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Aired February 05, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:26]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. I'm Boris Sanchez.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Amara Walker. We are tracking several new developments this morning following the military's shoot down of the suspected Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast. The FBI analyzing the pieces of the balloon as China sends a warning to the White House. Our team is covering this story from multiple angles.

SANCHEZ: Plus, new details on that train derailment that sparked a massive fire in eastern Ohio. Officials now saying train cars contained hazardous materials. The latest on that cleanup effort.

WALKER: And the FBI offering a $25,000 reward for information about the attacks on two power substations. Why officials say these stations are increasingly being targeted by extremist groups.

SANCHEZ: And could artificial intelligence soon put us all out of work? You may want to polish your resume. It's all ahead on CNN THIS MORNING.

We are starting another week and we are grateful to have you. It is Sunday, February 5th. Thanks so much for waking up with us. Amara, I don't think as much attention has been paid to a balloon since that balloon boy hoax. Remember Falcon Heene?

WALKER: That's what exactly what it reminded me of when we were talking about this yesterday. Talk about really what's become an international obsession. And we have a lot of new developments regarding the spy balloon to get to. We begin with the fallout after a U.S. military jet shot down that suspected Chinese spy balloon off the East Coast of the United States.

SANCHEZ: There is dramatic video of this balloon exploding. Here it is after it was hit by a heat-seeking missile fired from an F-22 fighter jet. Military personnel are gathering the wreckage from the balloon, taking it to the FBI lab in Virginia to analyze it and see what they can find out. The jet shot down the balloon after it drifted across the country for several days. Witnesses in South Carolina got a firsthand view of this dramatic moment. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ALEX DAVIS, WITNESS: I'm seeing a lot of crazy stuff at Myrtle Beach the last three years. This is by far the craziest. We were at lunch and we were kind of like joking around like, you know, what if we see it? What it's if right here? Like obviously them shooting it down as reports indicated was imminent. So, we went outside and we saw the fighter jets circling around. There were about three or four of them. And then after that we heard a bang and the balloon was gone.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WALKER: Well, some witnesses say they were caught off guard by the delayed sound of the explosion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa! Did you hear that? Are you still videoing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am still videoing. The sound just hit us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: How could you not hear that? Soon after the balloon came down President Biden explained why the strike that he ordered earlier in the week had to be delayed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On Wednesday, when I was briefed on the balloon, I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday as soon as possible. They decided that the best time to do that was as it got over water outside -- within the 12-mile limit. They successfully took it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Well, China accused the U.S. of overreacting and expressed its strong dissatisfaction and protest over the shoot down. Of course, the incident is just adding to the escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing.

SANCHEZ: We are, of course, covering this story only as CNN can. CNN's Will Ripley is live for us in Taipei. Jasmine Wright has been tracking the response from the White House. But we begin with Natasha Bertrand. Natasha, walk us through this operation to shoot down the balloon.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Boris. It was a pretty dramatic and long planned operation. So, what happened was advanced F-22 fighter jets took off from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia yesterday around 2:35 p.m. And then around 2:39 p.m. is when we saw that single missile that was fired from one of these jets that then, of course, caused the balloon to explode. Now, this was the result of a lot of planning over the course of several days between President Biden and his military team.

[06:05:01]

Ultimately, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin did give that final approval for the operation just after noon on Saturday. But now this turns to a recovery mission. Of course, it was successfully shot down. And now they have to figure out how to get that debris because that is key.

According to defense officials who spoke to reporters yesterday, the U.S. really wants to get that debris so that they it can analyze it and potentially learn more about China's intelligence program and ability to surveil. Of course, this sensitive -- potentially sensitive missile sites in the U.S. So, the debris now is spread out around seven miles. So, it's not a small area here. But it's also pretty shallow water. The water is only about 47 feet deep, according to defense officials.

So, they are confident that it is not going to take extremely long to recover all of this stuff. Now, of course, they are going to be sending divers in. And after all of that they will be taking the debris to an FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, to be further examined, guys.

WALKER: Yes. No one is doubting this was a spy balloon. The question is, what exactly it was able to do while it was in our airspace for so many days? Natasha Bertrand, thank you.

All right. Let's bring in CNN White House reporter Jasmine Wright. And, Jasmine, we heard there from the president who gave the order to shoot down the balloon. He said -- he gave that order days before the action was carried out amidst calls from Republicans and criticism that he wasn't acting quickly enough. What else is he saying?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. The president said really was adamant that he gave that order really as soon as he learned about it. The president said that he gave the order to the military on Wednesday. He was first briefed on Tuesday. And he said he wanted it shot down as soon as possible.

Now, the military advised that the president wait as by that time the balloon had really drifted over these more densely populated areas and it could have damaged property or potentially American lives. So, the president took that recommendation. And then the military hatched the plan to wait until it was over open water to shoot that balloon down. Really waiting a full seven days after the balloon entered U.S. airspace.

Now, you're right. The president is now facing criticism for that extended period of the wait really from Republicans and even some questions from Democrats. And the White House is for the last like 12, 13, 14 hours really defending the president on this decision to wait.

I want to read you a statement from a White House official because it's pretty strong here. They said that, "This is the responsible action for the commander in chief to take." Waiting, that is. "He prioritized the safety of the American people. He ensured that the military take steps to protect against the balloon's collection of sensitive information, mitigating any intelligence value to the PRC," the People's Republic of China. And they also said that in that time that they took they were able to study that payload and really get information off of it.

So, of course, this will be the defense that they use for the domestic problems over the course of the days as those on the Hill ask for more questions from the White House. Then diplomatically, of course, they are going to have really some issues to sort through as of course this White House has spent last few months really trying to iron through and warm relations with China. And, of course, this incident is now a setback in those efforts.

SANCHEZ: Only the latest setback in a long list. Jasmine Wright, thank you so much.

Let's pivot now and get the Chinese reaction to all of this. Will Ripley is for us live in Taiwan. Will, China from the beginning has denied that this was a spy balloon and now they are vowing retaliation to it being shot down?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what the defense ministry of China is saying is that they reserve the right to, in their words, use necessary means to deal with similar situations. We know that the United States and China spy on each other. China has a vast array of hundreds of spy satellites and likely any intel that they gain from floating over even sensitive sites in places like Montana, they would have already had imagery of those areas.

So, then the big question is, why would China do this? They say it was an accident. But if it wasn't an accident, if this was deliberate, why would they do it on the eve of a diplomatic visit with Secretary Blinken that by all accounts was very important to Chinese President Xi Jinping would plan to meet with him? Was this an act of diplomatic sabotage? Was this a test of the U.S. military's response time? Was this a test of President Biden himself? Or is this simply a case of China's massive bureaucracy messing up?

One arm not talking to the other so to speak. China, of course, expressed condemnation of the United States' decision to shoot down the balloon once it crossed over the Atlantic Ocean saying China will resolutely, in their words, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of relevant companies. Because they have been claiming all along this is a civilian balloon, not a military or surveillance balloon despite the Pentagon's strong rejection of that. And they also say, as I said, they reserve the right to make further necessary reaction.

What that means here in this region we don't know. But I can tell you here in Taiwan they have said -- they have seen similar balloons flying over this self-ruled democracy as recently as February of last year and also September of 2021.

[06:10:03]

Similar, not clear if they are the same type of surveillance balloon. But given that China has also been flying drones over Taiwan's territory maybe people in the United States now know what it feels like to be under the watchful eye of Beijing.

WALKER: Yes. Ironic though, right? China is saying that the U.S. seriously violated international practice when it was the first to violate U.S. airspace, not to mention Canada's. Will Ripley, thank you very much for that perspective.

Let's go now to Dianne Gallagher. She is in South Carolina where that balloon was shot down and, of course, the recovery efforts of this debris field are underway. What's happening there?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, look, right now somewhere out in this vast darkness that is the Atlantic Ocean behind me at 6:00 in the morning there is the wreckage of this suspected Chinese spy balloon. Now, look, when it was shot down here off the coast of Myrtle Beach Surfside there were already U.S. coast guard and naval vessels that were in the vicinity. So, they immediately began to make a perimeter of that area.

Now, you heard Natasha mention that they initially thought it was going to be shot down over deeper waters. Instead, we are talking about 47 feet of ocean water. So they do anticipate that it's going to be fairly easy to go ahead and recover some of this.

Now, they are going to be using skilled Navy divers, according to a senior U.S. military official, as well as unmanned vessels that are going to be able to go down and actually lift up that wreckage and get it onto a recovery ship. Now, how long is this going to take? So, the official was not sure of the exact amount of time, but because of where it was shot down they do believe that this will take a fairly short amount of time.

They said -- quote -- "I don't anticipate months and weeks." Look, here in Myrtle Beach they did kind of give a warning saying that if remnants of this balloon begin washing up on the shore here, don't touch it. Do not take it. Don't go home and put it on eBay. They need that so they can take it back to Quantico so the FBI and other intelligence agencies can examine what's left of this balloon.

WALKER: Dianne Gallagher, yes, we'll make sure that that message gets out there. Thank you so much, Dianne.

Let's get some more insight now from CNN military analyst and retired Lieutenant-General Mark Hertling. Good morning to you. So, first off, I mean, do you think the Biden administration acted quickly enough waiting until the spy balloon was over water? I'm sure, as you know, Republicans have been claiming that this was a national security failure.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It was definitely not a national security failure, Amara. And good morning to you.

I said even before some of this events happened yesterday that they needed to leave it to the professionals, that there was probably a whole lot more behind what was going on from both an intelligence perspective and a search perspective and an over watch perspective that some of the Republicans who were tweeting just shoot it down, just shoot it down for the last day that they knew about it, just didn't understand.

Now, that's not a bias on my part. You know, I know the fact that when you are talking about tracking a satellite or something that's coming into your airspace you not only want to see what it's going to do, you want to collect intelligence on what the other side is doing, and that's what the Biden administration did. As that balloon went across the Bering Sea, into the Aleutian Strait, into Canada, both NORAD and others were tracking it and coordinating what to do with it.

NORAD, by the way, as you know, is a consortium between the U.S. and Canada. So, there were other nations that were actually observing this satellite -- or this balloon as well. So I think the administration, the military and the intelligence community was very prudent. And I think those who were insulting them about what they were and were not doing just don't understand how some of these things work.

WALKER: From what we know right now, which is very little, I guess, what do you think the Chinese were able to accomplish? Because I know as the balloon was in the air I guess at least it gave, you know, U.S. officials time to study it from, you know, from their vantage point along with the equipment. And we saw that there were solar panels suspended below the balloon and now we know the debris that's being recovered will be taken to an FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia. Do you think China was able to, you know, retrieve some sensitive information? I know one U.S. official said it was used to monitor sensitive military sites.

HERTLING: Well, I would say it flew over military sites on its route across the United States. But, Amara, what I'd tell you from experience that as soon as this entered U.S. airspace there was the potential, and it actually probably happened, to jam and spoof the electronic equipment on the balloon itself. So, it wasn't able to do anything that a satellite system couldn't do going across the country and in orbit.

[06:15:05]

But the thing is, there is more to intelligence gathering than just the electronic or the signals intelligence. There is also a study of reactions. So I think, truthfully, as Will Ripley said earlier, this was a very clumsy move by the Chinese because they likely knew it would be jammed, but they wanted to also see the reaction of the president, the administration, the American people and other members of Congress as well as our military actions to what we were going to do.

But in watching it for such a long time, we gained an awful lot of intelligence about what the Chinese were doing. Remember, this is not the only balloon they have launched. They have launched -- also launched balloons inside of Taiwan. There is currently another one in Latin America, as the administration says, and they have a fleet of close to 50 of these electronic surveillance balloons much like we do, by the way, the aerostats that we have. So, yes, I think there was a lot of intelligence gathering on both sides. And truthfully, I think, the Americans got the upper hands on what we were able to gather.

WALKER: Yes. You're right to mention, right, there is a second balloon that has been spotted with similar characteristics, over South America. And, of course, these -- I think there were several spy balloons that were spotted during the Trump administration as well in the continental U.S.

But you talk about, which is fascinating to me, General, a study of reactions. And it's quite rich to hear China's reaction to the shoot down saying that the U.S. was overreacting and seriously violating international practice when it's the one that first, you know, violated U.S. sovereignty and U.S. airspace. But it also said, China saying, it reserves the right to use necessary means to deal with similar situations as Will Ripley was reporting. What do you think that means?

HERTLING: A lot like Russia, Amara. China continues to bluster and threaten when they know they are doing things that are against international standards. They will repeatedly say, hey, we reserve the right to do more things when they know they have been caught red- handed.

You know, I will go back to another thing in terms of the testing of intelligence sources. I would bet as we get more and more information from the U.S. government, from the administration, we will learn that there were multiple demarches towards the Chinese government in the week ahead of the shoot down. You know, we knew this balloon was going across the Bering Sea as early as about a week ago, last Sunday or even last Saturday.

During that period of time I would assure you the U.S. government handed demarches to the Chinese government saying, hey, we don't know what you are doing but you really need to knock it off. And we have been coordinating with other allies as well. Canada, as I mentioned earlier but there were probably other allies we were telling and passing intelligence to about this device that was over -- flying our territory because other countries like Japan and Taiwan have experienced this kind of action by China also. It's a violation of international standards and a violation of sovereign territory.

WALKER: It sure is. Lieutenant-General, fascinating conversation as always. Mark Hertling, thank you very much.

HERTLING: You're welcome, Amara. Have a good day.

WALKER: You too.

SANCHEZ: As you just heard noted by General Hertling and Amara, the Pentagon has confirmed that a second suspected Chinese spy balloon is passing over central and South America. Its current location remains unclear. But there have been multiple sightings of this white balloon from eyewitnesses in both Costa Rica and Colombia. Journalist Stefano Pozzebon is in Bogota, Colombia, this morning. Stefano, the Colombian authorities what have they said about this?

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Yes, Boris. Both the Colombians and the Costa Ricans have confirmed to CNN that these sightings occurred. In particular the Colombian was the military air force that released a statement and I quote saying that they first sighted a second balloon over the Colombian airspace on Saturday.

The balloon was cruising at about 50,000 feet above sea level at a speed of around 30 miles per hour. And most importantly, and I quote, the Colombians assess that this element did not represent a threat to security and to national defense. They said that the balloon left the Colombian airspace sometime between Friday and Saturday and now, of course, just as you said, the big question is where it is now?

It's probably that if it was the same balloon that was spotted over Costa Rica on Thursday, that means that it was cruising eastward and it might be somewhere over the Venezuelan airspace or even eastward. But I think, Boris, this tells you how Latin America has become a land of competition between the Chinese and the United States. It used to be the Washington's backyard. But now there is a lot of interest from China around here. And, of course, this adds only more speculation to what the Chinese were doing, if that is confirmed, of course, as a second Chinese balloon, Boris.

[06:20:08]

SANCHEZ: Interest and financial investment in Latin America by the Chinese as well.

POZZEBON: Indeed. Indeed. Exactly.

SANCHEZ: Stefano Pozzebon reporting from Bogota, thank you so much. So, this latest balloon debacle is only further straining the already tense relationship between the United States and China. So where do diplomatic relations go from here? We're going to discuss when we come back.

WALKER: And attacks on America's power grid seem to be on the rise. Why officials say they are increasingly becoming a target.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: China is condemning President Biden's decision to shoot down its suspected spy balloon on Saturday warning they could respond saying -- quote -- "China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and protest against the United States' use of force to attack civilian unmanned aircraft.

[06:25:01]

China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of relevant companies, while reserving the right to make further necessary reaction."

This balloon is just the latest strain on an increasingly fraught relationship between the two. So let's discuss the big picture with "Washington Post" columnist Josh Rogin. He actually wrote a book on recent relations between China and the United States. It's, "Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the Twenty-First Century."

Josh, as always appreciate you joining us bright and early on a weekend morning. What do you think the Chinese are doing here by vowing to retaliate in kind? I think the framing of that statement is really curious.

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. No. I think the Chinese government, Boris, knows that it made a big mistake here. They blundered. And now they are trying to bluster to cover up their blunder.

I mean, just think about it. The Secretary of State Antony Blinken was about to get on the plane to leave for Beijing. That would have been a huge diplomatic win for the Chinese and they stepped on their own plans by provoking the United States the day before the trip. And now they realize that was a really stupid thing to do and they have no choice but to double down.

I mean, what are they going to say, we messed up? I have never seen the Chinese Communist Party say that ever. So now they are going to say, oh, well, you know, I'm rubber, you're glue, anything you say bounces off me and sticks to you. But there is a deep realization in Beijing and a deep understanding on the U.S. side, according to my sources, that they really screwed up here because both sides have an interest in wanting smooth U.S.-China relations, but we don't want it so bad that we are going to accept this kind of provocation and just go on like business as usual.

Biden can't do that. Politics in the United States won't allow for that. The Chinese don't seem to have understood that. They get it now. And now they've started something that they can't finish.

And what that tells us, I think, is that actually this trip was not really something that was going to change U.S.-China relations in the first place. It's not as if we were about to enter a kumbaya moment and everything is going to be fine. Actually, the problems in the U.S.-China relationship are deeper than a trip or a balloon, and that's why I think U.S.-China relations are destined to go down.

SANCHEZ: So, your read is that this was not intentional perhaps even by someone within the CCP that may have been trying to sabotage Antony Blinken's trip? I have heard that theory out there.

ROGIN: Well, we can't be sure. But I think -- my best sources tell me, again, top Biden administration officials that I've talked to in the last 24 hours is that, they think the Chinese overplayed their hand. In other words, not that someone went rogue in Beijing. That's not really how their system works.

If you did something in U.S.-Chinese relations that Xi Jinping didn't like, you go to jail or die. So, it's unlikely that was the case. What's much more likely is that they thought we would just eat it. They thought that they could humiliate the United States on the eve of the trip and that we would just go anyway because we want peace so bad and we want good relations so bad and they were wrong.

They didn't understand that on our side, sure, we want to reset if that's possible, if everything's fine, but not at any price. And again, this goes back to the basic problem in U.S.-China relations, which is really what we need to be talking about, which is that it's not really about a visit or a balloon. It's about the fact that the Chinese Communist Party is an aggressive totalitarian genocidal dictatorship which is doing things that we can't tolerate and about the fact that the things that they want us to do, which is to ignore all of their bad actions, is something that we can't tolerate.

You know, it doesn't matter whether or not Tony Blinken goes there once or twice or three times. Until we get to those problems, the structural problems are just going to get worse. So, yes, this is a setback and it's a setback that the Chinese brought on themselves. And, yes, they intended to do it but they miscalculated what the result would be. That's my take.

SANCHEZ: So, Josh, given the very fundamental differences and very real problems that an empowered Xi Jinping presents for democracy and for human rights, et cetera, et cetera, could there be a path towards some kind of better relationship, some kind of reconciliation, if you will, between the United States and China?

ROGIN: Well, Boris, frankly, it doesn't look like it's in the cards in the near term. We have to keep the door open for better U.S.-China relations but we have to understand that better U.S.-China relations is not the primary goal of the U.S. policy towards China. That was the engagement policy that we failed to realize wasn't working for the last 40 years. That's how we got into this mess in the first place.

The primary goal of U.S.-China relations should be and must be to protect ourselves and work with our partners and allies to protect our security, freedom and prosperity from the threat that China's rise and China's actions presents. If we can get along with them while doing that, great. That's the secondary goal is making nice with Beijing. The first goal -- the primary goal is protecting ourselves.

[06:30:01]

And the Biden administration knows that. It's not as if they're not thinking that way. So, the problem is that you watch it that we have all this happy talk every time there is a meeting between the U.S. and China that sometimes -- somehow we're going to avoid the cold war and everything could be fine. Everything is not fine.

And the quicker we realize that and the quicker we work with partners and allies to increase our actions to protect ourselves from the problems that China is posing to the international order, the better off we will be. And the sooner the Chinese realize that we don't want smooth relations more than we want to protect ourselves, that'll be the best outcome for both sides.

SANCHEZ: Josh Rogin, as always, I appreciate your expertise and perspective. Thanks, josh.

ROGIN: Any time.

WALKER: All right, up next, power stations becoming increasingly vulnerable targets for attacks. It's part of an extremist philosophy to create chaos. We are going to take a deeper look at this alarming trend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:00]

WALKER: All right, here's a look now at today's top stories. Pakistan's former president General Pervez Musharraf who became a key ally of the U.S. following the 9/11 terror attacks died at 79. He seized power in Pakistan during a military coup in 1999 and then appointed himself president in 2001, and then remained in power until 2008.

Now, during that time, Musharraf led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. in the war in Afghanistan against the Taliban. Musharraf died in Dubai after treatment for a prolonged illness.

SANCHEZ: Back in the United States. We are learning more about a train derailment in east Ohio that triggered a massive fire on Friday night. The NTSB says 20 of the train cars were carrying hazardous materials. Of the ten that derailed, five were carrying vinyl chloride. Harmful elves of that chemical fortunately have not yet been detected in the air. The National Cancer Institute describes vinyl chloride as a colorless gas that burns easily. It's primarily used to make hard plastic resin. There's still no word though on exactly what caused the train to go off the tracks.

The FBI is now offering a $25,000 reward to find those responsible for the attacks on two different substations in North Carolina that caused widespread power outages. This is happening as the nation's power grid remains vulnerable and in the crosshairs of domestic extremist groups.

WALKER: Now, some experts say 2023 could be the most catastrophic year when it comes to attacks on the power grid. CNN's John Miller explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SPENCER MATTHEWS, NEIGHBOR: All of a sudden, about 8:45 -- about 25 -- 20 shots fired off right across the street.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): December 3rd, someone shot at two power substations in Moore County, North Carolina. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses were left in the dark.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Got no way to heat because we don't have a fireplace.

MILLER: It took days to get the lights back on, and so far no arrests.

GRANGER MORGAN, ENGINEERING PROFESSOR, CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY: The power system is inherently very vulnerable and it may not take all that high-tech an approach to cause physical disruption that could have very large consequences.

MILLER: 163 reports of suspicious activity, vandalism, sabotage, and physical attacks on power facilities reported across the country last year.

BRIAN HARRELL, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: This is not the boogeyman. A number of individuals and extremist groups online right now have already signaled that this is a part of their playbook.

MILLER: This is one of those playbooks, with a swastika on the cover. The main thing that keeps the anti-white system going is the power grid, the document reads. This is something that is easier than you think. Peppered all over the country are power distribution substations, sitting ducks, worthy prey. It's part of a white power philosophy called Accelerationism which wants to destroy society and replace it as they see fit.

With the power off, when the lights don't come back on, all hell will break loose making conditions desirable for our race to once again take back what is ours, they write.

DVES which stands for Domestic Violent Extremist dream of striking the right spots which government reports say it could cause a domino effect and black out huge parts of the country.

HARRELL: If you were to target eight or nine very key nodes throughout the United States, you potentially could have a collapsing effect.

MILLER: Cross-country power lines and substations are usually an in out of the way places that are hard to protect. And experts say to keep the lights on, the grid needs to be more resilient to attacks. Key equipment needs to be better protected. And utilities need to be better prepared to fix damaged equipment. But that's not easy.

MORGAN: It's inherently very difficult to harden or protect it all. No one at the moment has authority to deal with the entire system and we need to get that situation fixed.

MILLER: The responsibility is spread between federal authorities who regulate interstate lines, states, and power companies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We woke up at 5:30 and the power was out.

MILLER: Amanda Clark found out how real the threat was Christmas morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had prime rib and ham and baked potatoes. You know, we had 12 people coming for dinner.

MILLER: Police say these two men broke into four substations near her home outside Seattle, cutting fences, and leaving this fire burning. To cause a blackout that would not just kill the lights, but also a burglar alarm so they could empty the cash register at a local business. But so many other attacks on power stations remain unsolved and power infrastructure remains in the crosshairs of domestic extremists.

[06:40:05]

HARRELL: There is no doubt in my mind that 2023, this year that we are in right now, is probably going to be the most catastrophic when it comes to the uptick of DVE attacks on electricity infrastructure.

MILLER: John Miller, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: My thanks to John for that eye-opening report.

Still to come this morning, the future the labor force is in flux with artificial intelligence set to replace tens of millions of workers by 2025. But with that change, a new batch of roles might accommodate that evolution. More on what the future of the labor market looks like in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:00]

SANCHEZ: President Biden is touting the U.S. economy after a better- than-expected January jobs report. More than 500,000 jobs -- 517,000 were added to the economy last month and unemployment fell to 3.4 percent. That is lowest it's been since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969.

WALKER: But there is a new concern this morning about the future of the labor force here in the U.S. and whether artificial intelligence will one day replace humans on the job. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Which jobs is A.I. coming after first?

SHELLY PALMER, PROFESSOR OF ADVANCE MEDIA, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: If you are a middle manager, you are doomed. Any kind of commodity sales person, report writers, journalists, accounts and bookkeepers, and oddly enough, doctors who are looking -- who specialize in things like drug interactions.

YURKEVICH: Do you mean out of a job?

PALMER: No.

YURKEVICH: Or you mean that part of your job --

PALMER: That part.

YURKEVICH: OK.

That's the relief a lot of Americans are looking for right now. The explosion of ChatGPT, an A.I. platforms, showed us it could do what we humans do at work and faster.

Will it take my job?

PALMER: Yes and no. It's not going to replace you. Someone who knows how to use it well is going to take your job and that's a guarantee.

YURKEVICH: By 2025, the World Economic Forum predicts 85 million jobs will be displaced by automation and technology, but it is also create 97 million new roles. We've seen it before in the auto industry.

PALMER: While the auto worker may be displaced because they are not as good at welding or painting as the robot. There's probably about 35 people to be involved in the creation and maintenance of that device that welds better than a person.

YURKEVICH: And that's what happened at Carbon Robotics. Former auto workers now building an A.I. laser weeder in Detroit for farms.

PAUL MIKESELL, FOUNDER AND CEO, CARBON ROBOTICS: It's a direct result of the history of the auto manufacturing that we have that skill set available to us in one place.

YURKEVICH: The laser weeder still operated by a human but run by a.i. can do the work of between 40 to 80 people, says the CEO, filling roles that are hard to find humans for.

MIKESELL: Labor is harder to find every year, particularly farm labor. And an A.I. system like ours that can do that job automatically saves time, money, effort.

YURKEVICH: This music is composed solely by artificial intelligence called AVA. It even has an album you can stream. A.i. music is more affordable. There is no producer, composer, or artist to pay.

KARL FOWKES, ENTERTAINMENT AND BUSINESS ATTORNEY, THE FOWLKES FIRM: It's taking away opportunity from songwriters, producers, and artists, right? So, the people trying to feed their families.

YURKEVICH: Something similar is happening in the art world, leaving artist Cara Ortiz and two others to file class action lawsuit against three A.I. art companies for copyright infringement. Ortiz claims they are using her name and art to train the A.I.

CARA ORTIZ, ARTIST: It's feast and famine for most of us. We go job by job. And what happens when there is a little bit less work to go around?

YURKEVICH: Stability.ai, one of the companies named says the suit misunderstands how A.I. and copyright law work, adding it intends to "defend ourselves and the vast potential generative A.I. has to expand the creative power of humanity. The two other companies did not respond.

ORTIZ: I never thought we'd be here. It's like straight out of a sci- fi movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My father tried to teach me human emotions.

PALMER: There is a wonderful scene in the movie I, Robot. Detective Spooner hates robots when he says --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL SMITH, CHARACTER DEL SPOONER, I ROBOT: Can a robot write a symphony? Can a robot turn a canvas into a beautiful masterpiece?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PALMER: And the robot looks up and says --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PALMER: Every one of us is not Mozart or Rembrandt or Picasso or choose your famous amazing artist or artisan. We are just people. This is not coming to kill us. It's coming to help us.

YURKEVICH: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WELKER: I hope they are not coming to kill us. All I have to say hashtag pro-human.

All right, still ahead, chasing history. LeBron James closing in on an NBA record that hasn't been broken in nearly 40 years. Where he stands in the race to become the league's all-time leading scorer next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

WALKER: Lebron James is now just 36 points away from surpassing fellow Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most points in NBA history.

SANCHEZ: This would be an historic moment. And Coy Wire is with us now to walk us through the highlights. Coy, 36 points is just one good game for LeBron. He has had like 230 35-plus-point games. His next one is coming up on Tuesday.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Yes. And I bet there are some people within the Warner Brothers Discovery family who are happy about that because that game is on our sister channel TNT on Tuesday. This matters a lot to LeBron. He has called this one of the greatest records in all of sports and now he is on the verge of breaking that.

Every time LeBron made a bucket Saturday, there was a huge cheer from the crowd in NEW Orleans Arena. That's how badly fans want to witness history. 20th seasons in the NBA and he's still doing stuff like that. Incredible dunk. But check out the hustle in the fourth. This is the type of effort and passion that had made him one of the greatest ever. Fans getting their money's worth there as LeBron flies into the stands chasing a loose ball. Despite LeBron's efforts, Lakers lose 126-131. LeBron was asked how he was feeling after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, NBA PLAYER: I just want to win. You know, I play the game the right way and see what happens. I am tired as hell. I'll be ready to go on Tuesday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:55:04]

WIRE: Tuesday, 36 points to break the record. As Boris mentioned, he could do it at home against the Thunder. LeBron is averaging 30 points per game. He scored at least 36 points nine times this season, including three of the past seven games.

In college hoops, the number one team in the nation, Purdue, going down. The Boilermakers visiting Bloomington for a Hoosiers State showdown with Indiana, going toe to toes with Purdue's seven foot four inch Zach Edey player of the year frontrunner, but they did not flinch.

Star Senior Trayce Jackson Davis scoring 25 and freshman sensation Jalen Hood Schifino putting the exclamation point on the upset. Fans storming the court. Hoosiers first win over a number one team in a decade.

And the NBA's king of chic strikes again. Wizard Guard Kyle Kuzma doing his best impression of a Chinese spy balloon showing up to yesterday's game against the Nets in this. And not -- whether this was balloon (INAUDIBLE), I don't know what designer this is. It's a giant puffer coat.

Amara and Boris, this is kind of Kyle Kuzma's thing. He's actually a model. He has walked on the runway at New York's Fashion Week. So, Boris, we'd love to see you try to pull that off.

SANCHEZ: I absolutely would I'm terrified of black ice. You know, when the sidewalks freeze over and you're walking around, that would be perfect thing. You just bounce right back up.

WIRE: Yes. I think it's great.

WALKER: You wouldn't be able to see what you are walking on, right?

WIRE: But how did you fit in the bus? Like, where did you sit? I have so many questions.

SANCHEZ: That's awesome. That's awesome. Coy Wire, thank you so much as always.

WALKER: Good to see you, Coy. SANCHEZ: By the way, Chris Wallace is sitting down with two legends in

their respective fields tonight. Sports broadcaster Terry Bradshaw discussing the Super Bowl. He is also talking to astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson about the intersection of science and pop culture on a new "WHO IS TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE?" tonight at 7:00 p.m. on CNN.

Astrophysicist, I'll try that again.

Stay with us. we are back in just moments.

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