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Biden To Hold Press Conference Marking One Year In Office; Bengals Edge Raiders To End Longest Playoff Winless Streak; Chicago Business Gives Ex-Inmates A Second Chance. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired January 16, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:19]

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is so good to have you. I'm Christi Paul.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Christi. I'm Boris Sanchez.

A nearly 11-hour stand-off at a Texas synagogue a suspect holding four hostages as part of the ordeal streams live on Facebook. We'll tell you how officials rescued those in danger and what we're learning about the suspect and his motives.

PAUL: And tennis star Novak Djokovic is out of the Australian Open. He's going to be deported soon from the country after a court upholds his visa cancellation. Their reasoning and how Djokovic is responding now.

SANCHEZ: Plus, cities across the east are on alert this morning. A powerful winter storm is bearing down. More than 80 million people are under winter weather alerts. We'll tell you when and where you can expect to see the effects.

Sunday, January 16th. We are so grateful to have you. Thanks for waking up with us. Great to see you as always, Christi.

PAUL: You too, Boris, especially after your double duty yesterday.

SANCHEZ: Yes, had to do an extra hour. No problem with that.

PAUL: I know. I know.

SANCHEZ: So we start with this dramatic hostage stand-off in Texas, right? This morning we're happy to report that all four hostages are safe after nearly 11 tense hours at a synagogue near Dallas.

PAUL: Now investigators say that suspect entered the congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, during its Sabbath morning service and took the rabbi and three others hostage. Now the services were being live streamed at the time. One hostage was released several hours into the stand-off.

After hours of negotiations an FBI rescue team breached the synagogue then freeing the remaining hostages and authorities say that lone suspect is dead. The suspect has been identified. Authorities are not revealing his identity, however, as this investigation continues. But of course, most likely will do so at some point.

SANCHEZ: Yes. CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell now joins us live from Colleyville. And, Josh, we don't know the suspect's name at this point but sources tell CNN that officials are zeroing in on a possible motive, right?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The suspect is known to law enforcement. They are not releasing his name publicly, but I say was because he is now dead that after this elite FBI Hostage Rescue Team stormed the synagogue behind me in an attempt to rescue those hostages.

Now this whole ordeal started earlier in the day as the synagogue was undergoing its Sabbath services. There were congregants who could watch what was happening on the live stream as this man came into the building. He was ranting and raving.

At one point an FBI crisis negotiator made contact with the suspect, that as law enforcement flooded this area here behind me. Those negotiations went on throughout the day. At one point one of those four hostages was released.

But it was around 9:00 p.m. last night that the FBI ultimately made that decision to launch that team that had come in from Virginia. They stormed that building. The suspect died in that encounter with law enforcement. Thankfully, the remaining three hostages were released.

Now, the head FBI agent here in the Dallas area spoke after that incident describing what happened. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW DESARNO, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, DALLAS FBI: Today's result, which was four safe hostages and the situation resolved, was really a -- was really a result of a long day of hard work by nearly 200 law enforcement officers from across this region.

The FBI's Hostage Rescue Team I consider one of the crown jewels of our organization. Their mission is to conduct deliberate hostage rescues when necessary. In this -- in this case, we had a necessity for that and they were successful. I'm very proud of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now the investigation continues. Law enforcement sources tell CNN that they are zeroing in on one possible motive and that is the idea that this suspect may have been inspired to seek the release of an Islamic extremist who is actually in prison right now serving an 86-year sentence for attempting to kill American personnel in Afghanistan. But still a lot of questions about who this man was, where he came from.

The FBI saying that this is now a global investigation. They have now engaged their FBI offices in London as well as Tel Aviv again to try to get to the motive. They say that there is no ongoing threat, but still a lot of investigation remains from them. Obviously these hostages being freed, a good sign now, but obviously our hearts go out to the Jewish community.

[06:05:00]

The synagogue, the scene of just -- the turmoil here yesterday, this heartbreaking episode that went on for nearly 11 hours thankfully leading to the resolution with the release of those hostages. Boris, Christi.

SANCHEZ: Incredibly tense moments. And you can't say enough about the work of law enforcement to make sure that it wrapped up without further violence. Josh Campbell from Colleyville, thank you so much.

Let's hear from an expert now with former assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security and CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, always great to get your expertise on these matters. I just want to get your initial reaction to what we saw unfold yesterday, the news that all the hostages, fortunately, are safe, and that the suspect is dead.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Right. You heard the police officer in Josh's segment say that was their only goal, right? I mean, what happened to the perpetrator was secondary, that they just wanted to get the four hostages alive. And that is -- you know, that requires patience.

So what you saw over the course of the day was the FBI, the hostage team, taking -- sort of taking their time to buy time with the hostage taker, with the culprit, to engage him, which they said they did consistently through the day, to have him release one hostage during -- over the course of the day he did release one hostage, and then provide an opportunity essentially for him to expose a vulnerability. We don't know why at that moment he went in, so that they could get -- so the FBI could get the hostages out.

So that, you know, in this world of sort of horrible news because obviously this is -- this is such a nightmare for the synagogue, the community and the Jewish community worldwide -- this is the result that you would want. And it takes time because, fortunately, he did not go in as an active shooter so the protocols are, essentially, see if they can buy time with the hostage taker and then -- and then take that opportunity to get the hostages out safely.

SANCHEZ: Yes, nearly 11 hours the stand-off between the FBI and the suspect. Officials, obviously, praising the work of the hostage negotiators.

Take us into what those conversations are like. You have a clearly deranged person that's making demands, threatening innocent people. You have to keep that person calm and engaged. What is that like?

KAYYEM: OK. So I can say this now because it's over but -- so they are basically getting hints throughout the day that are giving them confidence that they have some window. Those hints began by just simply the choice of the synagogue -- I don't want to say that, you know, this was a novice play. It was obviously terrifying. But he appears to have no one around him. He has chosen a synagogue, he says publicly on FaceTime -- on the -- on the streaming he says he chose it because it's close to an airport, meaning he has -- it's not targeted for any particular reason. It's a small synagogue. He says, according to people watching that video that he's apologizing, so he's both sort of crazy with these rants, but he's also apologizing.

So those are the openings that the FBI can deal with in the sense that OK, well now they know at least this is someone who is not starting with shooting. Then over the course of that time period, they come to an understanding of who he is and what his demands would be and they are talking to him, to get him to understand how this will play out and get him to concede as a potential way that they would make this easier on him.

Ultimately, their goal was not his safety. Their goal is the safety of the hostages that he ended up getting killed is ancillary to the overall goal -- the overall goal.

SANCHEZ: Yes. No question about that. And no matter what his reasons for picking the synagogue were, it's still painful to watch a house of worship become, yet again, a target of this kind of violence. Juliette Kayyem, we have got to leave the conversation there, but thank you so much as always.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

PAUL: Another big story this morning is Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic will no longer defend his title in the Australian Open and is now facing deportation after he lost a review to overturn the cancellation of his visa for a second time.

SANCHEZ: Remember, the reigning Australian Open champion his visa was originally revoked because of his COVID vaccination status. The court ultimately siding with Australia's immigration minister who canceled the visa a second time citing concerns that the unvaccinated star's presence could trigger a rise in anti-vaccine sentiment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JUSTICE JAMES ALLSOP, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA: The orders of the court are, one, the amended application be dismissed with costs, such costs to be agreed, or failing agreement assessed. Two, reasons to be published at a later date.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Melbourne, Australia.

[06:10:02]

Paula, do we know when the deportation is going to happen? Has it already happened?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Christi, it is going to happen within the next half hour according to a source with knowledge of this case, saying that Novak Djokovic will be leaving at 10:30 p.m. local time and he will be heading on a flight to Dubai.

So his Australian Open dream is over. He is leaving Australia very soon. And he did give a statement just earlier after the decision by that court saying, "I am extremely disappointed with the court ruling to dismiss my application for judicial review of the Minister's decision to cancel my visa, which means I cannot stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open." He did go on to say though, "I respect the Court's ruling and I will cooperate with the relevant authorities in relation to my departure from the country."

So he has been fighting this for about 10 days now. He has ultimately lost. The decision by the judges was actually unanimous, all three of them siding with the government. But as they did point out there it wasn't their job to decide whether the decision was correct, whether the merits of that decision were correct, but just the legality of this.

Now the government's argument, the immigration minister's argument, was that Djokovic being here could excite anti-vaccination sentiment, could excite civil unrest, pointing out that the disregard, as they put it, for COVID-19 rules that Djokovic showed when he decided to go out on December 18th after testing positive for COVID-19 could encourage others within the country to do so.

Now that was rejected by Djokovic's lawyers, but it did not wash with the judges themselves. They decided it was important to uphold the cancellation of the visa. We already had a political response as you can imagine. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, will be very relieved that he has won this round. He had a statement saying, "Once again, that Australians have made many sacrifices during this pandemic and they rightly expect the results of those sacrifices to be protected."

PAUL: Paula Hancocks, all right, we'll be watching in the next 30 minutes for that deportation. Thank you so much. We really appreciate all your work this weekend.

SANCHEZ: There is no shortage of news this morning, Christi, and not the least of which is this massive storm system that plowed through the central United States and it's already beginning to batter the southeast this morning with snow and freezing rain. This could cause a crippling ice event in parts of the Carolinas and Virginia today.

PAUL: Yes. CNN's Allison Chinchar is live in the weather center. Where is it right now, Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. Good morning, guys.

Yes, the bulk of it is focused right over the southeast as we speak. That's where we see a lot of the rain, the snow, the sleet, and even the freezing rain kind of mixed in. But this is eventually going to make its way all up and down the eastern seaboard. The mid-Atlantic and northeast will eventually get their share of the precipitation from this in the coming days. But for right now, we're already starting to see that transition over into snow for cities like Nashville and Memphis. All rain at the moment for Atlanta and Huntsville, but that is expected to change in the coming hours.

Farther to the east, again, ice right now for areas like Columbia, South Carolina, and Charlotte. I wish I had better news, but it's likely going to continue that way for the next several hours. And by several I mean six to 12 hours for a lot of these areas.

Then the system from there, again, starts to get a lot of colder air pulling back in. So you're going to see that transition to snow for Atlanta, Chattanooga, even Huntsville. And then eventually the system begins to slide to the north.

Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, maybe a little bit of snow on the front end, but it's going to melt once the warmer air from the southeast pulls in and everything changes back over into rain. Same thing for New York and Boston. It's the bulk of this is really going to be rain and unfortunately it's heavy rain during the morning commute tomorrow.

I realize not everybody has to work tomorrow for the holiday but for those of you that do give yourself some extra time tomorrow. Interior New England, lots of snow, maybe even a little bit of a mix at some point, but those snowfall rates are going to accumulate pretty quickly as we go through the day on Monday, especially with some of those wrap around bands.

Now down to the south, again, because you have so much warm air in place, places like Atlanta, Huntsville, you're likely going to get just about one to two inches. The heaviest snow will be between Nashville and Charlotte. But it's this ice, Boris and Christi, this is the biggest concern. Because when you have amounts this high, not only does it cause dangerous roadways but now we're talking widespread power outages as well.

PAUL: And more time to be able to get back on the road because I know that I've seen people warning -- meteorologists warning of dangerous to impossible travel, impossible travel, Allison. I mean, how many days do you think based on temperatures?

CHINCHAR: Yes, if you don't have to go out, just don't do it.

SANCHEZ: Right.

PAUL: OK. OK. Sounds good. Thank you so much, Allison. We appreciate it.

You know, a lot of states are already preparing for what Allison is talking about here, this dangerous storm, potentially causing power outages and, as I just mentioned, travel woes.

[06:15:07]

So far airlines have canceled more than 2,000 flights as some southeast states are seeing, as you heard her there, the rain, the sleet, the snow.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Let's go to CNN's Nadia Romero. She's live from Buford, Georgia. And, Nadia, what are you seeing there right now?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Christi, it is a wet, sloppy and chilly start to our Sunday morning. And perhaps it's the hour of the day and the fact that we're on the weekend that we haven't seen too many cars out here right outside of the I-85 corridor. And that's part of the expectation that we're hearing from meteorologists and from local leaders who've asked people to stay off the roads over the next couple days as we deal with this winter storm.

Now, in this part of the country the concern is not really how many inches of snow but it's the threat of ice. Ice that can really weigh down those tree branches that can fall on top of power lines causing mass power outages and ice that can turn our roads into skating rinks. That's why the Georgia Department of Transportation says it started brining roads on Friday. And as of last night they've already pretreated some 20,000 miles of roads that are in the path of the storm.

Now, this storm has caused the emergency declaration for the state of South Carolina and for Georgia. Listen to the governor of South Carolina talking about the threat headed his way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. HENRY MCMASTER (R-SC): This is going to be a pretty bad storm in the upper part of the state, notably from Anderson, Greenville, Spartanburg, on over to Rock Hill, sort of in that area. The good news is, it will be coming on the weekend and we have a holiday on Monday, MLK Day, so the schools will be closed. There will be a lot of offices closed then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: And that, perhaps, is going to be the one silver lining of this storm, is that it will happen for what is a three-day weekend for many people in this area as they won't have to get on those roads to go to school and to work. Christi, Boris.

SANCHEZ: As we heard from Allison Chinchar, if you don't have to go out, do not. Stay inside. Nadia Romero, thank you so much.

PAUL: Stay safe, Nadia, you and the crew there.

SANCHEZ: So we haven't even mentioned COVID this morning yet and it is shaping up to be an important week in the fight against the virus as registration opens for Americans to receive those free at-home coronavirus tests. We'll tell you how you can get yours.

PAUL: And President Biden is attempting to turn the page after a week that really saw his agenda take hits on several fronts. How he'll attempt to regain some momentum on the eve of his one-year anniversary in office this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:21:52]

SANCHEZ: There are now more ways for Americans to get free at-home COVID tests. Yesterday, new rules went into effect requiring insurance companies to cover the costs.

PAUL: Now the tests can be bought online or in stores. Insurance companies will pay for them up front or they'll reimburse you if you submit a claim. Now, Wednesday you can order free at-home testing through the government's Web site, Covidtests.gov. However, most people won't receive them until the end of January, just so you have a timeline for you there. The White House said tests will usually ship within seven to 12 days of ordering.

Dr. Shereef Elnahal is with us now. He's president and CEO of University Hospital in Newark, a former New Jersey health commissioner as well. Doctor, thank you so much for being here.

I understand that 10 percent of your staff is out, roughly 300 people in various departments, and that is due to this pandemic that we're seeing. At a time like this when I know it's already frantic and it's already so fatiguing for everybody there, give us an understanding of a life -- a day in your life right now.

DR. SHEREEF ELNAHAL, FORMER NEW JERSEY HEALTH COMMISSIONER: Yes, thank you so much for having me. So yes, close to 10 percent of our staff has been out. We're starting to see a little bit of a down tick in that and I hope that continues and that's good news.

But right now our staffs are pretty demoralized. They've been dealing with this now for two years. We continue to have our hospital admissions with COVID comprise 75 percent of them are folks who are completely unvaccinated. And so we do think a lot of these admissions are still preventable.

But regardless, I think this is a really tough time because when we were first surging in the spring of 2020, it was sort of similar to with an adrenaline rush, there was a light at the end of the tunnel that I could paint for cases hopefully going down. It's harder and harder for people to believe that as we go through wave after wave.

And so because of all of this the president's announcement just last week that we would be one of the hospitals receiving 23 women and men in uniform to assist us with staffing is just such a great piece of news. It was an injection of energy and morale in my staff and it's something we really appreciate as we go through this difficult time.

PAUL: And what are your most urgent needs there? Where do you see some of those people being placed as you said, 23 military staff coming to help and support the help that you already have?

ELNAHAL: Unfortunately, we're short in almost every area of our hospital, but we have areas, of course, that are hit harder than others. Our emergency room, our intensive care units, but also areas of the hospital that have critical roles that aren't directly clinical but needed to move the hospital around. So transporters, environmental service workers, food service workers, we're short in all of those areas, very important crucial jobs. And so there's going to be a lot of work to go around for these incredible heroes, joining frankly our heroes at the hospital.

PAUL: You mentioned there the COVID patients you have. I understand there's about 150 COVID patients at your hospital. You mentioned that 75 percent of them are unvaccinated. Contrast for us the care needed for somebody who's vaccinated versus somebody who is not?

ELNAHAL: Well, unfortunately it's really the same playbook for somebody admitted with COVID-19.

[06:25:02]

The good news is that about 60 percent of them are patients with COVID but not here for the classic COVID disease, so COVID pneumonia requiring intensive respiratory care, ventilator care, intensive care. That's only about 40 percent of patients with COVID in our hospital. And frankly those are folks that are asymmetrically unvaccinated.

And so, yes, if you're unvaccinated you're more likely to get severe disease from COVID and require all the classic things we've had to do over the last two years. And contrast that with folks who are fully vaccinated or boosted they may have the disease but that's not why they're here for the most part.

And so I think it's important to understand the distinction here and the value of vaccination which is still really, really important, which is why we have a big role in our community here in Newark in spreading the word about it. We have a big vaccination clinic and we continue to see demand for boosters which is good news.

PAUL: So I understand that Newark is an 80 percent minority community and that you say you've been -- quote -- "devastated asymmetrically" for the last two years. Distinguish the problems that you see in your hospital versus perhaps others? Have you had conversations with doctors at other hospitals?

ELNAHAL: I'm glad you're asking about that, because our experience here is similar to other urban areas across the community, other majority minority areas, more densely populated, more comprised by essential workers who have to expose themselves to this risk about two years now asymmetrically over others. And we've been really impacted by this. And we've also been, therefore, experiencing, I think, worse staffing shortages on average than other hospitals that may not be serving such a vulnerable community.

And so I do think it's really important that the Biden administration prioritized hospitals in areas of the country like ours. It speaks to their priority on health equity but also where the pandemic has been hitting the most. And so I think it's a, you know, an indicator, frankly, this administration is listening to the priorities of health equity.

PAUL: Dr. Shereef Elnahal, we appreciate all the work you're doing and taking time to talk with us about it. Thank you so much. Best of luck to you.

ELNAHAL: My pleasure.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, a Russian buildup on the border with Ukraine. Some now wondering is the Cold War over or has it only been on pause for Vladimir Putin? We'll discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): 31 minutes past the hour this morning right now. President Biden is facing major challenges at home and abroad as his first year in office is coming to an end this week.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Yes. Let's go to CNN's Jasmine Wright. She's traveling with the president in Wilmington, Delaware.

Jasmine, President Biden holding a news conference this week. What are you expecting to hear from him?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER (on camera): Well, Boris, we expect to hear a lot from the President because Wednesday presents a golden opportunity for the President who is frankly in badly need of a reset. So, he will have the opportunity among a group of journalists, a fun group I might add, to talk about the way he sees moving his agenda forward after really a tough set of setbacks this past week.

And so, Wednesday's press conference with the President, it coincides with the day that voting rights legislation is going to be taken up in the Senate. We expect that vote to fail. And remember, that is one of the President's top priority. So, we expect him to talk about the way forward on that.

On managing the pandemic, another big issue for the President. We expect him to talk about it, because last week, the Supreme Court, conservative leaning Supreme Court, struck down the vaccine mandate of his. That applied to employers with 100 or more workers.

So, we expect for the President to really present a plan on how he wants to go forward with managing the pandemic. And of course, those are two things, but on other things like the record level of inflation that this White House is facing, of course, Russia and Russian relations, and of course, the President's sinking poll numbers, those are all things that we expect the President to address here.

So, it is a long list for President Biden on Wednesday when he marks one year in office with that press conference really as he tries to turn the page and move forward with his agenda. Boris, Christi?

SANCHEZ: We will be watching closely. Jasmine Wright from Wilmington, Delaware, thanks so much.

So, let's dig deeper now. New York Times White House and National Security Correspondent David Sanger is with us, and so is Political Playbook co-author Rachael Bade. Thank you both for sharing part of your Sunday with us. David, first to you. President Biden set to take questions from the press this week. What are you expecting to hear from Biden with his popularity rating at a low?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, as you just heard, Boris, he does need a reset. You know, he's got sort of three sets of problems here. One is with his own party. The reason that the Voting Rights Act is likely to fail on Wednesday just before that press conference, is because he can't bring along all 50 of his members of the Senate. And he's going to have to explain the strategy of what he's going to do to get things done between now and the Midterm elections when, of course, he's likely to lose his majority.

His second big problem is he's got a virus where the various strategies have so far failed to bring it under control. This is not where we expected to be a year into his presidency. He's got to make the case that it will look different in six months.

And then third is he's got this set of international challenges, the biggest of which, of course, coming from the confrontation in Ukraine with Russia which as you noted before has hints of a Cold War.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I do want to ask you about that, David. But first, Rachel, I want to get your thoughts. What are you anticipating from the President on Wednesday? What should the White House prioritize in messaging?

[06:35:05]

RACHAEL BADE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, I think it's going to be tough for Biden for a reset. The reality is they tried to have a reset after Christmas when build back better was basically put on ice and Joe Manchin walked away from the negotiating table.

And they turned to an issue that frankly they knew was never going to pass. This so -- you know, the so-called voting rights bill to expand access to early voting and federalized elections and campaigns, that is something that was never going to plot -- be plausible in terms of getting to moderate senators on board to basically go nuclear and get rid of the filibuster to pass this legislation.

So, we've seen them sort of set themselves up, you know, for failure here both by talking about a lot of these things they want to pass, but they never had the numbers to actually do it. And then by turning again, to a bill over and over again that has failed in the Senate.

So, it'll be interesting to see if they take a more realistic approach on Wednesday. Do they talk about things they've already passed, like the bipartisan infrastructure bill, pandemic relief, or do they sort of keep trying to dig in on these sort of two issues that are really befuddled the party and really highlighted their dynamics and their differences in particular, and that they haven't been able to get done.

SANCHEZ: Sticking with that, Rachel, I got the chance to speak with Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger yesterday. And she effectively told me that she plans to campaign on the things that Democrats have accomplished. You noted, the COVID Relief bill, the Bipartisan Infrastructure package, but how well is that going to translate at the ballot box this fall?

BADE: I mean, it's going to be tough because they have made a lot of promises. And the reality is that a lot of Democrats turned out last election to vote for the party, specifically, because they were talking about things like paid leave for universal pre-K, for you know, expanded Medicare, Medicaid. And the reality is they don't have the votes for that. And so, that's going to be tricky specifically for the base.

I will say there are some moderates who perhaps are a little more relieved that they don't have some of these things going into effect because they are concerned about blowback. And if you look at poll numbers right now, you can see that Americans for the first time in a really long time, they want less government, not more government. And so, you know, it's a tricky balance circuit they're going to have to strike right now.

SANCHEZ: David, shifting from domestic policy to what you noted, the new Cold War, shades of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1961. I want to share something that you wrote this week with our viewers.

You wrote, "A senior Russian diplomat said Moscow was preparing to place unspecified weapon systems in unspecified places. That merged with American intelligence assessments that Russia could be considering new nuclear deployments, perhaps tactical nuclear weapons or a powerful emerging arsenal of hypersonic missiles."

Putin not suddenly hinting that these weapons would threaten the nation's capital. It doesn't appear that the Cold War ever ended for Vladimir Putin. So, should the United States engage with him in a more forceful way?

SANGER: It's been pretty forceful so far. You know, I think they learned some lessons from the messiness of the Afghan withdrawal. They've drawn some pretty hard red lines with Putin. The question now is, I think, twofold. First, is Putin invade Ukraine. And if so, does the United States then carry through with its promise of sanctions on a scale we have not seen before, including technology sanctions?

And then the second question is, does Putin decide that this isn't going to be limited to Ukraine. And as many of his aides were hinting, and he himself hinted, maybe it's bluster, begin to try to do things that would threaten Europe or the United States. And that -- the easiest thing he could do is the redeployment of his nuclear weapons.

I don't think we're back in full-scale Cold War. It doesn't feel like that. But it sure looks like we're seeing some cold war-like behavior. And certainly, if he does do those redeployments, it will, as you suggested, bring back comparisons to the -- to the 1962 crisis.

SANCHEZ: And it certainly appears from an outsider's perspective that he's trying to rebuild the Soviet Union. David Sanger, Rachael Bade, thank you both so much for the time. We appreciate it. SANGER: Thank you.

BADE: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

PAUL: When I say decades, I mean decades of disappointment in Southwest Ohio. But you Bengals fans, I bet they're still celebrating right now, Boris.

SANCHEZ: They probably are, yes. They're watching us to go to sleep. Coy Wire is with us right now. Coy, 31 years of misery almost completely wiped out in one afternoon in Cincinnati.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, Boris, Christi, the Bengals had the longest active drought between playoff wins. Their last one was 1991. That was before text messages started. The Cincinnati though, they summon some of that rock and roll from the other side of the state. And they also brought in the legend.

Ickey Woods showing up to do the ickey shuffle like when he ran for the Bengals the last time they won a playoff game. And their 25-year- old star, the Ohio kid Joe Burrow throwing a touchdown on the very first drive of his playoff career, finding tight end CJ Uzomah. And look at him busting out the ickey shuffle. Of course, you would.

But some controversy just before halftime. Burrow scrambling. He's going to find Tyler Boyd wide open because Raiders players, you're going to see, they actually stop. They say they heard a whistle. They're arguing. They catch with the officials afterwards. The head of officiating says that the came after the catch. Well, here it is again. Listen.

[06:45:19]

Wow, the play not reviewable. So, touchdown stands in those seven points, likely the difference in the game. Fourth-quarter, final seconds, Raiders needing a touchdown instead of a field goal to tie it, but Derek Carr intercepted by Germaine Pratt. Cincinnati holds on 26-19. Just listen to the love.

Now to some Buffalo. Buffalo busting out the six packs pregame, and not the Bills terror gators. We're talking about the players shirtless, frozen nose hairs weather. Fourth coldest game in team histories, wind chill in the negative, but the Bills are on fire.

Huge interception by Jordan Poyer on the Pats' first drive, and Josh Allen in the offence had that swag, and they were in their bag. Allen, more touchdown passes than incompletion, five of them to four. When he's on, he's arguably the best to be in the league.

And how about this one, to 320-pound rookie lineman Tommy Doyle. Bills could not be stopped literally. First team in playoff history to score a touchdown on their first seven drives, a 47-17 blowout. And they did this against the vaunted Bill Belichick defense, one of the best in the league. It put the rest of the league on notice.

Look out. Lots of playoff games today but those Bills are rolling, Boris and Christi.

PAUL: And we're excited about it.

WIRE: Not quite six years there, so I'm a little biased.

PERINO: Yes, he used to be there. Just a little.

SANCHEZ: It was cold out there too, wasn't it, Coy?

WIRE: Oh baby, it's cold outside. I was getting the flashbacks of when we used to use -- used to use the hot chicken soup to warm our hands on the sidelines, put tape in our ear hose so the wind couldn't get in. I was having flashbacks, but I was (INAUDIBLE).

PAUL: Yes, but I guess -- I guess, if you'd got a six pack, you better show it off regardless.

WIRE: That's right. Hey, we might have like four and a half now, but I'll rock it.

SANCHEZ: All right, Coy Wire, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

SANCHEZ: Former prisoners often struggle to find work because of their backgrounds, especially women of color. But a food business in Chicago is trying to give ex-inmates another chance. CNN's Adrienne Broaddus has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EDRINNA BRYANT, CO-OWNER, CHI FRESH KITCHEN: You keep looking and keep looking, but it's all these nos, nos, nos.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Edrinna Bryant is a mother who spent four years in prison for second-degree murder. She struggled to find long-term work when she was released in 2017.

BRYANT: I applied for numerous places. I remember I went to like O'Hare to look for a job. It was like my friend was hired right on the spot. She didn't have a background, of course.

BROADDUS: It's difficult for former prisoners to find a job.

BRYANT: You want to be honest because if they're going to look, they're going to see it. And then it was no return phone calls, no follow ups. BROADDUS: But it's particularly hard for Black women. They're unemployed at almost double the rate of formerly incarcerated White women.

CAMILLE KERR, HELPED LAUNCH CHI FRESH CHICKEN: 75 percent of them face homelessness. Most of them are mothers or otherwise are dealing with complex family relationships when they came home.

BROADDUS: Business Consultant Camille Kerr looked at this problem and saw an opportunity. She envisioned a business run by former inmates that would feed Chicago's neediest people.

KERR: They are the board of directors. They are the owners. They are the management of this organization.

BROADDUS: Kerr worked with local organizers to recruit Bryant and for other founding members.

Bryan proudly accepted the role of cook.

BRYANT: That's the only hope you got, trying to figure out how to open your own business once you leave prison.

BROADDUS: Chi Fresh Kitchen launched in May of 2020. And organizations in desperate need of meals welcomed its services.

BRYANT: We have 50 meals our first contract. After that, we was at like 500 to 1000 meals in a matter of like weeks.

Let's put it right here.

BROADDUS: Nearly two years later, the business is still thriving. The team provides over 1500 meals a week.

KERR: When everybody else is like trying to recruit workers and people aren't staying, we're getting so many calls because this is the type of work that people want to have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doing good? All right.

BROADDUS: In 2022, Chi Fresh will move to a new 6000 square foot kitchen. And the founders plan to serve more meals and second chances.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On three. One --

BRYANT: Yes, we were -- we were formerly incarcerated but we're making a difference not only for us but for the women's we left behind. We're doing this for our families to ensure them that look, we made a mistake in life but this is who we are today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Oh, wishing them the best of everything.

There is a new CNN Original Series premiering tonight at 9:00 p.m. on the life of Marilyn Monroe. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 21-year-old Marilyn Monroe decides to pursue another one of Hollywood's biggest players.

[06:55:06]

LOIS BANNER, BIOGRAPHER: Joe Schenck had a huge estate, and he would just hold Saturday night parties. And a lot of people from Hollywood would be there. And Marilyn is invited to his parties, a lot of contract girls are.

MIRA SORVINO, ACTOR: It was understood tacitly among the studio heads if these girls were there for the men at studios to date. And then once their contract was up, they'd be discarded and in would come a fresh new crop.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Be sure to watch Reframed Marilyn Monroe tonight at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN. We'll be right back.