were chatting about you and i were almost jumping out of a plane skydiving and texas but because of weather we weren t able to maybe that was a bit of a relief. george: we did not have to jump out of the plane, but what a way to honor my grandfather, hopefully you got a taste of texas with some barbecue and cowboy boots and country music. so hope to do it again. spin on it was amazing honoring your family and their legacy and that beautiful state of texas and today looking forward to hearing your contribution. so guys, we begin with anger, frustration, and government distrust coming out of the town of east palestinian ohio, residents expressing outrage over an emotional town hall last night blasting the lack of answers about the derailed train and growing health concerns. it has been nearly two week since the derail derailment released four toxic chemicals into the air. they are understandably worried and have questions. the train company norfolk southern did not show up to
coast of myrtle beach, south carolina, collecting the wreckage of the downed balloon. republicans are condemning president biden for failing to take action on the balloon sooner. let s get the latest on the balloon and today s recovery efforts, zachary cohen is here. zachary, what more are we learning about this balloon and, i guess, at some point, they need to pull it up out of the ocean and start examining it. i think at this early stage, u.s. officials are not buying the chinese government s explanation that it was a civilian aircraft. they have strongly indicated, defense officials and administration officials, strongly told us that this was used for spying and they believe it was used to try to collect data about sensitive u.s. military sites across the country. now, that raises an being question, though, and one that the biden administration is going to have to grapple with in the next few days. they know that was the intent of this balloon, why did they not shoot it
chinese spy balloon is clurntly crossing latin america. something so unexpected to be what it is, where it is, that it left people asking questions like this. what planet is that? actually, that s a good question. it s not mars or venus. the balloon is the size of three buses. and surveillance equipment spotted yesterday over montana, drifted across nebraska and then into the midwest today. floating at about 60,000 feet apparently following the prevailing winds. in a moment, we ll take a look at where it could be heading next. today, china said it was, quote, civilian airship, a vehicle gone astray, and secretary blinken postponed his upcoming trip to beijing. any country that has its air space violated in this way would respond similarly, and i can only imagine what the reaction would be in china if they were on the other end. in the meantime, the pentagon is not ruling anything out when it comes to shooting it down. at this stage, what i can tell you is again, we
security concerns for days. most of the wreckage is believes to be sitting in 47 feet of water at this hour. let s go now to oren at the pentagon. do we think we might have get an update this evening as to whether or not they have been able to secure that wreckage and retrieve it? they ll put a perimeter around it with navy and coast guard assets that were in the area. whether they can retrieve it tonight or tomorrow, that s a different question. 47 feet of water according to a senior defense official, so not that deep, but still it s a question of what s left, what s down there and what shape is it in and how do you bring it up without damaging it further. salvage vessel is on the way. it might not be there in time to do it tonight, but it will get there as quickly as possible to begin. why is that so important? because the pentagon has said repeatedly this was a chinese surveillance balloon that had the ability to maneuver, loiter. and because of that, there s information
somebody asks you where you re from and you answer, i m from chicago, nobody s going to give you a patronizing response like, oh, chicago s charming. hey, chicago. more likely it ll be wow, chicago or oh, chicago. they ll be impressed. chicago is the town, a city that doesn t ever have to measure itself against any other city. other places have to measure themselves against it. it s big, it s outgoing, it s tough, it s opinionated and everybody s got a story. i took a walk through this walk through this beautiful world felt the cold rain on my shoulder found something good in this beautiful world i felt the rain getting colder as late afternoon gives way to evening in chicago s old town, it s time to drink. though to be fair, almost anytime it s time for a drink at the old town ale house. the chorus assembles to give their opinions on matters of the day, subjects of great import to this city on the lake, this city of broad shoulders, this