i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm erica hill.s morning the white house is refuting china's claims that they had illegally flown balloons in china airspace ten teams. the white house is calling that allegation flat out false. it is coming on the heels of the u.s. shooting down three unidentified objects over the last week. >> and it is not known if they have connections to the three others after the shot down surveillance balloon. there is pressure mounting on president biden to explain all of this as one democratic congressman says that people are quote freaked out. the pentagon says that there was no military threat, and despite that military officials across north america are on alert for more of these. we go to natasha bertrand with more on this. and natasha, what are we learning about at the latest objects shot down, and i am curious why they are seeing more of them or are they looking more closely? >> well, that is the biggest question, and in fact, the defense department said that they have broadened the aperture of what th

right now, i want to bring back jim sciutto, he's got more. this latest round of, what, $500 million and u.s. military assistance to ukraine, fit in with a bigger picture, the billions that have already been provided? >> let's look at the headline figure. first line, since the start of the war, close to 30 billion dollars. it's a big headline figure. but when you place in the context of the overall u.s. defense budget in the 2023, 816 billion dollars. that means the aid to ukraine, and we are speaking specifically here of military assistance, amounts to less than 4% of the overall u.s. defense budget. u.s. officials have made the point for that 4%. the u.s. has contributed to really the decimation of russia's ground military capability. let us get into what is the bulk of that aid. a lot of it is ammunition. i mean, 102 million artillery rounds. i was told that ukraine was firing in a day what it takes the u.s. about two weeks to make. i mean, that is the piece of the war at this point. a whole host of anti-tank systems, they have an enormous e

jim sciutto. >> already happening, man. aranteed tickets for that super bowl, jim. >> sure, done. >> thank you, all, for joining us, i'm irerica hill. >> and i'm jim sciutto, and kate bolduan will join you after this break. and that's... how you collect coins. your money never stops working for you with mererrill, a bank of f america company. for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetil

our chief national security correspondent, jim sciutto, is joining us with a closer look. ambitions in taiwan for example are factoring into this relationship, relationship that exist right now with all three countries? >> two major concerns from the u.s. perspective regarding china right. now first, china becomes an active participant in russia's war against ukraine. supplying weapons, the concern now both ammunition and potentially drones and russia's war effort. u.s. says they're considering it, haven't made a final decision. if they do i'm told that u.s. officials and european officials would take it seriously. the other flash point of concern, is taiwan. the u.s. believes that the chinese military is told to be ready. to invade taiwan by the year 2027. doesn't mean they made a decision to do so. but they put their forces, told them in effect to prepare for it by that time there's a minority viewpoint. it's not by 2027, but perhaps as early as 2025. and because of that, with the u.s. is doing now on its allies, they believe they need to get taiwan, the weapons, defense

we want to bring back jim sciutto. how does this latest round of what $500 million in assistance fits in the with the billions already provided? >> let's look at the headline figure. so far close to $30 billion, it is a big headline figure. but when you place in the context of the overall u.s. defense budget in 2023, $816 billion, that means the aid to ukraine. we're speaking specifically of military assistance amounts to less than 4% of the overall u.s. defense budget. u.s. officials made the point for that 4%, the u.s. has contributed to the decimation of russia's ground military capability. a lot of it is ammunition. 102 million artillery rounds. i was told ukraine is firing in a day what it takes the u.s. two weeks to make. that is the pace of the war at this point. the antitanks had an enormous effect neutralizing russia's advantage in heavy armor. most recently, the focus has shifted to vehicles. we know the effect the artillery striking russian forces far behind lines. more recently the focus on abrams tanks. we

. >>> jim sciutto is back with us. are you learning anything new from your sources, jim? >> i think we need to highlight that this is a grave moment in the relationship between these two superpowers here, an exchange of fire in hostility, right? this was a surveillance balloon sent to the u.s. over sensitive sites, and the u.s. president making a decision to fire, to destroy it and take it down. these are significant moments in that relationship and you really have to go back more than 20 years, i'm thinking of the collision mid-air between the u.s. spy plane and the chinese fighter jet which led to a long diplomatic dispute because there were people involved, pilots and flight crew held by china there for a number of days. this, thankfully, does not have deaths involved because this was an unmanned surveillance balloon. but you had u.s. fighter jets circumstance cling it and firing it and taking it down. it's a significant moment and we haven't seen this kind of moment between these two powers in some time. you can compare it to 22 some odd years ago, china is a much gre

thank you very much, jim sciutto, joining us from washington this morning. >> and joining us for more analysis of what jim just laid out there is cnn's chief law enforcement and intelligence analysis, john miller. we keep talking about the pentagon and what the military is viewing this as, but actually, it's the fbi that's running point on this investigation. why is it the fbi? >> well, the fbi is running point on the technical collection of the pieces and the parts and taking them over to the operational technology division or otd with a lot of partners from other agencies, to look at them and say, what of this technology do we recognize? what of this technology can we say, what it's for, what it does, how it acts? it's unlikely that there's going to be a prosecution in a case like this, because as we all understand, china spies on us, russia spies on us, north korea spice on us, iran spies on us, and guess what, we spy back on all of them. you know, since frances gary powers was shot down in 1960 over russia in a u.s. u2 plane, a spy jet run by the cia, this is game we play. what's

with me is jim sciutto. jim, to that point. i mean, i guess we're reaching a new i guess moment in the relationship, tense relationship between the united states and china and president biden making it very clear on wednesday he wanted to shoot this thing down. >> it's a critical moment, jim, in the relationship between two super powers, which was already tense and is now more tense. of course, the first hostile act, china floating this highly capable surveillance balloon over the continental u.s. including overflying several sensitive installations and now a u.s. president making a decision to fire weapons, fire a missile from an f-22 fighter jet to destroy that surveillance balloon, but also critically take it down in u.s. territorial waters off the coast of south carolina with ships on the surface there, as we're told, going to make an attempt, at least, to collect what it can from here that they can further learn exactly what chinese capabilities are. i think it's also critical to note, jim, as oren was saying, that the u.s

>>> top of the hour this tuesday, i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm kristin fisher, and next hour, president biden is set to speak from warsaw, poland, one day after the unprecedented trip to ukraine's capital, and of course, c nshgnn will bring you speech when it happens. >>> and andrzej duda bringing the president to the capital amid the ongoing war next to his country. >> and as i told president zelenskyy when we spoke in kyiv yesterday, ki proudly say that our support for ukraine remains unwavering. >> this is hours after vladimir putin delivered his own state of the union, state of the nation speech trying to blame the u.s. somehow for the war in ukraine and you remember of course, it is russia who invaded country a year ago today. and russia would suspend their participation in the new start nuclear weapons treaty as it is known, and russia is already not in compliance and the question is what this means going forward and will russia perhaps break the limit on nuclear warheads set by that treaty, and we begin in warsaw where president biden is going to speak. phil mattingly is there, and cnn

>>> top of the hour this tuesday, i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm erica hill. protesters gathering outside of the supreme court as the justices are hearing about president biden's student forgiveness program. it is going to have an immediate impact on the student loan program at a staggering $1.6 trillion is where it stands now. >> and students who do not qualify for the specific program say it is not legal. so far, 26 million have applied for relief and 16 million approved. when the legal challenges put it on hold. and so, we will break it down and speak to a student who says that there is a clear racials a speblgt -- racial aspect to this as well. we go to jessica outside of the courtroom, and this is a real life impact for millions of borrowers and their families. tell us about this? >> yes, jim. there are practical ramifications. practical, there are 26 million borrowers who have applied for the program, and 10 million of them have already been approved. but after they appliedyied and approved, lower courts knocked it down. so if this is not approved, then

i'm jim sciutto. i'm kristen fisher.t hour, president biden heading home after this critical trip to europe including a historic visit to ukraine. this morning the president held a roundtable with the nato secretary-general and leaders of those nato countries that are closest to russia's borders and the u.s. and its allies really facing this daunting challenge now of how to keep the momentum on ukraine side one year after russia's invasion. >> today as we approach the one-year anniversary of russia's further invasion, it's even more important that we continue to stand together, and i think this is proof of this, how strongly we feel. >> well, on the other side, russian president vladimir putin met this morning with a top chinese diplomat. putin says moscow and beijing are, quote, reaching new milestones as we learn now that a meeting may be in the works between putin and chinese president xi jinping with u.s. officials warning that china is considering arming russia in its war against ukraine. phil mattingly is in warsaw

i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm erica hill. rescuers in turkey and syria are frantically searching for survivors at a earthquake struck the border this morning. that of course is one of the building that is the moment that you can see when the 9.2 earthquake struck this morning and it collapsed into rubble. more than 2,300 people have been reported dead. and the death toll continues to rise, and it is rising exponentially. in this video, the moment that a child was pulled from debris in northwest syria, and that region is also dealing with the impact of heavy brutal civil war there. >> one rescue there, and so many others feared for here. >> and now, the chinese surveillance balloon is shot down by an f-22 this weekend, and the pentagon is pushing back against china's threat to reserve the right to use necessary means for what it is calling the similar means around china, and we are told that the u.s. does not conduct similar flights around china, and we will have more on that in a moment. >>> first though, to the rescue operat

i'm jim sciutto, and this morning an unprecedented visit to the war zone. president biden made a trip to k kyiv to show support for ukraine without a large military presence. without that military presence, of course, it is different from other presidential visits to afghanistan or iraq for instance, and the air raid sirens as biden is walking side by side with volodymyr zelenskyy and it is the first trip to the country since the russian invasion. he made the decision friday to make this visit to ukraine, and the president had invited him prior, and he was informed hours ahead of the arrival there which tended to deconflict to make sure that russia would not fire on kyiv while he was there. in a news conference this morning, there was a new round of sanctions including another $500 million assistance and more weapons, and biden's trip gets them closer to victory. >> freedom is priceless. it is worth fighting for, for as long as it takes, and that is how long we will be with you, mr. president, for as long as it takes. >> for as long as it takes. kaitlan col

first, jim sciutto. what are your sources telling you about this object that was shot down over alaska? >> the details we know right now, it was unmanned, flying at 40,000 feet, lower than the 60,000, 70,000 feet the chinese surveillance balloon was flying at. closer to commercial air traffic. not maneuverable, unlike the first balloon last week. smaller, the size of a car, the pentagon says, as opposed to two to three buses. this is key, the u.s. is not identifying a country as the owner/operator of this particular object. here is what white house national security spokesman john ker kirby had to say. >> the president was involved in this decision. he ordered it at the recommendation of pentagon leaders. wa he wanted it taken down. they did it using fighter aircraft. we are calling this an object, because that's the best description we have right now. we do not know who owns it. whether it's state owned or corporate ownsed or privately owned. we don't know. >> the president made that decision. they went

i'm jim sciutto, and kate bolduan joining us right now. >>> hello, everyone.

i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm erica hill, and right now all five former police officers charged with murder and other charges in the death of tyre nichols are inside of a memphis courthouse. they are set to be arraigned on seven charges including second-degree murder and aggravated assault. >> this morning the shelby county district attorney said that the prosecutors are still looking into charging a sixth former officer who tased nichols in the traffic stop that night as well as others possibly. >> we are looking at everybody who was involved directly or indirectly in death of tyre nichols, and this is officer hemphill and those who showed up after the beating had concluded, and we will do what we can as quickly as we can, but thoroughly. >> now, we are still waiting for the release of 20 hours of additional footage from deadly beating and the aftermath, and it could be relevant, and cnn's shimon prokupiez is there at the courthouse, and i understand that you just spoke to tieyre nic nichols' mother there. >> yes, i wanted people to know where we are, because we are in the hallway and awai

our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is joining us right now. working his sources. jim, by allowing the spy balloon to fly for several days over the united states, was it essentially allowed to complete its mission? >> in short, the pentagon says no. i spoke to pentagon officials multiple times over the weekend. first on the balloon surveillance capability, they say it had a limited surveillance capability and they said they were able to mitigate that via jamming technology. the u.s. military has extensive jamming capabilities, and they say they utilize those capabilities to block in effect the balloon from being able to gather intelligence as it traversed the continental united states. that's a plausible statement. the u.s. has advanced jamming capabilities, those capabilities, designed to be able to mitigate threats from super sonic air craft, including super sonic air craft, this of course a slow moving balloon. it is plausible that the u.s. used those technologies and that they would have had effect on the surveillance capabilities of an ass

>> jim sciutto reporting for us, thank you very much. >>> the u.s.sputing china's claims about the balloon and what it's doing in u.s. air space. cnn senior international correspondent ivan watson is joining us live from hong kong. ivan, tell us what china is saying about all of this. >> reporter: right. well, china friday night here in asia put out the -- an unusual statement. the chinese foreign ministry, in which it did say, look, this aircraft does, in fact, belong to china. it claims that it is a meteorological research balloon. and it then went on to say, quote, the airship deviated from its planned course. the chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into u.s. air space. and went on to say in this statement that it would -- the chinese government would continue communicating with the u.s. to help resolve this issue. i have to stress how unusual it is for the chinese government to essentially issue a form of an apology. for example, the chinese government is still standing behind the years of its zero covid policy where it shut

we need to take it serious. >> that was jim sciutto with that report.fforts are underway right now off the coast of south carolina after the u.s. military shot down that chinese spy balloon. what the government is hoping to find, next.

top of the hour, this thursday, i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm erica hill, and any moment, officials in michigan are going to give an update of the investigation into the deadly mass shooting into michigan state university, and we will bring that to you when it happens, and share the disturbing details about the note that the gunman left inside of his backpack detailing other possible targets. >>> at some point this morning, a georgia court is going to release special report of president trump's efforts to overturn the election. we will expect to learn more about that. and we will learn more about the mass shooting and one of several in the last few weeks. we will learn more adrian there in lansing, michigan, and what are we expecting to learn? >> it is expected to learn more at any moment, and now, i have learned from a university spokesperson dan olson, and he said that we will learn this morning the updates on the students who were physically injured. at last check we told you that they were in critical condition and at least four of them we know underwent surgery, and we will learn more ant

of this and more with two of our very own best reporters, chief national security correspondent jim sciutto phil mattingly, chief white house correspondent. thanks both of you for being here this morning. jim, this is an area you study quite a lot. a clear escalation in u.s.-china relations at a very tense time. you're also learning new things this morning. >> let's first talk about the chance of escalation, this is always a concert when one nation fires another another. what is china's response. i was reading the global times this morning, a chinese government mouthpiece. if the u.s. doesn't differentiate between u.s. and civilian and military aircraft, this piece mentions what is a fact. the u.s. has many surveillance aircraft that fly around chinese airspace, both drones but also spy planes. i've been on one of them. china claims the u.s. uses civilian aircraft for similar surveillance purposes. it is telegraphing there at least the possibility if you're able to shoot down what we term a civilian aircraft claiming it's surveillance, we reserve the right to do the same. whether china make

i'm kristin fisher. >> and i'm jim sciutto. just moments ago president biden speaking in warsaw, poland as he met with the nato countries closest to russia's borders. the u.s. and its allies are facing the daunting challenge of how to keep the momentum on ukraine's side one year after russia's invasion. >> and this morning vladimir putin meeting with a top chinese diplomat in the kremlin as china denies reports that it may be sending weapons to russia. still, putin says they are reaching new milestones and there may be a meeting in the works between the russian and chinese presidents pretty soon. let's begin with president biden meeting with members of what's known as the bucharest 9. cnn's chief white house correspondent phil mattingly live in warsaw. phil, we just listened to the president's fairly brief remarks. what was your takeaway from his comments? >> reporter: i think what's most interesting about what the president is doing today, his final event before heading back to the united states, is what's happening behind clo

. >> i'm jim sciutto. this morning students and faculty at michigan state university are back on campus after the deadly, horrible shooting there. only, though, with an fbi escort so they can recover personal items left behind in the chaos. >> we're also learning more about the three young lives that were cut short. 20-year-old brian fraser, 19-year-old arielle anderson and 20-year-old alexandria verner were killed in that shooting. we're getting details about the gunman and what he left behind. we're also watching just about an hour from now, former south carolina governor nikki haley set to formally set to jump into the race for the white house. new details about who will introduce her at a rally in charlton and what her message will be. first straight to cnn's adrienne broaddus who joins us from east lancing, michigan. what more do we know about the three students who were killed, adrienne? >> reporter: erica, good morning to you. we're learning about arielle anderson whom her family afec shun nately ca

i'm jim sciutto. some wild weather. right now, homes and businesses damaged, debris scattered across cities and towns, this after severe storms ripped across oklahoma and parts of the central u.s. this morning, more than 50,000 without power in the region. at least nine tornadoes touching down in oklahoma and kansas. wind gusts equivalent to a category 3 hurricane about 120 miles an hour battering texas. ahead, the latest on the storm's and what's to come. >>> plus, at least two people are dead, three others wounded after a drone attack in ukraine. this as the u.s. is now warning that china will face penalties if beijing provides russia with drones and ammunition, as u.s. intelligence indicates, to aid russia's ongoing invasion of ukraine. >>> we do begin this hour with the latest on those severe storms and tornadoes. cnn's senior national correspondent, ed lavendera is in norman, oklahoma. cnn meteorologist chad myers standing by with the latest forecast. we want to begin with you, ed. some pictures there, just alarmin

thank you, jim sciutto. appreciate it. we'll see you a little bit later on today. >>> coming up, we'll talk to a trump national security adviser, john bolton. kaitlan's going to do that. >> and a senior white house official now telling cnn that three chinese spy balloons during the trump administration were not discovered until after biden took office. back in a moment. shield cracked, we needed it fixed right. we went to safelite.com. there's no one else we'd trust. their experts replaced our windshield, and recalibrated our car's advanced safety system. they focus on our safety... so we can focus on this little guy. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ♪3, 4♪ ♪ ♪hey♪ ♪ ♪are yoready for me♪ ♪are you ready♪ ♪are you ready♪ introducing the new sleep number climate360 smart bed. only smart bed in the world that actively cools, warms, and effortlessly responds to both of you. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. proven quality sleep. only from sleep number. my most important kitchen to

i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm bianna goalwith cnn. and the latest on what china is saying about that balloon hovering over the u.s. >>> and president biden is going to speak following a new jobs report that smashed expectations. 517,000 jobs added in january and nearly three times the forecast. we will bring you reaction live. >>> and a life-threatening deep freeze headed to the northeast, and millions are bracing for once-in-a-generation sub-zero temperatures. >>> china is confirming that the balloon floating over to the u.s. is theirs, and it is not a spy balloon as the pentagon says, but it is a civilian airship used for research are the words of the foreign ministry, and it is said to be the size of three buses. china says it accidentally drifted off course. and the sources says that china cannot manually control it, but how did it get there in the first place? the continental u.s. is a big target. >> yes, what happens next is the big question. the pentagon says it is not a military or physical threat to the people on the ground,

. >> and i'm jim sciutto.ext hour the supreme court will hear arguments about president biden's student loan forgiveness program, a ruling that will impact millions of people, one of the court's most influential cases this term with implications beyond the student loan issue. the plaintiffs which include six republican-led states, two borrowers who do not qualify for this program, are challenging the legality of the plan which would cancel up to $20,000 in debt for some borrowers. >> so just to give you an idea of the scope here, outstanding student loan debt in this country is more than $1.7 trillion. the vast majority of that, we're talking more than 90%, is from federal student loans and those are the ones that would be eligible for some forgiveness under biden's plan. so far 16 million borrowers had been approved for that relief. when the legal challenges put the plan on hold, officials estimate the program could cost some $400 billion. education secretary miguel cardona speaking with cnn this morning talk

jim sciutto is joining us with a closer look right now.mbitions in taiwan are factoring into this relationship, the relationship that exists right now with all three countries. >> no questions. first is that china becomes an active participant in russia's war against supplying weapons. the concern now ammunitions and drones. the u.s. says they're considering it. have not made a final decision. i'm told they will take it seriously. the other flash point of concern is taiwan. the u.s. believes that the chinese military is told to be ready to invade taiwan by the year 2027. it doesn't immediate they made a decision to do so, but they put their forces tell them in effect to prepare for it. perhaps as early as 2025 and because of that what the u.s. is doing now and its allies they believe to get taiwan, the weapons it needs today because they cannot supply taiwan after the war starts. it's an island. the expectation china will encircle it. so they want to defend it today in advance of the 2027, 2025. there is genuine concern that president xi,

chief national correspondent correspondent jim sciutto is standing by in washington. clarissa, i want to start with you, because you're on the ground here. you're on the ground in kyiv, adds the president was making that visit there. he got that briefing from zelenskyy's team. what is the message he's hearing from them? what are they saying that they need and that they need now? >> well, the message that they've been saying over and over again, which was reiterated again today, kaitlan, is that they are deeply appreciative and grateful for the support, but that they desperately need long-range artillery, fighter jets, heavier weaponry in order to finish off this war. there has been a real concern that the fighting in bakhmut and the east of ukraine particularly has not been going very well, with russia just willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands and thousands of its soldiers and young men, who are fighting there. and ukraine really struggling to maintain the momentum that they had gained from various successful counteroffenses, that they had towards the end of la

>>> very good tuesday morning to you, i'm jim sciutto. >> and i'm kristin fisher. soon president biden will be speaking from warsaw, poland, just one day after his unprecedented trip to ukraine's capital. the president of course expected to reiterate support for ukraine and affirm western values rather than rebut russian president vladimir putin's speech which we heard this morning. >> that's right. dueling speeches. in that speech the russian president blamed the u.s. for the escalation of the war in ukraine. of course it was russia that invaded ukraine a year ago this week. putin also announced that russia would officially suspend its participation in the new start nuclear weapons treaty. we should note the state department said last month russia was already not in compliance with that treaty. the question now is what happens next. this morning the polish president andrzej duda rolled out the red carpet for president biden. they sat down for a closed day meeting one day after biden's secret visit to kyiv. >> i would argue nato is stronger than it's ever been. as

satellite here, jim sciutto and erica hill both join us. first of all, everybody -- a couple things. super bowl, that's top of mind, right? and these objects that are over the sky. which one do you want to talk about first, guys? >> we are brought to you by satellite not by balloon, just so you know. >> important clarification. >> important. >> you guys won't be shot down. >> the administration has to answer questions here because it's happening with such alarming frequency now and there is not a lot of clarity as to who exactly so sending these, are they a threat, do you have to shoot down every one? that the new world we are in? it's a dicey time, particularly between the u.s. and china. >> especially while they're still waiting to recover some of what was shot down, that only ups of anti in terms of questions and people want answers, understandably. >> did your team win? i know rihanna won. >> i was team rihanna. we won. >> i like the halftime show. my team was telling me -- i was like rihanna is floating above the field like 100 feet. t

. ♪ >>> good monday morning to you i'm jim sciutto. significant day in ukraine and europe as the u.s. president joe biden makes a surprise visit to the war-torn capital of kyiv as air raid sirens sounded around him. [ air raid sirens ] walking side by side there in the capital with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy, president biden with this visit sending a strong message to ukraine and to russia, it is his first trip to the country since russia invaded ukraine nearly a year ago. cnn has learned the president made the final decision only on friday to make the unannounced visit, this after multiple invitations from zelenskyy. this morning, the ukrainian president says that biden's visit leaves ukraine, quote, closer to victory. calling it the most important visit to his country in the history of u.s./ukraine relations. during a news conference, president biden announced a fresh swath of sanctions against russia as well as pledging another half billion dollars in military aid, including weapons to ukraine. >> one year later kyiv st

. >>> i want to bring in jim sciutto, on the line with us. we've been talking about the incredible coordination involving the u.s. military, all of the airports with the three ground stops at three airports in north and south carolina. and now, with this speed, we're hearing from one eyewitness -- we have not gotten confirmation from the pentagon, but this eyewitness says he saw with his own eyes the takedown of this balloon. >> that's right, and cnn is reporting that a u.s. official confirmed the u.s. military shot down the chinese spy balloon just off the east coast. i think we should take a moment to acknowledge this is a serious moment in the relationship between two superpowers, the u.s. and china. the first moment, of course, being that china deployed this balloon, which the u.s. said is a surveillance aircraft over the u.s., slow moving for days over the continental u.s., including over sensitive military sites. among them an icbm missile base in the northern part of montana. so that being the first significant move. the u.s. tracking

i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm

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. >> i'm jim sciutto. happening right now, house lawmakers on capitol hill receiving a closed door classified briefing on the chinese surveillance balloon. this as cnn has new reporting on when u.s. officials were first warned about the threat. all of it sparking sharp criticism on defense and intelligence officials who were not aware of the depth of that threat. live on capitol hill with the latest. >>> plus, incredible stories of survival out of turkey, including an infant pulled from the rubble after 58 hours, small signs of hope there. rescue workers among so many things facing freezing temperatures, lack of water and power. the death toll hard to imagine. now surpassing 17,000. cnn is on the scene. >>> back here in the u.s. on the road again today. cue the 2024 election music. president biden headed to florida, where he is expected to drive home his pledge to protect social security and medicare. we have a preview of the trip ahead. we want to begin with the latest on the chinese spy balloon, jessica

i'm jim sciutto, and kate bolduan joining us right now. >>> hello, everyone.this hour, don't cross the line from the white house to the cia, the new warnings to china not to help russia in ukraine. >>> and people are getting a first look at how bad the storms were. >>> and a new decision of abortions today, and the impact could be immediate and nationwide. this is what we are watching this hour. thank you for being here. i'm kate bolduan. the concern over china and ukraine tensions are growing every hour. first there was concern that china was going to provide russia with weapons to help with the war in ukraine. but the biden administrator told that they are strongly considering sending drones and ammunitions to russia to defeat ukraine. and so we will start with m.j. lee who is live at the white house. m.j., what is and isn't the white house saying about the latest assessment? >> well, kate, the administration is openly warning that china is considering providing lethal aid to russia in the war against ukraine, and talking about drones and while china has not

i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm erica hill. we begin this hour with the new reporting of the chinese surveillance balloon, and the state department is confirming that this device was capable of monitoring u.s. communications. that is likely one of the new details that lawmakers are learning this morning. the biden administration is giving classified briefings on the issue on capitol hill a short time ago, and we will give you more of what we are learning in a moment, and with reclosely following what is happening in europe. the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is calling on the european allies to step up the assistance and talking about specifically what they could do in his mind game-changers. >>> fresh off of the sales pitch in wisconsin, president biden is headed to florida to expect to drive home his pledge in particular to protect social security and medicare, and we will have more on that message from the white house ahead. first of all to national security correspondent kiley al technology report of the chinese ba

jim sciutto and kristin fisher pick it up. >> have a great day, everyone. >> see you. plan

. >>> good thursday morning to you i'm jim sciutto. >> the people of ohio awaiting the report on what led up to the devastating the toxic train derailment earlier this month. pete buttigieg is on the ground this morning as residents voice their anger and frustration in the cnn town hall last night. >> if you do not feel safe living in east palestine raise your hand. >> i don't know what the future holds for my town. >> i'm 65 years old, a diabetic, heart disease, everything. now did you shorten my life now? i want to retire and enjoy it. you burned me. >> well, other story we're following this morning, alex murdaugh on trial for murdering his wife and youngest son. now a source tells cnn he is expected to take the stand to testify in his own defense. we'll take you to that courtroom live in a moment. >>> and hundreds of thousands of people are without power this morning as a massive cross country winter storm ripped across several states. ahead the warning for new england and the east coast where we are. we begin in east palestine with jason carol. the emotions running high last night

>>> very good wednesday morning to you, i'm jim sciutto. >> and i'm erica hill. today president biden taking that state of the union message to the battleground state of wisconsin. it's part of a two-day swing where he will be touting his administration's accomplishments and also -- which of course were laid out during last night's address. >> sounds like the start of a campaign. president biden's speech set the stage for a likely 2024 bid. he vowed to, quote, finish the job. while making a point to call for unity and bipartisanship, asking to work with republicans even as he sparred with a handful of republican lawmakers on a number of topics. >> instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share some republicans, some republicans, want medicare and social security to sunset. i'm not saying it's a majority. i'm not -- politely not naming them, but it's being proposed by some of you. look -- so, folks, as we all apparently agree, social security and medicare is off -- off the books now, right? they are not to be touched? all right. all right. we got unanimity. >>

. >> i'm jim sciutto, and now "this hour with kate bolduan" starts right after this a short break. ♪ ♪ it's what sanctuary could look like... fe like... sound like... even smell like. more on that soo ♪ ♪ the best part? the prequel is pretty sweet too. ♪ ♪ i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up ♪ ♪ i've got symptom relief ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements at 4 weeks. skyrizi is the first and only il-23 inhibitor for crohn's that can deliver both clinical remission and endoscopic improvement. the majority of people on skyrizi achieved long lasting remission at 1 year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ c

. >>> top of the hour this tuesday, i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm erica hill. three students at michigan state university are dead this morning and five others are in critical condition. this is after a gunman opened fire at two different locations on campus in east lansing on monday night. cell phone video caught the horrific moments after the gunshots rang out. you can see the students running for their lives and some barricaded in their dorm rooms. >> we were there locked in the rooms and the guys were telling us to run out of the back doors and quickly as we could for our lives. i sprinted out into the woods, but from there, i thought that side of the campus would be safe, and then i got a text from my brother saying that they were over there in that area, and then i got to akers, and they were telling me to run, because it is from that area, and it is a ter fig experience. >> and police say that a tip led police to gunman after an hours' long manhunt, and he later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and they have not yet determined if that is the weapo

. >> and i'm jim sciutto.n

. >> and i'm jim sciutto. right now just a heartbreaking reality in turkey and syria, international aid rushing in as the death toll from that powerful earthquake and its aftershocks rises to more than 5,000. 24 hours or so after the earthquake hit, rescuers they are still managing to pull some survivors from the rubble. in one instance in turkey a child that had been trapped in a collapsed building crawled out of the debris into the hands of first responders. [ speaking non-english ] >> that poor little child. numerous aftershocks have rattled the region, many people too scared to stay inside their homes, understandably so. they've been forced to sleep on the streets in freezing temperatures. look at that scene there. the weather conditions have further complicated rescue efforts. cnn is near the epicenter, we will take you there in just a moment. >>> also tonight president biden set to deliver his second state of the union address, this time of course he will do that to a divided congress. the white house pr

. >> that was jim sciutto reporting.t some perspective from intelligence analyst john miller. a balloon is not the most high-tech thing. where does this balloon rank in terms of the range of ways that china is spying on the u.s.? >> not that high, both literally and figuratively. it's flying, you know, in the stratosphere but below where their satellites are. but it is a collection platform, you know, china -- the chinese spokesman called it a force major. we couldn't help it. the wind blew it there. i think the definition is two things, one, the inability because of unforeseeable circumstance to stick to an agreement or contract, the second definition, which is an irresistible impulse. it feels more like number two because chinese intelligence collection in thepervasive. human intelligence, they're accep sending people in to join research institutions, government organizations think tanks to pull things out. >> there's a huge data collection effort by -- >> it's an army. i mean, literally an army. the people 's republic

. >> ahead, we'll dive more into this discussion with cnn's john miller and jim sciutto. stay with us. >>> okay. defiant putin is promising victory in ukraine as russian missiles rain down on key ukrainian cities. putin is getting ready to launch a, quote, massive offensive. he plans to seize the entire region in eastern ukraine by next month. we're live on the ground in the southern city as russian strikes overnight intensified. is that right, sam? >> yes, indeed. there was very intense bombardment last night. a number of different residential buildings were hit. and at least two people reported to have been killed in the previous 24 hours. this situation is normal but the level of bombardment is increasing. there is no expectation -- necessarily the russians are going to launch a ground strike back across the river against the city. they're taking on a civilian population. a few hours ott gn the ground l like this in that beleaguered city. >> reporter: 12 weeks ago, ukrainians celebrated the liberation of the city for months of russian occupation. this is the scene toda

jim sciutto joins us to explain. what did china's spy balloon at least have the capability to do? limited surveillance capability. we are learning more details now. it maybe had more capability than we realized. first of all, signals collection, in other words, it can intercept communications, et cetera, attempt to. also, the ability according to sources to geolocate those communications. in other words, where they are coming from and where they are going to. that's significant. other capabilities that are better than satellites. one, they could better photographs. 3d photographs, more so than satellites that are flying higher. that gives you more detail about the things thundershower taking photos of. and it also a greater ability to steer and hover over those targets for longer. the satellites are going at, well, 15,000 miles an hour or so as they circle the planet. this could move more slowly and gather more information as it does so. and this, of course, informed by where it traveled. what might it be looking at? in montana, icbm bases up there. in missouri, white man air forc

good morning to you this monday, i'm jim sciutto. >> and i'm erica hill. the death toll continues to rise after this catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck near the border of turkey and syria. more than 1,800 people are now reported dead, but there are concerns that that number could ultimately reach into the tens of thousands. at this hour desperate rescue operations underway. crews searching for survivors who may be trapped under piles of rubble. here you see this is the moment that a child you see in the arms there of that rescue worker, a child was pulled from debris this was in northwest syria, a region which of course already heavily impacted after years of a bloody civil war. >> in each city, in each village, across northwest sudan there are people under rubble. the number of trapped people under the rubble, it's countless up to now. we don't have exact number. >> countless. multiple powerful after shocks have also been reported across the region throughout the morning. we are live in turkey with the very latest. >>> also this morning fo

. >> i'm jim sciutto, and top of the hour, alex murdaugh right there on trial for murdering his wife and youngest son is expected to take the stand and testify in his own defense. we will take you to the courtroom when it happens. >>> plus any moment, the ntsb is egs expected to release a preliminary report on what led to that toxic train derailment today. and this morning pete buttigieg was there and this after citizens were demanding answers at a town hall overnight. >> i'm 65 and a diabetic, and now, did you shorten my life now? i want to retire and enjoy it. how do we enjoy it? you burned me. we were going to sell our house, and our value went, vroom. >> jim, i am terribly sorry. what i will do is to get this right. we will get the cleanup right, and we will reimburse the citizens and we will invest in the long term health of this community. >> a chance there for the folks to confront the ceo of norfolk southern. >> and when we get a look at that report from the ntsb, we will get it to you. and now, the secretary of transportation pete buttigieg is going to be there to look at th