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CNN This Morning

U.S. Jets Shoots Down "Unidentified Object" Over Northern Canada; More Than 28,000 People Dead In Turkey And Syria; "Direct Relief" Sending Medical Supplies From California; Heavy Shelling In Strategically Important Town Of Vuhledar; Patrick Mahomes Back In Familiar Territory; Fans Looking Forward to Super Bowl Commercials; Interview with Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University Professor of Marketing Derek Rucker; New Jersey Expanding Programs to Pair Police Officers with Mental Health Professionals; Interview with Roselle Park, New Jersey Police Department Chief Daniel McCaffrey. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired February 12, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: -- really high in elevation say like Mount Mitchell, now you're talking a foot of snow potentially there. Rainfall, however, overall, likely looking guys that just up to about 1 to 2 inches, but keep in mind that's on top of the rain they got yesterday.

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: All right. Got it. Allison Chinchar, glad we got to you.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Thanks so much.

WALKER: And we promise, this time it's real. The next hour of CNN This Morning starts now.

SANCHEZ: Let's try it again. Good morning. Buenos dias and welcome to CNN This Morning. I'm Boris Sanchez.

WALKER: I'm Amara Walker. And then there were three, yes, for the third time in a week, U.S. fighter jets having to shoot down something over North America, this time over Canadian airspace. What we know about this one and the coordination between the U.S. and Canada to bring it down.

SANCHEZ: Plus, more than five days after that deadly earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, more survivors are being pulled from the rubble. The latest on the recovery efforts there and why officials are detaining people responsible for the construction of the buildings that collapse.

WALKER: And Super Bowl Sunday means Super Bowl commercials. Why we're likely to see more beer ads this year and a little bit of nostalgia?

SANCHEZ: And we'll tell you about the pilot program that's pairing police officers with mental health professionals. Why one chief says this change is necessary and should be widespread. He joins us on CNN This Morning.

SANCHEZ: Sometimes you start a new week and it's a little bit rusty. You got to do it once or twice before you actually get going. It is Sunday, February 12, only two days from Valentine's Day. We're grateful that you're with us. Good morning, Amara.

WALKER: And it's Super Bowl Sunday.

SANCHEZ: That's right.

WALKER: Exciting. Well up first, another unidentified object shot down over North American airspace and this time, alongside President Biden, it was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau giving the order. The White House says the two leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object to figure out who it belonged to and what exactly it was doing.

SANCHEZ: Canadian authority city object was shot down about 100 miles from the Canadian-U.S. border over territory in central Yukon. Now this incident marks the third time in just a week that U.S. fighter jets have shot down an object in North American airspace and it follows the shoot down of another unidentified object on Friday over Alaska. The downing of that suspected Chinese spy balloon, don't forget, happened only about a week ago off the Carolina coast.

WALKER: Yes. Prime Minister Trudeau says Canadian Forces will lead the operation to recover this latest object that was shot down. For more now on the coordination between the U.S. and Canada, let's bring in CNN White House Reporter Jasmine Wright.

Hi there, Jasmine. Here we go again, the third time. President Biden had to confront this kind of situation in about a week. So walk us through how this incident played out. And of course, this was coordinated between Canada and the U.S.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Boris and Amara. That's exactly right. Look, President Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau they took an incredibly rare step here by jointly authorizing the shooting down of this unidentifiable object over northern Canada.

And I want to walk you through some of these details, because it's kind of a lot, right. This is the third time that we're having to talk about this. So according to the Pentagon, NORAD first really spotted these objects flying over Alaska Friday evening, it then went into Canadian airspace. And so obviously, the Canadians have been synched up with the U.S. over the last week really dealing with these other objects.

So they again continue to monitor this new object until President Biden and Justin Trudeau sometime on Saturday hopped on the phone, and basically decided together that the best option here was out of abundance of caution, to shoot down this on identifiable objects. Now this happened, really, ultimately by an American fighter jet, an F-22, shooting down the unidentified object on really about 100 miles from the U.S.-Canadian border here. But you're right, there are a lot of unanswered questions here when it comes to what this object was, what the Friday object was, and of course, what that Chinese spy balloon was doing as it transverse the U.S. And whether or not all these three things are connected. We still didn't even have that information.

But the Canadians gave some small details about what they are -- what they were able to see really including that it was more of a cylinder type of format. And then it was smaller than that Chinese spy balloon that we saw just so we could go. If you can see on the timeline here, three instances where we know that President Biden was very much so engaged in order or jointly ordered the shooting down of these objects kind of flying in the sky.

So of course, at this moment we're learning or we're waiting to hear more as the Canadian recovery efforts are underway of what they found. And of course, we're still waiting to hear from the Pentagon about what they found on Friday.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and on that Friday incident we're learning with the pilots that examined the object that was shot down, they gave conflicting accounts of what they saw over Alaska. What can you tell us about that?

[07:05:11]

WRIGHT: Yes, Boris, that's right. And that's part of the reason why the Pentagon has been so cautious and not giving a lot of -- out a lot of details, because some of the pilots that went up on two separate trips, one trip Thursday evening, another trip on Friday before it was ultimately shot down before 2:00 p.m. on Friday.

Those two separate trips, they saw really conflicting things, sources tell CNN. And that includes that some pilots say that the unidentified objects on Friday was kind of messing with their sensors, other said it was it. Some said that they couldn't see the propulsion on it. So it was really unclear how this objects was 40,000 feet in the sky. And others ultimately said that, really, they didn't see any surveillance equipment on it.

So these are kind of the reasons why the Pentagon hasn't given so many full details because of just how differentiating these different really -- what the pilot saw were in as this administration really tries to go into factfinding mode. Obviously, that recovery started Friday evening.

For the object that was shot down on Friday, the recovery is undergoing in Canada, really trying to figure out exactly what this is, who owns it and why it was over U.S. territory. Boris, Amara?

SANCHEZ: We'll be watching the skies, Jasmine, with bated breath --

WRIGHT: True.

SANCHEZ: -- waiting to hear from the administration. Jasmine Wright from the White House, thank you so much. WALKER: All right. Search and rescue efforts are now turning into recovery efforts as crews search for earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria. And of course, that window to find survivors is closing quickly. More than 28,000 people have been killed, tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the region on Monday. Officials are calling it the areas of worst natural disaster in the past century.

SANCHEZ: And with so much destruction, desperation is mounting and emotions are running high as people look for answers. In response, Turkish officials have arrested several people responsible for the buildings that collapsed in the quake. They've also arrested more than 98 people for looting, robbery or defrauding victims of the quake. Humanitarian aid is flowing into the affected areas of Turkey but relief is slow to reach war-torn Syria.

WALKER: Well, meantime, search crews recognize that they are racing against the clock to find survivors and the search is really an international effort.

SANCHEZ: Yes, including crews from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. They rescued a mother and her teenage son that had been under debris for nearly 134 hours. It really is an incredible rescue.

Joining us right now is Frank Infante, he's a battalion chief with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and Information Officer for the USAID's Disaster Assistance Response Team. Sir, thanks so much for being with us this morning. It's been six days since the earthquake, there's still people being pulled from the rubble. What is it like to walk through a situation like that on the ground?

FRANK INFANTE, INFORMATION OFFICER, USAID DISASTER ASSISTANCE RESPONSE TEAM: Well, you know, when we initially got here, and continuing to be a devastating scenario for the community here in Adiyaman. But we are currently assisting the Turkish government in supporting them with tools and our structure specialists in a viable live rescue that there needed some assistance team.

So hope is still there. We're still attempting rescue. We are in rescue mode, and we're still by the USAIDs mission of life saving efforts, currently

WALKER: That is really uplifting to hear that rescuers are still in rescue mode. There's still is hope and that's incredible. I mean six days in. What about the resources and how our crews trying to find any survivors under all of the damaged buildings?

INFANTE: Well, I can speak for USAID search and rescue. We've come prepared for this not only with our equipment and our personnel, but with the training that we do extensively in this area serving dark. We brought everything to be self-sufficient for three weeks. All we would need is some fresh water and some fuel and we can go with around the clock 24 operations in rescue mode.

We had teams just coming in at 6:00 a.m. this morning working in 27, 26-degree Fahrenheit conditions tumbling down the pile of a six-storey building. Currently we have rescuers helping Turkish government.

[07:10:04]

So we still have hope. We're always happy to assist. And as USAID search and rescue, we're doing multiple things, coordinating efforts here in the city, with the local government, on assessing the entire city. Continue with our searches. And as I just stated, actually helping with current rescue operations with local first responders.

SANCHEZ: Frank, it's so important to keep hope alive in these situations, even in the face of these incredible odds. I'm wondering what it's like for you and your team to get to that scene and to be, you know, digging for hours, and then discover that someone is actually alive under that rubble. What is that like to process emotionally as you're rescuing them 130 hours after the earthquake.

INFANTE: You know, what I think for -- I can speak for other team members and myself that have pulled live victims from the rubble in previous disasters, that I could sum it up into one word as uplifting. That all the training, all the sacrifice, the sacrifices, family back home, all that has paid off, and it's uplifting to be able to save somebody.

WALKER: Can you give us more details about -- I think you mentioned you have -- your teams have been able to rescue some people. Can you tell us more about that and how many people have been rescued by your teams and what you're seeing

INFANTE: Here, USAID search and rescue assisted other teams and local teams pull out two victims, approximately two days ago. We've been doing extensive searches, with local government, with intelligence from citizens on the ground, with family members that are staying, they could hear their family members and --

WALKER: When you say two victims, I'm sorry, Frank, is this the mother and son?

INFANTE: Yes, ma'am.

WALKER: Can you tell me about their situation? How were they found and what condition were they pulled out?

INFANTE: That. you know, they were in fair condition. Our medical doctors that we bring with us from the Department Health Services of LA County, you know, evaluated them and, you know, we had to go on and continue with our search and rescue rescue operations that was handed off to the local government and first responders to further give them any definitive care they needed.

WALKER: It's just incredible that they were found and that they're in condition.

Frank Infante, thank you so much for the work that you do. We'll let you get back to it. Appreciate your time very much. Thank you.

INFANTE: Thank you. Appreciate it. WALKER: So as Syrians and Turks wait on foreign aid, the humanitarian group Direct Relief is sending medical supplies and other vital items to the quake zone from California. Mike Valerio has more now from Santa Barbara.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris and Amara, good morning, we're here in Santa Barbara, California in the middle of 17 tons of medical supplies that are going to be sent out to Turkey and to Syria. On my left here, these are medical supplies for first responders, for doctors, surgeons.

On my right, these are supplies for families who are living in tent cities, with very little left after the devastation of the earthquake. But we unpacked what are in these pallets, what's in these boxes. These are backpacks that are meant for these first responders, doctors and surgeons. This first section is meant for supplies for dressing wounds, bandages, all you could possibly need.

The second section you see right here a whole multitude of items, mostly prescription drugs and also squirreled away here for checking blood pressure, anything that doctors could need in these horrifying zones. But these are meant for families, these smaller orange bags that we have right here filled with several dozen items, solar lamps, for example.

And we move on to toothpaste. There we go, hold it up right way. And then we have hair brushes, again, for families who have so little after the devastation. Now we spoke with the CEO of Direct Relief a couple of hours ago and he said when he is sending out all of these items, he thinks about the humans, the human faces who will be the recipients of all these items. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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 that 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: So this is packing in progress. And Boris and Amara, the plan -- first of all, this is the second shipment that we'll be making its way to Turkey and to Syria. Monday, all of this, everything that you see right here is going to be loaded on a plane, on LAX or on the tarmac in LAX, Los Angeles International Airport, a nonstop 13-hour flight to Istanbul taking about four days to make it to the disaster zone.

[07:15:04]

And if we look, in our background right here just a whole host of items. This is 3.5 acres of disaster relief materials. This site was helping out people who were dealing with the crisis, with the atmospheric rivers here, all up and down the coast of California in January. They were sending materials to Syria because of the cholera outbreak before this. They are ready to keep the generosity going for weeks and months to come.

Boris and Amara, let's send it back to you.

SANCHEZ: Mike Valerio in Santa Barbara, California, thanks so much.

Hey, we want to empower you to help those who need it most. For more information about how you can help victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, you can go to CNN.com/impact. There are a series of links there to organizations that do very important work and you can vet them yourself.

Moving on now, parts of Ukraine were hit by another round of shelling this morning. At least one person was hurt so far in this latest attack. We're going to take you live to Ukraine for the very latest when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:09]

WALKER: Turning now to Russia's war in Ukraine, where there was a new barrage of Russian strikes. Officials say the target was the Kharkiv region, which took fire from heavy weapons. At least one civilian was injured and a business was destroyed.

SANCHEZ: Let's take you now live to Kyiv and CNN's David McKenzie. David, we're getting new video of heavy fighting in the town of Vuhledar in the east, and it's a small town that's strategically important for both sides, right?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Boris. And, you know, sometimes it's a hard to pass what exactly is happening, giving these names, and these incidents that we're talking about every day, day in and day out, close to a year into this conflict. But this is significant, and it's significant for the following reasons.

You see this dramatic footage of Russians bombing sections of the small town as well as them taking significant hits by Ukrainian artillery, and drones. And it means that this is what appears to be a failed push by the Russian forces in that zone in the Eastern Front, to break through the Ukrainian lines.

Now it's appearing over the neck the last few days is quite a significant event. Even Russian bloggers and followers sympathetic to the Russian cause are heavily critical about what happened in that zone. Because they say it shows the potential failure of Russians to be able to mount, at least at this stage, a major counter offensive or offensive westward from that zone in the east.

Now, Russian forces and private military contractors are having more success from their perspective north of that zone. But still, you haven't seen major gains by either side in this conflict through these winter months, that could really shake up this very, very deadly war.

WALKER: And David, today, Kyiv could finally get relief from those daily power outages that we've been seeing for some time. It's rare for the region to go without blackouts every day. So this is significant.

MCKENZIE: It is significant. And it's even more significant, Amara, because you consider the barrage of missile and drone strikes that came in from the Russians in early Friday into the overnight hours here in Ukraine. Those were targeting it seems largely the civilian electricity infrastructure.

And the fact that the Ukrainians have managed to keep the lights on is a testament says the energy minister to the fast work of repair crews, the work of the the groups, the mobile and fixed trying to bring down those missiles and drones. So the attempt by the Russians to break the spirit of Ukrainian civilians over the past few winter months, it just appears not to be working and that's proven by the fact that the lights are on. Amara, Boris?

SANCHEZ: David McKenzie reporting live from Kyiv, thanks so much for the update.

WALKER: Thank you, David.

And still ahead, the biggest night in football just hours away. We're live in Glendale, Arizona ahead of Super Bowl LVII.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:27:23]

WALKER: Yes, the countdown to kickoff is on. The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona.

SANCHEZ: Let's go outside the stadium live with Andy Scholes. And Andy, the Super Bowl at least as far as betting odds are concerned are as close as it gets. But it's kind of a familiar place now for Kansas City's quarterback the MVP Pat Mahomes?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, that's right, Boris and Amara. You know Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, this is their third Super Bowl appearance in the past four years. They beat the 49ers back in 2020 and then lost to Tom Brady and the Bucs in 2021. And you certainly know Patrick Mahomes would love to get a winning record in the Super Bowl.

But as you mentioned, Boris, this is as close as it gets. We should have an amazing game. It could very well come down to who can lead that game winning drive in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Will it be Mahomes or Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts?

Mahomes certainly has the experience edge is this is Jalen Hurts just a second season that started for the Eagles playing in his first Super Bowl. And earlier this week, you know, Mahomes when talking about playing the big game says, you know, this is a day that you certainly don't take for granted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: You play and you work your tail off to be in this game and to play on the world stage and you dream about it as a little kid when you're watching that Super Bowl parties and with your dad and your mom and everybody like that. And so, to be to be able to play in this game is truly special and you appreciate it every single time and I'm excited to step back on that field and get to go out there with my teammates one last time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now this coaching matchup is fascinating when when Chiefs head coach, Andy Reid left Philly 10 years ago to become the KC head coach. Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni was at the time the Chiefs' receivers coach, but Coach Reid, he had his staff together so he let Sirianni go when he got to Kansas City. And Coach Sirianni said earlier this week, he's always remembered that moment and really appreciated the way that coach Andy Reid handled it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK SIRIANNI, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES HEAD COACH: Even though, you know, you don't like it at the time, right, you don't like the fact that you're getting let go and everything like that, but, you know, he also -- but when he did that when he did that and really spent a little bit of time with me and it wasn't long but it was just -- it was enough. It was a little bit of time to, you know, kind of tell me what he's heard about me and good luck to me and just can't -- you know why he couldn't keep me.

I was down in that moment. He gave me strength when I was down. You know, he tried to pick me up when I was down and I think that's a -- that says a lot about his character and who he is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:30:00]

SCHOLES: Yes. So that coaching storyline just one of many great ones we have for Super Bowl LVII, guys. This one is close as it gets. The Eagles a one-point favorite, according to the odds makers. I can't wait. And then we got Rihanna at halftime. It should be an awesome day.

WALKER: We'll be watching Andy Scholes. Thank you so much. Good to see you.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Andy. Bye.

And apart from the game itself, many are waiting to see which brands will have the best ads during commercial breaks. Those commercials will look and feel a little different this year. Here with me now to talk more about the type of ads we will see during today's Super Bowl is Derek Rucker. He is a professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Derek, Good to see you. DEREK RUCKER, PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, KELLOGG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: Good to see you.

WALKER: So, as I understand it, advertisers are maintaining a delicate balance for the Super Bowl, trying to be sensitive to the times of high inflation and deep political polarization we continue to face. And we're also going to see a level of star power in the ads this year that we haven't seen before. Why is that? What are we going to see as a result?

RUCKER: Yes, so few things. I mean, obviously, we will see a light and fun tone. That's the expectation for the recent -- we see always see celebrities in the Super Bowl, but this year we have seen them come out in -- just an amazing amount. We see a lot of brands teasing who their celebrity will be. Big reason for that, you are paying $7 million for 30 seconds, so you want consumers watching you. So, one of those fishing wars, if you will, one of those things, the bait for you is who they have with their brand. So, we are seeing that in abundance this year.

WALKER: So, who will we see and how are these advertisers making sure that they will get, you know, a big bang for their buck?

RUCKER: Yes. So, I don't want to spoil it for everyone. But you know, we know we have Kevin Bacon, we've got Maya Rudolph. So, we got score celebrities that are coming up. And the key is, you know, for those watching, if you're watching, just enjoy the ads. But for us, we just -- we want to see was the ad just about the celebrity or did it actually make you think about the brand, too? So, the best, best brands will have the celebrities fuel their voice as opposed to trip over it.

WALKER: I mean, for a $7 million for 30 seconds, you better remember the brand, at least according to advertisers. So, look, we have already seen a preview of some commercials featuring familiar faces like the Rakuten commercial with, I think I said that right, with Alicia Silverstone, back as Cher from "Clueless." I love that movie when I was much younger. Do you expect that we're going to see more of these kinds of ads that can evoke nostalgia?

RUCKER: Yes, that's a great question. And we see it a little bit on Super Bowl. I think last year, we saw Bill Murray for Jeep doing you "Groundhog's Day." And the key there is, you know, if too many brands make the same places, they trip over each other. So, I think we will see a few of them. What advertisers are hoping is that there is not too many doing the same thing. I think we will see a mix though. We've also got, you know, I mentioned earlier Kevin Bacon, he's doing his six degrees of Kevin Baker with Budweiser. So, maybe we're just going to see how that turns out.

WALKER: Yes, speaking of which -- I mean, for the more -- for the first time in more than three decades, Anheuser-Busch gave up their contract as the game's exclusive alcohol advertiser. So, it will be, obviously, the only alcohol brand that we're going to see advertised during the Super Bowl. I know the company will still air a three- minute commercial during the game. But what kind of opening does that leave for other beer and, of course, liquor brands to tap into an audience they really haven't had access to in the past years?

RUCKER: Yes, that is, you know, arguably the hugest part or the hugest news in the game. That Budweiser has been a behemoth and exclusive so long that when you think Super Bowl advertising, Budweiser is one of those brands that comes to mind. Now we've got Heineken coming in. Heineken has been on talk about non-alcoholic, which is interesting. We've got, I think, for the first time ever Crown Royal coming in.

And so, with all of those elements happening, if you are a beer brand, now is not just about showing up to the Super Bowl, but it's do you get the most attention? So, what's interesting for Budweiser is, can they remain the king of beers on the Super Bowl. So, that's something both as a strategist and as a consumer, I am looking forward to seeing.

WALKER: So, hopefully, this will make for, you know, interesting, fun, memorable commercials for us consumers. Lastly, there is the biggest ad of the night, which will be Rihanna's halftime show sponsored by Apple Music. And we know that the NFL doesn't pay performers and appearance fee, right? I mean, they -- the artists see a major increase in streams or album sales after headlining a halftime show. That's the benefit of doing it. How important is that kind of exposure for a performer's brand? Clearly, for many of them, it's worth it.

RUCKER: I mean, that -- as you said, you know, that -- the thing with the halftime show is unique. It's the one time you're not competing with other things, right? So, the advertisers that we just spoke with, the beer brands are competing with each other. These ads happen fast, you know, we want to see a (INAUDIBLE). This performer, basically, has the entire event to themselves.

[07:35:00]

So, I think it's massive. I mean, it's a little chicken and egg problem in the sense that, you know, they are bringing in massive talent to begin with. But it certainly is benefit to them above and beyond what they have already accomplished.

WALKER: Derek Rucker, thanks for joining us. Who are you going for? Chiefs, Eagles or Rihanna?

RUCKER: It's -- like, Rihanna is the easy call. I've got Eagles -- I got friends who are Eagles fan. So, I will go with that one-point edge they have. So, I'll go with them

WALKER: Awesome. Well, thanks so much for your time, Derek Rucker.

RUCKER: My pleasure.

SANCHEZ: Still to come on "CNN This Morning," New Jersey is expanding a pilot program that pairs police officers with mental health professionals with the goal of de-escalating encounters before they turn deadly or violent. Could it become a national standard? We'll discuss with the police chief who implemented the program next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00]

SANCHEZ: Amid a renewed push for national police reform following the beating death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, officials are expanding a new program in New Jersey that aims to help law enforcement de- escalate conflicts arming them with added personnel to help. Soon plain clothed officers in nearly half of the state's counties handling emergencies involving people in emotional distress are going to be paired up with mental health workers.

This approach is called Arrive Together and it's being lauded as a model that could help improve trust between police and the community. Here to discuss is Police Chief Daniel McCaffery of Roselle Park, New Jersey.

Chief, thanks so much for sharing a part of your Sunday with us. Your department, recently, started implementing this plan. Help us understand how it works.

CHIEF DANIEL MCCAFFERY, ROSELLE PARK, NEW JERSEY POLICE DEPARTMENT: Good morning, Boris, and thank you for having me. So, in accordance with the attorney general of New Jersey, they initiated a pilot program called Arrive. It actually had begun with the New Jersey State Police in Southern New Jersey. In essence, what happens is they partner a mental health screener, a mental health evaluator with a police officer and the effort is to try and get resources as quickly as possible to those in need.

We in law enforcement have recognized that there's a need for officers to not wear as many hats as they are currently wearing. As police officers, we're asking to do multi-functions, whether it be screen, mental health circumstances, play referee in some domestic violence instances, all sorts of different things we're asked to do, and it's definitely an overtask.

So, in law enforcement, we recognize that there is a need to try and get these resources to the people that need quicker. And this is how, in essence, implemented.

SANCHEZ: And chief, what effect has the program had on your department? How have officers responded?

MCCAFFREY: So, we currently have two officers -- two community police officers that I assigned to this unit. They were excited to get onboard with this program. It's a positive thing. In law enforcement today, we have to take different angles and different ways of looking at circumstances. But quite frankly, the way that it's been going hasn't been working to its utmost peak.

So, what we've done is we put these officers in this situation with this mental health screeners. The feedback I am getting from my officers is great. We just jumped on -- my department just jumped on to this program about two months ago after the Elizabeth Police Department, the Linden Police Department locally by where we are. But it's been great. And what we're doing with this, which is an added bonus, is there is a component where we, in our department, do follow- ups.

So, our officers are riding around with a mental health screener for the eight-hour tour. But if there's an instance where there wasn't a mental health call, our officers are being proactive in finding those people who have had previous calls and they are checking in on them, which is unorthodox. It hasn't happened, but it's been very, very positive results.

And those people who felt like they were out on an island now have someone, from a law enforcement perspective, as well as a mental health perspective, actually coming in to check on them and letting them know that they're not alone.

But the buy-in on that from the patients has been great, and our officers are finding less instances where people are combative because these people are actually appreciative to see the officers at different light, as well as the mental screener at a different light. They are not rolling off to take them away. They're actually rolling up to say, hey, how are you doing? You know, are you OK? Is there anything we can do for you? So, there's been great positive feedback from them.

SANCHEZ: Yes, that -- just knowing each other makes a difference when officers arrive on the scene of any kind of incident. It's almost like preventative medicine, right?

MCCAFFREY: Absolutely. Yes, sir.

SANCHEZ: Yes. So, have you had any challenges? What kind of issues might come with implementing this program?

MCCAFFREY: So, I think that you have to get past that initial mistrust. You know, we have years and years and years of police officers rolling in, arriving on a scene, and it's just been the officer trying to make that evaluation right there on the spot.

What this is doing, this program, is it's getting the resources to people there quicker, and that's the important part to note here. Our officers -- it's going to be a similar response than previous years where, just to give you some context, the previous response would have been if our officers responded to a call of someone with mental health crisis, we would have to basically page out a mental health screener. Now, we have someone on the road in a police car being escorted, driven by a police officer to that location quicker, faster, safer, so that can de-escalate that situation quicker.

So, as far as I am concerned, it's a win-win. I hope they implement this through the entire country. But New Jersey has been at the forefront with the attorney general's office, getting this in place and our governor to trying and move forward with this proactive approach.

SANCHEZ: Chief, it is a fascinating program and it sounds like it's been successful so far. We hope that it's continuing to be successful into the future.

[07:45:00]

And we hope that you will come back if it is implemented elsewhere so we can further this discussion because it seems to be a success so far.

MCCAFFREY: Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. You know, we're very excited about it. We're proud to be one of the first states in New Jersey to take such a forward approach on this.

SANCHEZ: Chief Daniel McCaffrey, thanks so much for the time.

MCCAFFREY: Thank you, sir.

WALKER: Such an important and fascinating conversation.

All right, coming up, you might see a blast from the past during tonight's Super Bowl. The last remaining blockbuster has an ad timed for tonight. Yes, it's still around. We will tell you how you can watch it next. And it might help if you still have a VHS player. I bet you half of you out there don't even know what that is. I do.

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WALKER: New Zealand is bracing as Cyclone Gabrielle starts to bear down. It is expecting to bring pounding rains, damaging winds and large waves to Auckland in the north island and up to 11 inches of rain.

[07:50:00]

This storm comes just two weeks after record flooding devastated the region and Auckland had more rain in one day than it usually gets in an entire summer.

The wet weather is sticking around as rain continues to creep up the east coast.

SANCHEZ: And cold temperatures could turn that rain into snow over some parts. CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar joins us now live from the CNN weather center with a very weather themed sweater.

Good morning, Allison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Good morning.

Yes, we're already starting to see that change where we're getting some of that snow mixing in with the rain, even as far south as Northern Alabama and Norther Georgia. Now, it's not likely to stick in those places, it's just mixing in. However, farther north, say the Southern Appalachians, portions of Virginia and North Carolina, you are likely to see that snow stick around and stick to the ground in some of those areas.

This is going to be a relatively fast-moving system in the next 24 hours, so it'll take the rain and snow, slide it up through the mid- Atlantic before finally going back out over the open water. In terms of snowfall accumulation, the highest is really going to be across those higher elevations of North Carolina and Western Virginia where we're going to be looking at places about four to six inches of accumulating snow. Once you get to the really high areas, then you could be talking as much as a foot.

In terms of rainfall, most areas one to two inches. Keep in mind, though, a lot of these areas got rain yesterday so that one to two inches is on top of another one to two inches that they likely picked up yesterday. Wind is going to be a big factor on the southern edge. So, areas of Florida, Southern Georgia, as well as areas of Alabama.

Much nicer conditions in Arizona rather than, say Philadelphia, for all those fans, the Eagles fan, who may be going to the game today. Temperature is pretty nice, 74 degrees and lots of sunshine.

WALKER: So, all --

SANCHEZ: So, you're --

WALKER: -- you're missing on that sweater is sunshine.

CHINCHAR: Exactly, yes.

SANCHEZ: I was going to say it is --

CHINCHAR: I'm trying to go color neutral since my team is not playing. So, I'm thinking blue is a safe bet.

SANCHEZ: It is a safe bet. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much for the update.

CHINCHAR: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: So, this morning, we're shining a spotlight on some of the folks behind tonight's Super Bowl star players.

WALKER: That's right, quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts give credit to the men they looked up to as kids, for getting them to where they are today. CNN Sports Anchor, Coy Wire, show us how their fathers shaped them into leaders on and off the field.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Media often points out when a star athlete's family was broken or dad wasn't around. But we can give that, sort of, same energy to stories like those of Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes who come from strong families. Whose dads have molded them to the inspiring young men we see today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES QUARTERBACK: I'm not the man I am on and off the field, the quarterback I am, the leader I am without him.

PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: My dad, it means -- he means the world to me, man. I mean, he's -- he set an example for me of how you have to go through this business.

WIRE (voiceover): Patrick Mahomes' dad had an 11-year major league baseball career and taught his sone how to be a pro and how to persevere through adversity.

PATRICK MAHOMES: He dealt with a lot of positives, using them in the MLB at an early age. But he also battled in the minor leagues for a long time and he just followed -- he kept following his dream and following his dream and he was able to make it to a world series. And it showed me that no matter if it's not -- you don't have success at that moment, you continue to follow your dreams. You'll make it.

PAT MAHOMES, PATRICK MAHOMES' FATHER: I just try to make sure that he knows that, you know, in his corner, I'm going to be there. And as long as he does goes out there and does the best he can, he'll never hear a gripe from me.

WIRE (voiceover): Hurts' dad was his high school football coach. And Jalen's been learning about leadership from him since the days he was just a ball boy for his dad's teams.

AVERION HURTS, JALEN HURTS' FATHER: It's a blessing to watch a young man that, you know, developed a passion for a sport and really, really worked hard at every level and turn.

WIRE (on camera): What does dad mean to you?

J. HURTS: For, like, I'm a direct reflection of him and a spitting image of him in so many ways and I love him and I respect from -- I respect him for how tough he was on me. How honest he was with me. And the man he raised --

WIRE (voiceover): The love and support these Super Bowl star quarterbacks received from their dads is shaping them into great leaders in their own right, not just for their teams. Mahomes is now a dad. Father of two, leading, guiding. And while Huts isn't a dad, he's well aware the influence on the next generation.

J. HURTS: You don't really realize the impact you're doing until you reflect on it. And I think to have the opportunities and to be able to represent so many different people, some I definitely have on my heart when I'm out there playing. You know, I definitely never forget where I come from. And most importantly, I know that there are kids out there watching. That's always kids out there watching.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE (on camera): Powerful stuff. Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts finished first and second in NFL MVP voting respectively. And of all the players that we've spoken to this week and asked what makes these two young men special? The first thing they said is how they lead. It's something that each of them have learned from their dads.

[07:55:00]

WALKER: Oh, gosh. How inspiring. Beautiful stuff. Thank you so much, Coy.

Well, for some Super Bowl Sunday is all about the ads. And when you're the last surviving store in an any industry, you've got to capitalize on that.

SANCHEZ: Yes, the only remaining blockbuster store is in Bend, Oregon. Some folks that are watching us may not even know what a blockbuster is. They posted this teaser on their Instagram with a caption, just when you thought we were gone, we are crawling right back. Just like cockroaches that survived a nuclear disaster.

WALKER: Right.

SANCHEZ: They're alive. The ad is going to air on the store's Instagram page at halftime. If you missed the ad or you're feeling a bit nostalgic, you can rent a VHS copy of the ad at their location for $2, of course. You got to be like Amara and still use your VHS player to actually watch it.

WALKER: You are so mean. Yes, I --

SANCHEZ: You said that you have a VHS player.

WALKER: Yes, I do. And here I thought you were like, you know, saying something else.

SANCHEZ: No.

WALKER: But no, I do. I kind of do and I do have VHS tapes, as well. So, thanks so much for being with us this morning. Good to be with you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Always great to be with you, Amara. Don't go anywhere, "Inside Politics Sunday with Abby Phillip" is up next. You can record it on your VHS, just press the button.

WALKER: Stop.

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