US Navy releases unique pictures of the recovery of suspected Chinese search balloon

>>> I want you to take a look at this. The U.S. Navy release new images of the Chinese spy balloon they recovered in the waters off of South Carolina. This is really intriguing to see, Chinese balloon shot down over the weekend.

>> Right now, the house committee is holding a hearing to look at the failures of the government not detecting Chinese incursions in the trump administration. What are you learning, Oren Liebermann? >> I was watching house.

Committee, and although it was scheduled before the latest Chinese government has been discovered, it has been a topic of the committee, and the chairman said that you would have to be naive to know that it was not an attempt by China to spy on the United States.

Last year, there was a report called the people's republic of China high altitude means. It documents case in 2019 where a balloon flew all around the world over Hawaii and over flying parts of southern Florida in the trump administration, and what is unclear in this report.

Is when the U.S. Realized it was a Chinese surveillance balloon, and the Pentagon believed that is the intent of the balloon, and this is another point that the Pentagon said yesterday, general Glenn vanerk said that there was an awareness gap that allowed China to fly balloons.

Three times over the U.S. In the trump administration without them knowing it, and it was only later that the U.S. Went back to look at the data and the trajectories of these balloons that they came to believe they were surveillance balloon, and the gap is what the U.S. Is.

Trying the close now especially now that it has the balloon in hand or parts of it as we see with the images, and working to recover the rest of it, Kate. >> Oren, thank you so much. >>> The FBI lab as we have been seeing the images and what is being recovered, the FBI is.

Identifying the parts of the downed balloon. Carlos, what is the latest from there? >> Kate, so we are about 21 miles off of the main debris zone off of the coast of south Carolina, and it is quite clear that the FBI and the Navy are.

Starting to make preparations to bring the debris here. It is a boat ramp and parking lot to the north of where the search is taking place and where for the past three days the Navy has prepositioned a lot of the equipment, and a lot of the personnel.

It is where we saw a number of boats being brought in this morning and heavy equipment and oxygen tanks. An FBI agent told us earlier that they were securing the event in the event that they might have to bring some of the debris out here, and in the last.

Few minutes, we saw flood lights and a forklift and storage containers. In the main debris site off of the coast of South Carolina which is a half hour's drive here, the crews have been using the equipment to essentially scan the bottom of the ocean.

There to get a sense of how much of this debris is still left there. Once they get that done, then they will start the work of lifting the debris out to ship, and most likely bring it out here or to Virginia. >> Thank you, Carlos.

And joining us is James clapper, the former director of national intelligence under president Obama. And now I want to put up these images of the U.S. Navy, and I believe they are fascinating of what is being pulled in, and a much closer look at what they.

Are recovering from the Chinese spy balloon, and we will put them up when we get them, but what are you seeing here? >> It looks to me as part of the larger deringer and the suite carried by the balloon, itself, and this is a good sign, because it would indicate hopefully.

Where this was going on, it is in relatively close proximity to the payload which is the key thing that you want to get here to analyze just what was the center suite, and what were the Chinese actually trying to do, and what were they are trying to collect with this balloon.

>> Absolutely right. And to another big question that is being reported by Oren Liebermann, and the previous incursions and what the U.S. Commander is saying about the previous incursions by Chinese balloons is that they went undetected and what he said is a.

Domain awareness gap. What does that mean to you? >> Well, that is a military jargon for we missed it. There is gray nether world for which the conventional military craft fly 40,000 feet and below and then we have good coverage. We can detect aircraft and other.

Vehicles in that regime 40,000 feet and below. With respect to spacecraft, we do a great job of tracking them, and there not a color, but there is an area where we don't apparently have a good technical capability of tracking objects in that zone of altitude if you.

Will, and so that is what is afoot here. I am sure that we can bring to bear the resources to overtime correct this deficiency, this domain awareness gap to use the phrase. >> Yeah, I will try to work that into conversation more.

And so, you said that the balloon had gone off course, and can you tell me more about that, and when you say that, do you believe it is not a spy balloon? >> No, no. I did not mean to imply that at all, Kate. What I meant is that I believe.

That the Chinese may have been truthful of it wandering off course, but I don't think they have been truthful of the center suite on it. I think that it is clearly for intelligence collection purposes. I have had some experience of my.

Time with the intelligence communities with intelligence collection balloons, and you are subject to the vagaries of weather, the fog, mist and rain and in this case most critically wind. That is by the way, one of the interesting things that we can.

Learn is just how much control

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