. says at least 22 aid trucks were finally able to make it across the Turkish border on Saturday. But despite the arrival of vital humanitarian assistance, even the White Helmets, who have been central to Syria's rescue effort, say they've lost all hope of finding any more survivors.

Six days on and the death toll continues to climb. As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announces the latest death toll, authorities are looking for answers. Turkiye's state news agency says officials have already arrested a number of individuals believed to be responsible for the construction of now-destroyed buildings.

As a multi-region investigation continues into allegations of negligence, meanwhile, reports of looting and criminal activity have forced some international search and rescue teams to suspend their operations in Turkiye.

President Erdogan vowing to hand out tough penalties. But for some, grief is turning to anger, with questions now mounting over whether enough was done by the government to prepare for the very worst.

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BASHIR: And look, Kim, as this quickly shifts to a recovery effort, there is a growing sense of anger and questions whether the government could have done more to prepare for a disaster like this.

The government itself says it is carrying out investigations into allegations of negligence. Already several people have been arrested, according to authorities. And in the city, at least 62 detention notices have already been issued. They are sentencing people to prison for allegations of negligence. That investigation continues.

And in fact, they've also imposed travel bans on some suspected individuals. One man yesterday was arrested at Istanbul International Airport, appearing to flee to Montenegro. Clearly there is work by the government to bring people to justice.

There are questions not only on whether the government could have done enough to prepare for this disaster but also whether aid and response of the government came about quickly enough, not only in Turkiye.

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BASHIR: But also, of course, in northwestern Syria, where we saw the huge lag in time to get aid across the border from Turkiye into Syria. And of course, questions around the Syrian government, where we have seen delays into Damascus and rebel-held territories.

BRUNHUBER: Nada Bashir, thanks so much.

As Nada mentioned, international aid can't come soon enough. Millions depended on foreign aid before the quake hit. Many were already displaced by the country's long-running civil war. Now they could find themselves homeless again, as makeshift camps go up next to the rubble.

Meanwhile flights like this one from the United Arab Emirates are arriving. Italy is bringing in supplies from Lebanon. The Assad government says aid can be sent to rebel-held territory but won't go to what it deems terrorist groups.

There are fears it will cut off supplies to the same people subjected to heavy bombing and brutal attacks for years. So as Syrians and Turks wait on foreign aid, the humanitarian group

Direct Relief is sending medical items and other vital items. Mike Valerio has this story.

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MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're standing in the middle of 15 metric tons of emergency supplies that are bound from here in Santa Barbara, California, all the way to Turkiye and to Syria. So we'll show you what we have on my left.

These are disaster supplies for doctors, first responders; each pallet weighing about 151 kilograms.

To my right, these are for families, for people who are living in football stadiums -- or what's left of them -- in tent cities. We actually unpacked a few of these pallets to show you what's inside.

These are inside the white pallets; again, doctors, first responders. And if you look in here, this compartment for dressing wounds, bandages, all you could possibly need in such a horrific disaster zone.

Then we have over-the-counter medication, cleaning supplies, even in this pocket here, for taking blood pressure, anything first responders could need.

This is the family packs that we have in these orange packets. We have solar lights, hairbrushes, toothpaste, in addition to a, I would say, a dozen other items.

But we spoke with the CEO of this organization, Direct Relief, a couple of hours ago. He told us, when these items are loaded, he's not just shipping freight; he's thinking about each and every human face, individual, who will benefit from these items.

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THOMAS TIGHE, CEO, DIRECT RELIEF: I try to give myself a moment to just think of what it means for people I don't know, but having a sense of, you know, this is a life-altering event, a life-ending event for many people. So after that, then you just -- it kicks into gear.

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VALERIO: So this is the packing in process here. We're in southern California. So what's going to happen, all of these supplies by Monday will be loaded onto a nonstop flight from Los Angeles International Airport, LAX, to Istanbul. It will take about four days for all these supplies to reach the disaster zone.

Now just to show you what else we have here, acres and acres of square footage just covering this part of Santa Barbara. Before this disaster, there were supplies that were being sent to Syria for the cholera outbreak. Also in January, when we had atmospheric river after atmospheric

river, there were supplies that were being sent up and down the coast of California.

So, of course, even though we're 11,000 kilometers away from the disaster zone, people said that, if this happened here in this seismically active region of the world, the rest of the international community would have our backs, too -- Mike Valerio, CNN, Santa Barbara, California.

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BRUNHUBER: If you're looking for information on how to help, you can go to cnn.com/impact and there you can find a list of organizations that are working on rescue and relief efforts.

One anonymous donor is setting a very high bar for generosity. The unidentified Pakistani man walked into the Turkish embassy in Washington and donated $30 million for earthquake victims.

Pakistan's prime minister tweeted the news on Saturday, praising the man for the kind of "glorious philanthropy," which enables humanity to triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds.

An attempted military breakthrough backfires on Russia in Eastern Ukraine. Russian vehicles take fire and Moscow ends up racking up casualties. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: We're getting word of a new barrage of Russian strikes in northeastern Ukraine. The target was Kharkiv. The attack left one person injured and a dozen residential buildings damaged. David McKenzie is in Ukraine, tracking developments and he joins us now from Kyiv.

First, David, what's been the impact of the barrage of drone and missile strikes over the past few days?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, the impact has not been nearly as severe as Russia would have hoped, because it has been restrained for several months, of Russian forces using missile strikes to try to target the civilian infrastructure of this country in the dead of winter, particularly hydro and thermal or coal plants.

There was some success from Russian missile strikes but certainly the majority of those missiles and drones were shot down Friday into Saturday. And it speaks to the sophistication of the Ukrainian air system at this point, nearly a year into the conflict. And the proof of that, in a way, is that the Kyiv region and the capital here where I am, as well as other parts of the country, are not seeing any planned blackouts.

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MCKENZIE: The minister of energy saying, despite those attacks, they are able to produce the amount of power that the country needs. And he attributed that to, in part, the rapid repair of some of the systems.

So the aim of the Russian forces to demoralize the civilian population at this point does not seem to be working, despite those multiple strikes that we saw at the beginning of this weekend. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. And then, David, in the east, word of Russian reverses there. So bring us up to speed.

MCKENZIE: Maybe not reverses but their attempt to push through the front line in Vuhledar in the eastern part of this campaign. It's a small town but very strategically important for both sides because of its proximity to supply lines and also a gateway to push further west from the Russian perspective.

It's difficult to ascertain exactly the details of the mechanized attacks by the Russians, given that we're far from the area.

But the available video evidence and even Russian sources saying that they have suffered heavy losses because of strikes and artillery strikes on those Russian forces, trying to push through the front line, potentially as an early start to a major campaign.

The defense intelligence of the United Kingdom saying this period has been the worst in terms of losses for Russia since the beginning of the war. The Ukrainians are taking heavy casualties as well.

It speaks to the grinding and attritional nature of this conflict. Both sides have become dug in, in the frozen eastern front at this point in the war. Any major moves will be very challenging.

But as we approach the anniversary of the war, you know, Vladimir Putin will look to have a win, to show something to his population, that this war is anything other than a waste. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. David McKenzie, thanks so much.

In France, more than 900,000 people took to the streets in a fourth round of protests against proposed pension reforms. Have a look here.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Police say the demonstrations were largely peaceful but eight protesters were arrested. Under the proposed reform, the retirement age would go from 62 to 64. Meanwhile, French unions have already announced a fifth day of strikes on Thursday and another on March 7th.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, it's happened again. A U.S. fighter jet shot down an unidentified object, this time over Canada. We're following all the developments and reaction. Please do stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in Canada, the United States and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

For the third time in a week, a U.S. fighter jet has shot down an unidentified object over North American airspace. Justin Trudeau said it violated Canadian airspace and was taken down by a U.S. F-22 fighter jet over the Yukon in northwest Canada.

Trudeau and Biden both authorized the strike by the countries' shared air defense organization, NORAD. It follows the downing of another unidentified object on Friday over Alaska and the shoot-down of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon last Saturday off the coast of North Carolina.

It's not clear yet if the incidents are related. CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House with the latest on this developing story.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau took a very rare step on Saturday and jointly authorized the shooting down of an unidentified object over northern Canada.

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. According to the Pentagon, NORAD first detected this latest object on Friday evening over Alaska. As they monitored it, they saw it crossed into Canadian airspace.

The president and Canadian prime minister spoke and decided to follow the advice of their military officials and decided to authorize shooting it down. It was at that time that Canadian and American fighter jets, through NORAD, worked together to try to take down this object, with ultimately an American F-22 shooting it down.

This follows, just one day prior on Friday, when President Biden had ordered the shooting-down of another unidentified, unmanned object near the coast of Alaska.

And just one week prior to that, ordered the shooting-down of that suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of the Carolinas. Now the White House still and Pentagon still have many questions to

answer relating to these last two unidentified objects, including the scope, the size, the origin and what exactly the purpose was -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

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BRUNHUBER: Canada's national minister of defense says the military strike on Saturday was the first instance of NORAD downing an object in Canadian airspace. Earlier, we asked Mary Schiavo to weigh in on the significance of this. Here she is.

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MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: More important, we're downing objects and we really don't know and haven't identified what they were yet.

And depending upon which briefing you review, some of them say they did enter our airspace before we were actually aware of them entering the United States' airspace, which is of great concern.

I'm up here working in Alaska. Obviously it's hugely important to American defense. There's tremendous military presence. In Anchorage yesterday and today, for example, there were air AWACS reconnaissance planes up. The skies were full. There were a lot of military aircraft coming and going.

You know, you can't really overestimate the value of the Alaskan defense system and American defense system in Alaska. So it's very important on all of those fronts. And you know, the description of the object.

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SCHIAVO: And the fact that the pilots couldn't really see it that well is not surprising.

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BRUNHUBER: We'll have more on this top story in about 30 minutes on "CNN THIS MORNING."

Just ahead, new developments in the ongoing federal investigation into the handling of classified documents. We'll have a report from Washington coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: More classified documents, a laptop and testimony under oath. Some of the new twists and turns in the saga enveloping former president Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence. CNN's Zachary Cohen brings us up to date from Washington.

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ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Major developments on the classified documents front, both for former president Donald Trump and former vice president Mike Pence.

For Trump, CNN has learned his legal team has handed over more classified documents to federal prosecutors in recent months, suggesting this drawn-out effort to get classified material back from the former president is continuing, all as the special counsel criminal investigation is ongoing.

Trump's team turned over this additional material in December and January, several months after Mar-a-Lago was searched by the FBI, and including not just classified documents but also a laptop belonging to one of Trump's aides.

At the same time, CNN is learning one of Trump's attorneys appeared before a federal grand jury as part of the special counsel investigation into the former president's handling of sensitive records.

And prosecutors asked him what happened in the lead-up to the FBI's August search of Mar-a-Lago and about his conversations with Trump directly.

Meanwhile, the FBI searched Pence's home Friday. An additional document with classified markings was found there as well.

While it's unclear what this document is related to or its level of sensitivity, the fact that investigators located an additional classified document at Pence's house after it was searched by his own lawyers will likely prolong the Justice Department's review of the issue.

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COHEN: Now these investigations into Trump and Pence could complicate their political futures, as both look toward 2024. They'll want to wrap up these reviews as soon as possible -- Zachary Cohen, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: We're learning that a second attorney for Donald Trump has appeared before a federal grand jury in the ongoing special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents. Christina Bobb testified before the grand jury in Washington recently.

She and another Trump attorney have faced scrutiny since last year, when the FBI discovered classified documents at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

I'm Kim Brunhuber. For our international viewers, "MARKETPLACE ASIA" is next. For the rest of you, there will be more CNN after the break, including a review of Super Bowl LVII. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The biggest 13 minutes of this year's game might turn out to be the halftime show. The one and only Rihanna takes the stage, her first live public performance in years. CNN entertainment reporter Chloe Melas breaks down what we can expect to see.

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CHLOE MELAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) is entertainment, obviously. An Rihanna, it has been seven years since she has toured. It has been seven years since she has put out an album. She just had a baby a few months ago, her first child.

And she's going to get up there and perform a medley of her hits. And she talked earlier this week at a press conference about how hard it is to put her career into just 13 minutes and how hard it's been to pick songs. Take a listen.

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RIHANNA, PERFORMER: Oh, my God. There are probably about 39 versions of the set right now. I mean every little change counts. Whether I want a guitar cutout, something muted, something added or just put in a whole new song or take out a whole song, like every time I make a change, something has to be updated and that's a new version.

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MELAS: So in this interview she also talked about the fact that she just did have a baby. And how when she got the phone call, she was like, are you really sure?

She said she's had this burst of energy. That's all she's thought about.

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MELAS: She hasn't thought about her birthday or anything going on in her life, other than obviously her family. And it's all been Super Bowl. You've heard that from these performers, it's all consuming. There's so much rehearsal that goes into this. You're also going to see country superstar, Chris Stapleton, singing

the national anthem; Babyface at some point, Sheryl Lee Ralph. So you're going to see a lot of famous faces. I've got to say, I think Rihanna is going to knock it out of the park, knock it out of the stadium.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, every Super Bowl, some animal somewhere tries to predict the winner, so these are the latest ones.

Meet Bakari, the baby giraffe, who chose Kansas City by munching on leaves next to the Chiefs logo. And the zoo in Des Moines says their animals have picked nine of the past 12 Super Bowl winners.

Then Rudy the orangutan at the Topeka, Kansas, Zoo who picked the box with the Chiefs logo, that had the lettuce inside. But before the big game, there will be another kind of ferociousness on the field, as the puppy bowl makes its return this year.

The annual competition is held on every Super Bowl Sunday with the aim at promoting adoption. And the day's event will have more than 120 rescue dogs, 11 that have been classified as dogs with special needs.

They also have a kitty halftime show for cat lovers, so people can adopt kittens from different shelters.

That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. You can follow me on Twitter @KimBrunhuber. "CNN THIS MORNING" is next.