Hear what US did to drone forward of it crashed into Black Sea

Now to some important breaking news. Brand new information just in to CNN about that American drone forced out of the sky by a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea. Let's get straight to CNN's Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon.

Or and what do we know? John, we now have a far better sense of the steps the U.S. took to make sure there was no sensitive information on that drone that the Russians might be able to try to recover from the Black Sea. Yesterday, John Kirby,.

The strategic coordinator for the National Security Council, said the U.S. had taken steps to protect its equities but wouldn't go into further detail. We now know from two U.S. officials familiar with the incident. That step that was taken was erasing.

Or wiping the software from the drone. The sensitive software that runs the drone end is in charge. Of collecting the intelligence, collecting the signals that the drone uses and then passes on to the U.S. upon its landing remotely, the operators of the drone.

Were able to wipe the drone in a race that's software such that it wouldn't fall into Russian hands or frankly, other hands after the U.S. brought it down in the Black Sea. A senior Russian official said on Russian state TV.

That the Russians would try to recover the drone. It's not the aircraft itself, the hardware, if you will. That's the sensitive part. It is the software, and that's the step the U.S. went to protect by erasing it and wiping it remotely from the drone.

Before it crashed into the Black Sea. The U.S. doesn't have naval assets or ships in the Black Sea that would be able to expeditiously carry out a recovery effort. So this, John, is now we know the step the U.S.

Took to make sure sensitive information, intelligence didn't fall into the wrong hands or labored life for the Pentagon at the breaking news. Thank you. Let's get some insights now from retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, grateful to see you today.

Let me just pop up some video of this drone as it plays out. Is this standard operating procedure? You have an asset like this in the sky, it comes under attack or some interference in the like is the operators, everyone trying to get it to safety, but no to prepared.

To delete any sensitive information, if you can. Yes, absolutely. And one of the lessons we learned from a 2001 incident with the Chinese when a manned P-3 surveillance platform was actually downed by the Chinese. We didn't zero as the equipment then we didn't take care of the software.

This was a lesson learned from that. And the way they did this was basically textbook. Now we zero eyes these types of things. We erase the software and we make it unusable. Russia has drones as well. I mean, how have are.

We that far more advanced from them that this would be proprietary and urgent to keep out of their hands? It would still be urgent to keep out of their hands. They do have drones that are somewhat compatible too, with the MQ nine, but they're not as sophisticated as what the MQ nine has.

And so I just want to bring up the map, Admiral Kirby, who you know now at the White House, says we may not be able to recover it. They're going to try may not be recovered here as it happened somewhere over the Black Sea. We do not have exact location.

Correct as to where it happened. You see the Russian border here. Walk me through the challenge of trying trying to get some military asset to recover the drone before the Russians find it. So this drone was probably somewhere about here where we're at.

You know, crashed into the sea. So what this shows, of course, is this is Russian occupied territory, Russian naval activity all throughout this area. Very hard for us to get there. Any of our allies, the Romanians don't have the capability.

The Turkey Turks don't have the capability, nor do the Bulgarians. It would be almost impossible if you don't have naval assets in there right now to get the drone. The Russian ambassador to the United States was summoned to the State Department.

He says, you know, Russia doesn't like any U.S. aircraft near its borders. That's why he said this is the Russian border over here. This is stolen property. Sorry, but that's stolen property. That is part of Ukraine that Russia stole way back in the Obama administration.

Is it likely would it have been flying over here close to Russia? Would the United States have reconnaissance? It's international water, by the way. So it could be there, right? Legally, yes. Legally, absolutely.

And we've done that before. We were going across this whole area. But our area of interest right now is this because, number one, the war in Ukraine. Number two, the green transcripts from Odessa that we need to make sure that Ukraine.

Gets to continue to do those. And that's one of the reasons we're watching all of this. Just very quickly, before I let you go, we're focusing on the breaking news. They deleted the software, but the fact that a fighter jet would approach essentially an unarmed.

Or very lightly armed drone, what does that tell you about Russia's mood at the moment? Russia is very combative, John. And what they want to do is they have this very serious.

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