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CNN This Morning

U.S. Shoots Down "High-Altitude Object" Over Alaska; More Than 24,000 People Dead In Turkey And Syria; Russian Missiles Strikes Damage Critical Energy Infrastructure; Trump Team Turns Over More Classified Docs, Laptop To Feds; Memphis Prosecutors Reviewing All Cases Tied To Five Ex-Officers Charged; Southwest CEO Absent From Senate Hearing On December Meltdown; NTSB Subpoenas American Airlines Crew Over JFK Near Collision. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired February 11, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:30]

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

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Amara Walker. President Biden orders the military to shoot down an unidentified object off the coast of Alaska. What Pentagon officials are saying about it, and the differences between this object and, of course, the Chinese balloon that was shot down last week?

SANCHEZ: Well, so a moment of hope amid the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, more than 24,000 people killed. But amid that huge loss after days trapped under the rubble, a teenager who's found alive, the incredible story.

WALKER: Plus under review, Memphis prosecutors say they're now looking at every case involving those now fired officers charged in the beating of the death of Tyre Nichols as we're learning new details about those officers involved.

SANCHEZ: And executives at Southwest Airlines grilled by lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The changes the airline says it's going to make in the wake of that meltdown ahead on CNN This Morning.

Take a deep breath and relax. The weekend is here. It is Saturday, February 11. We appreciate that you're waking up with us and we're together in-person. This is great.

WALKER: I love the energy. It keeps me energized.

SANCHEZ: You've got to bring it. If it's so early, you have to just fake it until you make it.

WALKER: So glad you make that.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. So, first this morning, it happened again seemingly a lot more questions and answers this morning after the U.S. shot down an unidentified object over Alaska, the second time in less than a week that U.S. fighter jets have taken down an object after that surveillance balloon that Chinese supposed spy balloon was brought down last week.

WALKER: The latest object was shot down about 10 miles off the coast of Alaska. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary flight restriction in the area around Deadhorse, Alaska as the military took action.

Now, the White House says President Biden was first briefed on the situation on Thursday evening and then ultimately gave the order to take it down.

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JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: The President absolutely was involved in this decision. He ordered it at the recommendation of Pentagon leaders. He wanted it taken down. And they did that. They did it using fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command. We're calling this an object, because that's the best description we have right now. We do not know who owns it. Whether it's a -- whether it's state owned or corporate owned or privately owned, we just don't know. We don't we don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN White House Reporter Jasmine Wright is with us now live from the nation's capital. Jasmine, walk us through the rationale behind the President's decision?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Boris and Amara, there were major differences between this object shut down yesterday and the Chinese spy balloon shot down last week. Officials say and that is what led really to these two things being treated very, very differently. And now the biggest difference when you talk to officials, they say is where this object was flying, it was flying about 40,000 feet up in the air.

Now, that's about the top range of where commercial airlines will fly. Last week Chinese spy balloon was flying about 60,000. So they said that there was a great risk to commercial aircrafts. Even though that area doesn't have a lot of places. Certainly going through it over Alaska. There was still a great risk to civilian aircraft, and therefore they believed it needed to be downed.

Now, there were other really major differences also including the size of it. This object was the size of a small car compared to last week's Chinese spy balloon, which the payload underneath it was the size of three buses. So really a major difference there. And of course, the maneuverability. The White House said that they didn't see that it had much maneuverability capacity remotely. And in fact, it was kind of at the whims of the wind here.

So all those factors, we led to it having that expedited timeline, as you said, the fighter jets first realized that it was there on Thursday night. They went up, kind of survey the area. The President was briefed Thursday night as well. And then the military recommended that it be brought down.

President Biden accepted that recommendation, made the official order on Friday morning and then another crew of military jets fighter jets went up and really surveyed that object again and then it was shot down right just before 2 p.m.

Now not only did the President really the really order it and the timeline moved quickly, but of course the administration overall dealt with it. Quite differently, then that Chinese balloon -- Chinese spy balloon last week, the Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister said that he was briefed on it beforehand. People on the Hill congressmembers said that they were briefed on it beforehand really after the White House was criticized really pretty deeply about the way that they handled the Chinese spy balloon, letting it traverse over the continental U.S. for about eight days there last week.

[08:05:20]

Now, though, even though we know that the timeline was different here and what how the administration handled it was differently, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. We heard from John Kirby there. They don't know exactly what this object is. They can only call it an object. They don't know who owned it, whether it was state owned, privately owned, or ultimately what the reason was for it to be in U.S. airspace.

What its intention was really or whoever sent it, what their intention was. So the recovery efforts are underway here. And we are hoping to learn more about what it was doing here in the U.S. Also, ultimately, we're hoping to learn more from the administration about their next steps forwards and what they hope to do in response, Boris and Amara.

WALKER: Jasmine Wright, appreciate your reporting as always, thank you. Let's get some perspective now from CNN Political Analyst, Seung Min Kim and CNN National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem.

Welcome to you both ladies. Seung, we'll start with you, President Biden, he acted pretty quickly and forcefully with this on identified object with a Chinese spy balloon last week. He was criticized by Republicans for allowing the balloon to fly across the United States for days before shooting it down. So the Pentagon says in this case, the object was flying low enough to interfere potentially with air traffic. So they had to act fast. Do you buy that?

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I mean, also remember what the Pentagon was saying and what the White House was saying that they wanted to wait until for the Chinese spy balloon that they wanted to wait until it would -- it wouldn't affect civilians on the ground. That's why they waited off the -- off until the waters of off the coast of South Carolina. But I think that there is a different element here. And there does seem to be a sense that the White House the administration kind of learn from the outcry of criticism from congressional members last week, because it wasn't just Republicans who say the administration's response was not OK. I mean, you recall John Tester, who is a Democrat, who represents Montana, Montana was a state with this, where the Chinese spy balloon was first spotted by members of the public by us. And he was very critical that he wasn't even kept in the loop as to what was going on. So, I think you saw for example, Senator Lisa Murkowsk of Alaska said she had been briefed by administration officials. So at least in terms of their communications with Congress, the White House really did seem to learn its lesson from last week.

WALKER: Sure, yeah. And Juliette, what do you make of this latest object? I mean, what do you think it was, who may be behind it? And the fact that, you know, it's much smaller, it's the size of a car compared to three buses, which was the size of the Chinese spy balloon? What do you think this is?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yeah, so we don't know yet. And given its altitude it had to be taken down just because it was a threat to commercial aviation. That was a really key factor in the risk calculation that the military made about the first -- or the balloon in terms of, was it a threat to commercial aviation, you simply cannot have things that would impact or possibly harm commercial aviation.

So that seems to be the first criteria that they use at this was in sort of a crowded airspace. The second of course, is they did learn in terms of your -- you want to get it before it gets onto continental United States, we have to learn about how the first balloon got onto or above our domestic skies without much. I think I was it without much surveillance. And then third, this is -- it does not -- no one is saying it's a balloon.

So we should not think like we're under threat from China or balloons are coming over us all the time. It's hard for people to imagine but there's a lot of stuff in the skies, in particular drone and private aviation, and private commercial satellites, all sorts of stuff that is just in our skies. It's a bit of a problem in terms of what we call, you know, space or aviation debris. We do not know what this is, it appears quite small, comparatively. And the military is quoted as saying that it came down as metal. In other words, it may not have had a balloon feature to it.

So I think that this is a coincidence of timing, and that the Biden administration took something down that may not have been a threat or even state sponsor, but simply did not want to go through rightfully, what had happened before and had learned its lesson to take it out of the sky and ask questions later.

WALKER: Juliette, just a follow up on that, how soon do you think we'll know what this was?

KAYYEM: Today. I mean, you look -- they apparently they already have the debris, or they've already Identify the debris, they're going to know whether it has a balloon feature someone may claim it at some stages.

[08:10:06] Private aviation, private drones all sorts of stuff like that are up in the skies. Someone may a private entity may actually claim it at some stage. So, I actually -- I don't think we're going to get through the weekend without at least some identification of what it was, and whether state sponsored.

WALKER: OK, got it. And back to the Chinese spy balloon, Seung Min, because obviously the FBI is investigating, they're still trying to recover, dive down deep there. I know whether it's been an issue to retrieve the payload of this huge balloon. And on the heels of that you have the U.S. Commerce Department restricting six Chinese companies tied to the Chinese army's aerospace programs from obtaining U.S. technology without government authorization. I also heard the FBI talking about potential criminal charges from this investigation. What does this all mean, for U.S. relations with Beijing?

KIM: Well, that's all -- well, that is a quite key question that we have been asking not only the President but White House officials all week since we first discovered the surveillance balloon last week. And I think you've heard a really measured tone from the -- from the administration, you know, for months, for most so much of remote -- for all of President Biden's time in office, they really tried to play down the notion that we are in kind of this military conflict with China. They have always characterized this relationship between the U.S. and China as one of competition and not conflict. But that is really test -- being tested here

They have said, you know, the White House officials that said they would take any sort of appropriate measures to respond. Beijing, of course, has said this was kind of just a weather balloon. It was not surveillance at all, and they've tried to play this down. But I also think it's quite a contrast to with what you're hearing from a lot of national Republican candidates, the same Republican candidates who are considering presidential bids against Joe Biden. I think you are hearing a lot of criticism that he acted -- he would -- that he was too slow to act, that he should have decisively taken action sooner when it was still over the continental U.S. Obviously, the White House has defended his decision, but I'm certainly it could continue to play out in the 24 campaign.

WALKER: Yeah, sure well. Seung Min Kim and Juliette Kayyem, I appreciate you both. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: We want to get you an update now from the Mideast because more than 24,000 people have been confirmed dead from devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Emergency crews from around the world have been digging through the rubble for five days now, hoping to find any signs of life.

WALKER: Well, this morning, a 16-year-old boy was pulled out alive from the rubble of a destroyed building 119 hours after the disaster, really is incredible.

Rescuers started searching the location after they heard his voice coming from below the wreckage of a building. But of course, with each passing minute, hopes of finding more people alive are fading. Many of those who died are being buried in mass graves like this one in Syria and those who survived have been left with pretty much nothing.

SANCHEZ: We want to take it out to Istanbul and CNN's Nada Bashir, who joins us live not a time has to be a factor as you're looking at now 120 plus hours of crews going through the rubble?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely in each and every minute counts here so far down the line after the earthquake took place early Monday morning. But we are still seeing small glimmers of hope as you described there, a teenage boy 16 years old being rescued 119 hours beneath the rubble just a little short while ago, we heard of a 70- year-old woman and had been rescued, 121 hours beneath the rubble. So we are still seeing these rescue efforts taking place. And that is certainly still a huge focus for the teams that have traveled far and wide to be part of this rescue efforts in southeastern Turkey.

But of course, those glimmers of hope are far and few between at this at this stage so many days on. There is real concern because of course this is shifting from a rescue effort more towards a recovery effort, it has to be said and we are seeing that death toll growing day by day.

But of course the big focus remains also, the humanitarian effort because besides from the direct impact of the earthquake, there is of course, the secondary catastrophe on the Kurds right now. And that is, of course, the impact of the earthquake has had displacing 1000s of people, families, and of course, the frigid cold temperatures.

We're seeing many people of course, sleeping rough on the streets, now homeless, in need of desperate support on the front on the humanitarian front. That has been a big focus for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of course, more than 140,000 people in Turkey dedicated to that rescue effort and we've seen teams from across the globe flying into Turkey to see for that search and rescue effort but also aid groups now funneling in that vital humanitarian assistance to Turkey.

[08:15:07]

SANCHEZ: Yeah, such a difficult situation for those folks. Nada Bashir, we appreciate the update. Thank you.

Still ahead, Ukrainians rushing to safety after Russia launches a barrage of missiles at the country. And Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeals for more firepower to counter those attacks. We'll take you to Ukraine, next.

WALKER: Plus, the Memphis District attorney now looking into every case, the officers charged in the beating of Tyre Nichols have been involved with, as we're getting new details about them.

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WALKER: All right, to the war in Ukraine now, Russia hit Ukraine with a barrage of missiles Friday targeting critical infrastructure. But Ukrainian forces claimed to have shot down 61 of those missiles. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is back in Kyiv after appealing to European governments for more firepower. He called for more modern tanks, long-range missiles and fighter jets.

[08:20:07]

SANCHEZ: The President Biden, meantime, is planning a trip to Poland later this month around the one-year mark of the start of the invasion. White House says the President is going to use the trip to reiterate America's support for Ukraine. And as we get closer to that one-year anniversary, Russia is escalating attacks, and both countries are taking heavy losses. CNN's David McKenzie takes us to the frontlines.

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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Russian forces left exposed on the frozen flatlines around Vuhledar, one of the most deadly zones of the Eastern Front. Ukrainian artillery and drones picking off the static targets. Even pro-Russian sources say they've taken heavy losses here. Ukrainian foot patrols to the southern outskirts of the heavily damaged town and they appear to be taking some prisoners too. These men identify themselves as belonging to Russia's 155th Marine Brigade.

To the north, on the edges of Bakhmut, Russian troops advancing block by block towards the city. They've been inching forward for months, taking heavy losses. Ukrainian forces desperate to deny Vladimir Putin a symbolic victory as the first anniversary of this war approaches. Across a wide area in the east, the Ukrainians detect a buildup in Russian troops and heavy weapons. That could be a prelude to a widely anticipated offensive. But Ukrainian officials have told CNN that in some areas, their own troops are critically short of munitions.

And throughout the country, Russia launched its largest missile barrage in months, targeting Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, including this thermal plant in Dnipro. The city of Zaporizhzhia hit 17 times in one hour. Russian cruise missiles struck the power grid. The immense power of the strike, throwing a car under the roof of a house.

They're not humans, says Yenhen, of the Russians. I don't know what they're thinking about when they're doing this, when they press the buttons and shell civilians.

The Ukrainian say they brought down 61 of the 70 missiles fired. Enough to limit damage to the power supply. As sirens blared, thousands of people in the capital Kyiv took to the subway shelters to run businesses and take classes. It's a well practice routine.

The children may not be comfortable, says teacher Olena. But since September, the alarms have been so frequent that they've got used to classes in the metro. In the skies above, the war against Russia's missiles, and drones goes on.

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MCKENZIE (on camera): Well, those drone strikes and attempted strikes happened overnight and into the very early morning. The Ukrainians have been able to stop the damage for many of those drone strikes in particular showing the impressive improvement in the air defense systems. And you can be sure that when President Biden comes to the region in the coming days, that President Zelenskyy will continue pushing for more sophisticated weapon systems, including those F-16 to try and turn the tide in this very bitter conflict. Boris, Amara?

SANCHEZ: An important chapter in this war. David McKenzie reporting live from Kyiv, thank you so much.

WALKER: All right. Well, more developments in the classified documents case against Donald Trump, the former president's legal team Friday turning over even more items with classified markings to federal prosecutors.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, and FBI agents completed a search of former Vice President Mike Pence's Indiana home where they uncovered yet another classified document. Let's break down all of this with the help of CNN National Security and Justice Reporter Zach Cohen.

Zach, good morning. There seems to be this constant drip when it comes to classified documents being found everywhere seemingly including in Donald Trump's possession. Do you think it's likely we could see even more materials with classified markings uncovered?

ZACH COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY & JUSTICE REPORTER: Yeah, Boris and Amara. It's really remarkable that in the case of Donald Trump, this protracted push by the Department of Justice to really repossess these records from the Trump presidency may not be over. It goes all the way back to August of last year when we obviously know that the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago residence but after obtaining a search warrant because there was evidence, investigators thought that records were moved and concealed.

Now, we're still finding records and classified documents popping up at Mar-a-Lago, obviously, as you said that this latest batch was handed back over to the Department of Justice, but this is important because the department -- or the Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating two Different things here. He's looking at Trump's handling of national security records but also the potential of obstruction of justice. Now, more records popping up is not good news on either front for Donald Trump and his legal team.

[08:25:10]

WALKER: Yeah, absolutely not and a source telling CNN that one of Trumps attorneys appeared last month to testify before a federal grand jury looking at former president's handling of national security records. What can we make of that?

COHEN: Yeah, Trump's attorney Evan Corcoran has been involved in his dealings with the Department of Justice about the records that have been found at his various properties. And it's not a good sign when your lawyer is being hauled in front of a grand jury as well.

Now, Corcoran, it was asked about his interactions with Trump and specifically this timeframe leading up to the August search of Mar-a- Lago, investigators want to know why more records continue to pop up when he drafted a document saying that there were no more classified documents at Mar-a-Lago or elsewhere to the best of his knowledge, though, you know, another key witness coming in and talking to the grand jury as Jack Smith investigation appears to be escalating at a pretty rapid clip.

SANCHEZ: And this week, Mike Pence was subpoenaed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, he's obviously investigating Trump for his potential involvement in the January sixth insurrection from a legal perspective, what clues does that give us about where that investigation is headed?

COHEN: You know, just like the Mar-a-Lago investigation, the January 6 investigation is also overseen by Jack Smith and the special counsel's office is also seeming to be escalating at a pretty rapid pace here. You know, the subpoena to Mike Pence is really an important milestone for investigators.

Pence is considered obviously a key witness the pressure campaign that Donald Trump implemented on him to overturn the 2020 election on January 6, remains central to the special counsel's investigation that's ongoing. So we have these two different special counsel probes that are both moving forward and moving forward pretty quickly.

SANCHEZ: A lot to parse through Zach, we appreciate you doing it for us. Thanks.

Still to come, there's a major review underway in Memphis, Tennessee, the Shelby County District Attorney expecting to examine all prior cases involving these five officers. Those charged for their role in Tyre Nichols' death. We'll be right back.

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[08:31:07]

WALKER: In Memphis, the 5 ex-police officers charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols are under more scrutiny. Prosecutors say they will review every prior case closed or pending involving them.

SANCHEZ: And this review comes as newly released documents show that a six now former officer lied to investigators about encountering Nichols. CNN's Nick Valencia is following this for us.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Shelby County District attorney's office tells me that they will be reviewing all prior criminal cases, so any case in which the district attorney brought charges, any case that's either closed or pending involving these fix officers.

If there is a silver lining in this, the district attorney's office tells me that these officers weren't on the force that long. So rather than talking about investigating hundreds of cases, it could be more like dozens.

The bigger question though, is will this expand beyond just these five officers and begin to look at the entirety of this former Scorpion unit, which is about 30 officers? These revelations come as we're learning new details about these officers including the sixth officer who was fired last week, Preston Hemphill.

And in a decertification letter sent by the Memphis Police Department to the state commission that oversees policing standards in the state, they allege that Preston said that Nichols was fighting back during this arrest, that he was driving recklessly, and that he was trying to grab one of the officer's guns. None of these claims by Hemphill are corroborated by the video evidence and these revelations come after more details we learned earlier this week from the decertification letters of the five other officers who were fired.

And police are saying that they went to great lengths to cover up their actions, great lengths to cover up what they did, by either hiding their body cameras or obscuring them or otherwise just misleading investigators. The bottom line here is that this is turned into a sprawling investigation. And according to the DA's office, this is just the beginning.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.

SANCHEZ: Nick, thank you so much.

Specialized police units have been at the center of several recent controversial arrests. This week, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta acknowledged that those units should be under intense scrutiny. But she argues that any reform has to begin at the local level. Here she is.

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VANITA GUPTA, ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: There has been a big focus right now on specialized units, for example. You know, Memphis had the scorpion unit. And the focus I think, you know, it should -- I think every police chief in America should be right now looking at what if they have specialized units? How -- what are the tactics those units are using?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Joining us this morning is Christopher Magnus. He's a senior adviser at the NYU School of Law Policing Project and the former police chief of Tucson Arizona. Sir, thanks so much for sharing part of your Saturday with us. We appreciate your time.

Crime has been a serious problem in cities like Memphis recently. There, they had some 650 murders, the last two years, property crimes were up 20 percent. That's why these types of specialized units like the SCORPION unit exist, but you say that often they fail and that they ultimately diminished trust in the community. Why?

CHRISTOPHER MAGNUS, SENIOR ADVISER, NYU SCHOOL OF LAW POLICING PROJECT: Well, because they use really, in many cases, tactics that are harmful and even unconstitutional. When you're just, you know, you're stopping pretty much anybody that's out on the street in certain areas, you're doing harm, you're breaking down trust and police need that trust to fight crime.

SANCHEZ: So if these specialized units are ineffective, what would you replace them with?

MAGNUS: Well, there are a lot of programs out there in Chicago right now. For example, Policing Project has been working with the Chicago Police Department and community groups to do a neighborhood policing initiative that brings officers closer to community, assigns them to set geographic areas, gives them time to build relationships.

[08:35:06]

When you have those relationships, and I've seen that through my career, you get help from the community, you work together to fight crime, far more effective than the street teams that are out there pulling people over often for really no constitutional reason doing stop and frisk tactics, kind of do whatever it takes mentality. And those things really don't work.

SANCHEZ: You argue that too many police officers lack strong communication and de-escalation skills. I'm wondering how you address that? Is that an issue of training or recruitment or both?

MAGNUS: Well, certainly both. Training has to be better. And there are -- there is good training out there that's available. There's training in terms of what we call active bystanders shift where officers are trained to intervene when they see a colleague, doing something that could get them into trouble.

And, you know, that's -- that can be so helpful, could have been helpful in a lot of these cases. As you say, de-escalation. It's a skill that needs to be taught. And there are many opportunities for that. There are a lot of best practices with training as related to use of force, a whole host of other things, constitutional policing.

But those are decisions that really have to be made at a local level involving, you know, community and the police department, even issues like avoiding pre-textual stops. These are all things that are very important.

SANCHEZ: You mentioned, what can be done at the local level at the federal level, President Biden this week in his State of the Union address, made another push for some kind of national police reform. Obviously, the George Floyd Act, Justice in Policing Act fell apart, specifically over the issue of qualified immunity, holding officers legally liable for some of their actions. I'm wondering where you stand on that issue and what laws you think Congress can pass to better address these problems?

MAGNUS: Well, I think there's certainly some options out there where, you know, liability can shift away from the taxpayers for some of this conduct, and instead to, you know, officers that would be required to carry their own insurance policies, much like doctors and other professionals.

And then it's interesting how when you get insurance companies involved, you know, they start looking at a department policies and training and things like that. And some of that can change. But I don't think there's one easy answer to this. Reform has to look different in a lot of different communities. But as I said, there are steps that chiefs can take, but it really boils down to collaboration at the local level. If you don't have that, you're just not going to be successful.

SANCHEZ: Christopher Magnus, thanks so much for your perspective. We appreciate your time.

MAGNUS: My pleasure.

WALKER: All right, still ahead, southwest under scrutiny. The airline grilled on Capitol Hill following its holiday travel meltdown. The changes they're promising to make, will it make a difference? That's coming up.

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[08:42:38]

WALKER: Well, this morning Southwest Airlines says its scheduling system should now be fixed, weeks after a major meltdown caused more than 16,000 flight cancelations during Christmas week of last year. Who could forget that?

Thursday, Southwest executives testified before Senate committee where they apologized once again for the meltdown and they promised a top to bottom overhaul of the airline systems.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW WATTERSON, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: I want to sincerely and humbly apologize to those impacted by disruption, caused a tremendous amount of anguish and convenience and missed opportunities for our customers and our employees. Let me be clear, we messed up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: But noticeably absent from that hearing with Southwest CEO Bob Jordan who had a scheduling conflict, according to what the airline is telling CNN. Here with me now is CNN Transportation Analyst, a former Inspector General for the Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo.

Good morning. Great to see you. I got to first ask you that, you know, the CEO Bob Jordan of Southwest Airlines, not making it to the hearing even though he was invited instead sending a COO.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: And not only that, he was just up the road in Baltimore, apparently, according to news reports. You know, unfortunately, it's deja vu all over again. He can skip it. They can apologize. But we've been to this play before. And I think the airlines, all the airlines, it's not just Southwest knows that.

How many times have we not had an airline apology tour after we've had a national meltdown? So Southwest realizes they can go up to the Hill, apologize. But when the media coverage, you know, stops on the Hill. The Hill has been very slow to act. We have had promises from the Hill before for major reregulation, an overhaul of the system and it has not been delivered. And I think the airlines know that.

WALKER: Yes.

SCHIAVO: They just have to apologize.

WALKER: Yes, look, you know, apology is fine, but give me solutions, right? So during the hearing --

SCHIAVO: Exactly.

WALKER: -- the COO, Watterson, he testified that the airlines still has 200 bags from that week to return. What -- how do they even get the bags back to the passengers? Will they get back?

SCHIAVO: Well, that's very interesting because they have explained that they have no identification on the bags whatsoever. And of course, now modern rules there, you know, after September 11, 2001, you have to know exactly which bag is whose and where it go.

The facts the identification has been removed or has fallen off of 200 bags is not only a problem for the people who own the bags in Southwest but it's also a security issue. And that is completely unacceptable. They have no clue who those bags belong to.

[08:45:15]

WALKER: So how confident are you that at least with Southwest Airlines, things will get noticeably better? I mean, during the hearing, they were talking about the staff scheduling system, you know, being changed. It was a computer system, but also they didn't have enough equipment to de-ice the planes.

SCHIAVO: Exactly right. Well, the computer problems are supposed to be solved that they allegedly are solved now. And Southwest has had these computer glitches for well over a year or two. I think about a year or so ago, we had the same kind of thing that computer system failed. That was a meltdown.

And a very important one, the scheduling the crew, I mean, for them to say they didn't know where their planes or their crew were was huge. But they said that part has been fixed. So the computer part has been fixed. So many other things in the system. You know, the system has simply broken down and it really is time for Congress and the Department of Transportation to re-regulate a good part of this industry way overdue.

WALKER: Yes, I think all of us, you know, who fly or we've experienced so many frustrations just over the past few months. Look, the National Transportation Safety Board which is investigating last month's near collision on the JFK runway has -- they've issued a subpoena for the testimony of the American Airlines pilots that were involved after several attempts to interview them. The NTSB says the American crew through their union, the Allied Pilots Association would not consent to the interview. Why are we seeing this pushback from the American Airlines crew?

SCHIAVO: Well, we're seeing the pushback because in, you know, in recent years, a lot of federal investigative agencies have misused the interview process. And now make no mistake the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board does have the power to subpoena. So what happens after an accident, you are obligated by law to submit a report of the asset.

Well, this is an incident, not an accident. You're required to submit a report of the incident. Attached to that report should be the interviews or a statement of the pilots and other personnel involved in the incident. Then the NTSB has the power to ask you to do an interview. And if you don't, they have the power to subpoena. Once they subpoena year before a recorded administrative -- recorded interview before administrative law officer.

So at this point, the interview will be recorded if it takes place. However, when you're doing an interview, which you feel for any government agency, in which you feel you might be placed in personal jeopardy, then you can have counsel present. We can always have counsel present or you might be entitled to take the Fifth Amendment meeting, you might incriminate yourself. That's where the system melts down.

WALKER: Mary Schiavo, we're going to have to leave it there and look at it for those of, you know, you're watching if you want Congress to get involved in overhaul the airline industry. I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. Because obviously the Democrats and Republicans are butting heads over regulating versus over regulation.

We'll leave it there, Mary. Thank you.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Just ahead, we are one day away from the big game and we're going to take you to Glendale, Arizona as we get ready for Superbowl 57.

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[08:52:31]

SANCHEZ: So the stage is set for the biggest game in American sports Super Bowl 57. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs taking on Jalen Hurts and the Eagles.

WALKER: Andy Scholes is up bright and early from outside the stadium in Glendale, Arizona getting us ready for the big game. Hi, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Good morning, guys. You know this game, it's pretty much as close as it gets on paper the oddsmakers that have the Eagles as slight favorites, just one and a half points. But these two teams so similar to get to this point. They were both the one seed, both of them 16 and 3 on the season thus far.

Both have actually also scored the same amount of points this season, 546. Both have six all pros, including a Kelce brother. Now Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, he won his second MVP award earlier this week. But coming in second in that voting was Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. And both of those guys are well aware of what's at stake on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: I know what it feels like to win the Super Bowl now and to lose the Super Bowl and winning it. Even though I didn't play the game I came through when it counted and was able to win it. And then the loss, obviously, I left everything out there but we -- you lose. And that feeling you had in the locker room after is the terrible feeling because you're so close to your ultimate prize.

And so you take motivation from that and try to do whatever you can to make sure that you have that that winning feeling because that's one that you can have forever as well.

JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES QUARTERBACK: When you play a game like there's, Kobe, MJ they talk about all the time. You're playing games like this, this is about the details. It's about, you know, eliminating external factors, things that don't matter and focusing on what's important.

And I feel like all year that's kind of been my mentality going into every game, you know, focusing on what's in front of me, focusing on what's in front of us as a team and not just attacking me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And Mahomes versus Hurts. Certainly, going to be fun to watch on Sunday. Now leading up to the Super Bowl. Of course, during the week is all kinds of events. The biggest party the entire whole week is Shaq's Fun House. It happened last night, and it's not unlike any other party Super Bowl week.

Shaq throwing a full-blown carnival for the people here in Arizona. There's all kinds of games, food, drinks, you got Shaq mingling with the people. They had a concert with Snoop Dogg, Diplo and Shaq, DJing himself. And I caught up with the big Diesel in the middle of it all and asked him why he loves throwing this Super Bowl party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:55:01]

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, HALL OF FAMER & NBA ON TNT ANALYST: Listen, there's a big game weekend. We know that Sunday is going to be fun. The two of those athletes going for the Superbowl title with most of these parties. I hate they used to be were but they've been boring.

You know, I'm all about fun. Shaq is the master of fun. My brand is all about fun and just want people to come out here and have a good time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. Guys, Shaq shooting some free throws for everyone in attendance as well. Didn't make it. He's kind of similar to his career. But in his defense, those carnival rams, they're higher and smaller. So, you know, not easy.

SANCHEZ: That first one looked like it was nothing but net, but it really was nothing but the net. It didn't even raise the rim on that one.

SCHOLES: It was nothing but, yes.

WALKER: You guys expecting him to get better?

SCHOLES: Yes.

WALKER: Thank you so much, Andy.

SANCHEZ: Andy Scholes, thanks so much.

Hey, and don't go anywhere because we're back in just an hour.

WALKER: "Smerconish" up next. See you in an hour.

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