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CNN This Morning

U.S. Shoots Down Fourth High-Altitude Object; Rihanna Reveals Baby Bump; Super Bowl Commercials and the Economy; Debt Ceiling Negotiations. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 13, 2023 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. We want to get as much information as possible.

So, let's discuss now with retired Major General Scott Clancy of NORAD. He serves as the director of operations and was deputy commander of the Alaska region.

Good morning to you. Thank you so much. We appreciate you joining us here on CNN THIS MORNING.

I'm sure this is a very business guys right now.

NORAD says that the - says that the takedown of the Chinese spy balloon was likely the first time that NORAD has taken what they call kinetic action against an airborne object over the U.S. airspace. There has been a total of four objects shot down now.

So, what is going on? What are your concerns? Please explain to us.

MAJOR GENERAL SCOTT CLANCY (RET.), FORMER DEPUTY COMMANDER, ALASKAN NORAD REGION: Well, I think you're seeing the confluence of two things. The first thing is what General Veneer (ph), my old commander, referred to as intelligence gaps that existed with our systems of detection across North America. As he said in his briefing after the initial shootdown of the Chinese attributed balloon, that they have since closed those gaps. And it's been referred to as to adjusting the filters on those systems. I think there's maybe a little bit more to that. But what it does is it allows these systems to be seen more often.

The second thing, and this is just conjecture from my perspective, I think you're also seeing the confluence of distinctive activity by our adversaries to test our systems. And I think it's the confluence of both of those things that were producing these number of events.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Does that mean you think it's China?

CLANCY: No, I do not. And I - I think that General VanHerck's (ph) prudence with respect to attribution of these last three is well sounded, especially when we think of the tension that already exist and the relations between China and the United States, particularly, but let's just say China and the western world over the Straits of Taiwan, over its economic dealings, over its flouting of the international laws. Canada has been demarshed (ph) by them in the past for a number of things. So, his prudence in - in making sure that we can recover the objects before attribution is smart. But what I'm saying is it -- it smells to me, as the guy who was directed to conduct operations to defend North America, I'd be very suspicious and I'd be on high alert to make sure that all of our adversaries are being countered.

LEMON: Can you just follow up on something you said. You said distinctive what to test our system and - and why now? Why so?

CLANCY: Well, I think that - I think that's what we're trying to get out of the recovery and analysis of the pay loads of the devices that have been shot down. It's not just where they were. It's not just the critical infrastructure or defense infrastructure, nuclear fields that they flew over. It's also the type of sensors that they had onboard. And then, finally, what you're really trying to ascertain is, what was the overall intent of the doing this with these devices at this time? It looks to me to be a concerted effort because you have any more than one object. Then it looks like a coordinated effort.

And it might not be over even the infrastructure that you fly over. You might fly over infrastructure, attempting to see inside of our networks or command and control system, the reactions, so that you can play out those reactions for the future.

COLLINS: Since you were the former deputy commander here, what actually happen once they detect something like this? You know, they scramble the - the fighter jets to go and investigate. And then when do they make the call to shoot something down? What is the threshold for that look like?

CLANCY: Well, that's a great question. When I was the deputy commander up in the Alaskan region, you know, for two years, we would detect with the long-range radar systems or be cued by national intelligence of both Canada and the United States on an upcoming event or an event that's occurring inside of the air defense identification zone, at which point in time, in the region, we would make either my commander or myself would make the decision with respect to launching alert aircraft to be able to respond.

Now, those alert aircraft will go and alongside of AWACS, or airborne early warning systems, aircraft that have very long radars, and associated tankers, we would inspect those objects or what we would call targets of interest. Once an identification is made, and you heard the Canadian minister of national defense saying on the device that was shot down in the Yukon, that they wanted to establish visual identification which is why they waited for daylight.

Now, once that identification is done, and that's extremely important to be able to delineate exactly what you're dealing with.

[06:35:04]

Is this a civilian aircraft? Is this a military aircraft? What is it? Because up until that point in time it's only a radar contact. It's at that point in time that NORAD headquarters in Colorado Springs will characterize or describe those elements to the national authorities of Canada and United States. Now, they'll explain them to both. However, the decision to take action will be with the sovereign authorities of either one of the nations that the object is in. So, for example, it would have been the Canadian prime minister that ordered the shootdown for the object in the Yukon. But if the object was in American airspace, like Alaska, that would have been the purview of the America authorities.

LEMON: There's so many questions. How do you exactly tweak the way we detect such things? Like, how do you - how do you tweak that -- how do they change it and why do they change it?

CLANCY: So, I think that this is -- has been an ongoing effort to make sure that those of us who are charged with the defense of North America are maximizing the systems that we have right now. I -- think of a radar screen that is full of little dots and squiggies (ph) all over that screen. And a human is trying to interpret all of those radar contacts. It becomes difficult.

If your primary threat is from aircraft that travel at hundreds of miles an hour, then you're going to adjust the gain or filter to weed out all of birds, environmentals, and, as such, you would weed out also balloons that are low - of low speeds, at which - at which point in time you're not going to see those targets.

Now, the second thing is that the radar system that we have in NORAD have -- you know, they're very old now and we've been lax in modernizing the NORAD infrastructure to be able to deal with this. If you apply data management systems, machine learning and AI on the back end of existing radars, then instead of a human trying to interpret those things, machines are able to bring that data out and interpret them for us so that we can be more effective. I think you're seeing both of these things happen.

LEMON: Fascinating. Fascinating. Thank you.

Retired Major General Scott Clancy, we appreciate it. I mean it's - it's interesting that we -- they're having to tweak it right now, you know what I mean, and what they're having to do on the back end because the systems obviously need upgrading, but it's fascinating.

COLLINS: Yes.

LEMON: Many of this year's Super Bowl ads featuring big Hollywood names, the favs and the flops, that's next.

Plus this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIHANNA, MUSICIAN (Singing): Where have you been all my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Rihanna turning her highly anticipated Super Bowl halftime show into a pregnancy announcement. We have highlights from the performance. Cari Champion is going to join us to analyze it.

LEMON (singing): Where have you been all my life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:09]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIHANNA, MUSICIAN (singing): When you hold me, I'm alive, we're like diamonds in the sky. I knew that we'd become --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Rihanna teased a surprise guest at the Super Bowl and she brought one to the halftime show, baby number two. Following her performance, Rihanna's representative did confirm to "The Hollywood Reporter" that, yes, what you saw is true, she is pregnant with her second baby. The Grammy winner welcomed her first child with her boyfriend ASAP Rocky last May.

So, joining us now to talk about all of the moments last night is the host of "The Cari Champion Show" on Amazon Prime Video, Cari Champion herself.

LEMON: Hi, Cari.

COLLINS: Cari, what did you make of the Rihanna concert that also had a football game going along with it?

CARI CHAMPION, HOST, "THE CARI CHAMPION SHOW," AMAZON PRIME VIDEO: Yes. Accurate description. That is an accurate description.

First off, I think that there was so much anticipation about around whether or not she would bring someone out. And there were all these pop (ph) bets surrounding who she was and what she would do. But, to me, she brought out the biggest gift of joy there was, that was a child. And I want everybody to understand, they were wanting to see more dancing and more this and I thought that was amazing that she was pregnant, and she decided to perform on that national stage. That probably took so much out of her.

LEMON: I -- look, I thought it was great. You're right, people wanted more. But I kind of like it when entertainers just stand there and sing and entertain and not, you know, sometimes they try to do too much. I was just nervous -- I kept saying, please nobody fall off of these floating things. I kept waiting for someone to fall. I'm like, I hope she's strapped in. That made me nervous.

CHAMPION: Yes, me too. And you could see -- I thought at one - you know, I tried to interpret what I thought was happening. You could see she was a little nervous too. It's - it's -- first of all, I couldn't imagine not being nauseous. But, second of all, there was a lot of anticipation. And she had said days leading up to this she hasn't performed in over five years. She was very nervous about the performance. She was nervous about what people would say. But I felt like that was a great, iconic moment for women.

So many of us, without diving too deep into this, Don, so many of us feel like we can't have children in the prime of our careers. And here she is not only having one but two and she's unapologetic. I think that was a big moment. I think that was some - that was symbolic, if people pay attention.

LEMON: But people have to remember, I don't know if it's fair to qualify this as her side gig because she really makes money on the business.

CHAMPION: Yes.

LEMON: From Fenty Beauty, her cosmetics company, and that's why she is a billionaire plus. It's because of her cosmetics, not because of the music. The music is great. So, I mean, she's got two gigs. She's a businesswoman and an entertainer at the same time. So, props to her.

CHAMPION: Yes. And also, I'll tell what you else stood out to me. I don't know if you guys noticed, she -- you talk about her being a businesswoman. She took the moments to, like, do her makeup, right, if you saw her.

[06:45:04]

COLLINS: Yes, she definitely tied it in. I loved that. I thought that was so smart.

But, Cari, you're totally right, she was very honest about what it was like going into that. And I loved that, that she admitted, you know, I am nervous and I am hesitant about this. We look forward to seeing, you know, what she does with this platform going forward, Cari Champion.

LEMON: Bye, Cari. See you.

CHAMPION: (INAUDIBLE). Thank you guys for having me. We'll see you.

LEMON: See you.

COLLINS: Thank you.

LEMON: Bye.

OK, so let's be honest, there are really thee things people tune into the Super Bowl for, right, the football, kind of, I mean, the performances and the ads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I look familiar?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Should I be in it or do you want just a self- portrait? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you doing here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're embarrassing me in front of my friends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this what you do when you say you want to work all day?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I - I got to go, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grab me a glazed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are excited about buying an electric vehicle but worried that it could leave you unsatisfied? Then you could be one of many Americans concerned about premature electrification.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are these?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We call them Popcorners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say their name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Popcorners!

(INAUDIBLE). Yeah!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Those commercials also are - it's a way to check the pulse of the American economy. According to "The Atlantic," the biggest day in American sports, which is also the biggest day in American ads, is a useful measure of which firms and sectors believe themselves to be the future of the economy and why it's an excellent barometer for bubbles.

Joining us - yes, all right. Joining us now to explain all of that is CNN media analyst and "Axios" media reporter. Sara Fischer.

HI, Sara.

So, listen, the mood from the country, is it fair to say that the commercials represented that or did they -- are they trying to steer us in a certain direction?

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: They absolutely represented it, Don. If you think back to the pandemic a few years ago, brands were afraid to be too funny. They didn't want celebrities to be cracking jokes. It was a very somber time.

Now, fast forward, we just came out of a pretty rough year in 2022. And I think a lot of brands were leaning into the fact that consumers just wanted to have a good time. You saw a lot of brands being very funny. Fewer of those sentimental tearjerkers, although we had a few. And we had a ton of ads that kind of leaned into America's favorite vices, tons of ads for booze, tons of ads for binge watching TV and, of course, tons and tons of ads for just all sorts of junk food and snacks, et cetera.

COLLINS: OK, but, Sara, what I noticed as I was watching this is, there weren't any crypto commercials. Last year there were a ton of those. It seemed like every single commercial was a crypto one. Of course, you know, we've seen what's happened with that, with Sam Bankman Fried, how the downfall of that has looked like.

You know, what does that say to you? Did it stand out to you that there weren't any of those commercials?

FISCHER: Absolutely. And there was some reporting that a bunch were booked. But then given the fallout around FTX, crypto advertisers pulled out of the game. You know, there was a lot of financial service that were still represented, as well as tech companies. You had everything from E*TRADE to T-Mobile, Google, Uber, DoorDash. But at the end of the day, I think if there's an industry that's struggling, don't expect them to show up at the Super Bowl, Kaitlan.

LEMON: All right, Sara Fischer, thank you very much. We'll see you soon.

FISCHER: Thank you.

COLLINS: All right, also this morning, House Leader Kevin McCarthy is still working to raise the debt ceiling with spending cuts as he leans on the five families, that means the five different factions of the Republican conference, to do it, but Democrats say right now he does not have the votes. We'll tell you more, next.

LEMON: Sounds like "The Godfather."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:49]

COLLINS: All right, you see the Capitol there. We're also learning this morning that the White House and Senate Democrats are now calculating that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will not have enough votes to raise the debt ceiling without major concessions and will cave to their demands to avoid a debt default.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), MAJORITY LEADER: Now, McCarthy says he wants to attach certain spending cuts to do this. A, where is your plan, Mr. McCarthy? He says he wants cuts. We ask him which ones. He won't say any.

He can't pass a play with cuts. This hard right will demands the kind of deepest cuts that his more mainstream Republicans won't vote for. And I'll tell you, my experience in this, the party that holds out with brinksmanship and says, I won't renew it unless you do what I want, loses. We're going to win this fight and it's going to be a clean debt ceiling.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Confident prediction there from Senator Chuck Schumer.

CNN's Melanie Zanona is covering all of this live from Capitol Hill.

Melanie, it stood out to me that yesterday we heard from James Comer, Congressman Comer, and he said that, you know, he'd like to see what the Republican plan is as soon as next week, but basically they still have not landed on a plan yet themselves.

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Not yet, Kaitlan, but Kevin McCarthy is hoping to change that. So, part of his strategy here is that he is trying to show that Republicans can get the 218 votes needed to pass the spending plan because one of the chief criticisms of Republicans is that they can't negotiate among themselves let alone negotiate with the White House. So, Kevin McCarthy is trying to prove everyone wrong and strengthen his own negotiating hand in the process.

Not to mention in the absence of a GOP plan, Democrats have started to speak for them. You remember that infamous State of the Union moment last week when Biden suggested Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare, which they insist is not true. So, we'll see what they come up with.

But there's another aspect to Kevin McCarthy's strategy here, Kaitlan, and that is he wants to show his own conference he is going to be inclusive in this process. He convened a meeting last week with the so-called five families. Those are the different wings of the Republican conference. Also a "Godfather" reference. Not sure if that is the reference that all Republicans love.

But, look, it is still early, but it does offer a good window into Kevin McCarthy's management style. And this is going to be so important for Kevin McCarthy because he knows that these debt ceiling talks are going to be a make or break moment for his speakership, Kaitlan.

[06:55:07]

COLLINS: It's fascinating to me how five families has just become the accepted term that Kevin McCarthy is using to describe that conference.

ZANONA: Yes.

COLLINS: But we'll see just how accurate it is.

Melanie, thank you for the great reporting.

ZANONA: Yes. Thanks.

LEMON: The U.S. military shoots down a fourth object in eight days, raising more questions than answers. Where did the objects come from and is it a threat? We're live at the State Department.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:3]

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): I have real concerns about why the administration is not being more forthcoming with everything that it knows.