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COY WIRE: What's up lovely people,
hope you had a wonderful weekend.
I'm Coy Wire, this is "CNN 10," and
we're grateful to be here to help
you make this an awesome week.
First up today, the latest on the dramatic takedown
of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that
had been flying across the United States
over the past few days.
The US government ordering an F-22 fighter jet
to use a heat-seeking missile to blast
the balloon out of the sky.
And that's exactly what happened on Saturday.
Some witnesses were caught off guard by the delayed sound
of the explosion.
Listen.
- That plane just had a strike.
- I don't see the balloon anymore.
- I just got it on video.
I did.
All right, the balloon is gone.
[EXPLOSIVE SOUND]
- Whoa.
- Woo-hoo!
- Did you hear that?
Is there any still video?
- I am still videoing.
- [INAUDIBLE] sound.
The sound just hit us.
COY WIRE: OK, so how did we get here?
Well, last week the US government
confirmed it had been tracking the 90-foot balloon,
which was first spotted over Montana on Wednesday.
The suspected spy balloon from China
even flew over a number of sensitive US military sites
over the course of a few days.
China's defense ministry spokesperson, though,
has protested the shootdown, saying the balloon was
a civilian weather aircraft which flew off course
by accident, but US officials maintain
that the balloon was being used for surveillance purposes.
There was much debate about what the US should have done
about the balloon, including calls to shoot it down
immediately, with critics of President Biden saying
the decision to allow the balloon to fly over the country
for days was, quote, "weak."
But top US military officials have
said that the balloon posed no military risk
and that they were taking steps to protect
against any collection of sensitive information.
And they wanted to wait until the balloon was over water
to protect civilians from any potential falling
debris after a shoot down, so on Saturday the US military
did shoot that balloon down off the coast of South Carolina.
Afterwards, China saying that the US government overreacted
and seriously violated international practice.
The US Secretary of State had canceled a trip to China
after the appearance of the balloon on Thursday,
so this event is causing even more tension
between the two nations.
A second balloon carrying similar surveillance equipment
has been seen flying over Central and South America.
And a senior US defense official said Saturday
that China flew surveillance balloons over the United States
in three instances during the Trump administration
but never for this long.
All of this is raising questions about these aircraft
and the threat they might pose.
Here's CNN White House correspondent
Arlette Saenz with more.
ARLETTE SAENZ: President Biden told his top military leaders
in a meeting on Wednesday to shoot down
that Chinese spy balloon transiting over the US
as soon as possible.
The president heard advice from military leaders
who warns that shooting anything down over land-- over ground
could pose a risk to American lives.
So ultimately, the president heeded their advice
and waited to have this balloon shot
down until it was over the waters on Saturday afternoon.
President Biden was briefed on those final plans
Friday evening and ultimately Defense Secretary Lloyd
Austin gave that final go ahead shortly after noon on Saturday.
Now, the president was flying on Air Force One from Syracuse,
New York to Maryland and was on the phone
with his top officials as this operation was underway.
And here is what he had to tell reporters
about the considerations given to that decision.
JOE BIDEN: On Wednesday, when I was briefed on the balloon
I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday
as soon as possible.
They decided-- without doing damage to anyone on the ground,
they decided that the best time to do that was
as it got over water outside--
within our-- within 12-mile limit.
They successfully took it down, and I
want to compliment our aviators who did it,
and we'll have more to report on this a little later.
Thank you.
- Mr. President, what do you say about China?
What's your message to China?
- You're saying the recommendation from your-- was
from your national security--
JOE BIDEN: I told them to shoot it down.
- On Wednesday. JOE BIDEN: On Wednesday.
- But the recommendation--
JOE BIDEN: They said to me, let's wait
till the safest place to do it.
ARLETTE SAENZ: Republicans were quick to criticize
President Biden for not taking steps
to down this balloon sooner.
Republicans have argued that this
is a sign of weakness in the White
House's approach towards China.
But the White House has pushed back,
saying that this was a responsible action for
a commander in chief to take.
They are arguing that what the president was trying to do
was prioritize saving American lives.
Now, there are lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who
are calling for briefings and hearings into this matter
and the so-called Gang of Eight congressional leaders
will receive a briefing from Biden administration officials
next week, as there are still so many
outstanding questions about how this incident unfolded.
TOM FOREMAN: This is the portion of this balloon
that investigators want to get their hands on-- that payload--
a central core and what looked like a couple of solar arrays
on either side.
When the balloon was destroyed, you could clearly
see it falling away below.
Now if this had the mass of a human, like a skydiver,
it might be falling at 100, 150 miles an hour
or something like that.
If it had the mass of a couple of cars,
its terminal velocity might have been more like 500
miles an hour or up from that.
What that means is when it got to this area
just off Myrtle Beach, the water would
be essentially like concrete.
It would hit it with tremendous force
and be absolutely misshapen, torn apart,
broken up by this impact.
What does that mean to recovery?
What it means is the first thing they
have to do when they get settled out there is get divers down--
47 feet down, that's good.
That's a good workable depth.
There they have to look at this, figure out how many pieces it's
in, where they are, assess it, figure out if some of it
is buried down in the muck below,
and then come up with a list of priorities.
What do they want to bring up first?
How do they want to bring it up to protect all of this
as much as they can?
And how long it's going to take?
These operations, typically, are longer than most people expect,
even though they believe this one could be pretty fast.
Think of it this way.
This is like an underwater crime scene now
and they have to protect their evidence as best they can
if they want to learn all they can about this balloon.
COY WIRE: 10-second trivia.
Which of these locations holds the current record
for the highest officially registered temperature?
Kuwait, Iran, California, or Texas.
[BEEPING]
California's Death Valley hit 134 degrees Fahrenheit
in 1913 at a location appropriately
named Furnace Creek Ranch.
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Right now it is far from blazing in the United States,
especially in the Northeast, where
there have been record low temperatures this past weekend.
Take a look at these numbers.
A cold front brought dangerous wind chill temperatures
throughout New York, the New England states,
and up into Canada.
This cold front comes a week after an ice storm
in Texas canceled flights and left hundreds of thousands
of homes without power.
GLORIA PAZMINO: Record low at temperatures across the region.
But here in New York City, right outside of Central Park,
people have been doing what they do
best here in New York-- they have been
braving the elements all day.
I've been speaking with tourists and New Yorkers who are unfazed
by the cold temperatures.
All day
I've been watching my friend here Gamal, who
is running this dog cart here.
He had a hard time this morning trying
to get it set up because his generator had actually frozen--
the oil and the gas that was inside of it.
He had a hard time getting it set up.
And he's told me that business is
a little bit slow today, right?
Not so good.
Not many people out here in these cold temperatures.
And just take a look.
This bottle of water--
frozen solid.
It has been frozen all day.
That should give you an idea of just how cold it is here.
But as I said, New Yorkers, those who
are visiting, for the most part, taking it in stride.
If you are going to go outside in these very cold temperatures
to dress appropriately.
Wear your layers.
And if you don't need to, it's probably best to stay home.
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COY WIRE: And for today's story getting a 10 out of 10,
let's go to Mount Washington, New
Hampshire where it was colder than a polar bear's toenail.
Coldest wind chill ever recorded in the United States--
negative 108 degrees Fahrenheit.
This happened over the weekend, wind gusts
reaching 98 miles per hour.
That would be like a category 2 hurricane.
Experts say it would take less than 60 seconds
to get frostbite in those temperatures.
One meteorologist there said that his wrist was exposed
between his coat and gloves and it felt like being
continuously stung by a bee.
That is unbelievably cold.
All right, you already snow what time it is.
Shout out to Bucks County Technical High School in
Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania.
Rise up.
We only get 86,400 seconds in a day.
And when they're gone, they're gone forever.
So live with a sense of urgency today.
Don't take any moment for granted.
I'm Coy Wire-- headed to Phoenix,
so I'll see you from there tomorrow
right here on "CNN 10."
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