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
administration acted indecisively and waited too long, letting the balloon float across the continental u.s. for days. president biden says the military advised him there would be less danger to the public in shooting down the balloon once it got over the ocean. lawmakers are reacting sharply and along party lines. i want to start by doing something that i don t do very often, which is commending joe biden for actually having the guts to shoot this down. that was the right thing to do. that is absolutely what the president should have done. unfortunately he didn t do that until a week after it entered u.s. airspace. they re saying we should have shot down the balloon the minute we saw it. i would use two words in answering these gop criticisms. they are premature, and they are political. presidents have the ability to go before a camera, go before the nation and basically explain these things early on, and his failure to do so, i don t understand that. i don t understan
everything was a blur. all i m thinking is, is shannon really gone? we interviewed her roommates, boyfriends, everybody is a suspect. then a phone rings. right. he says i ve kidnapped her, i have her. and we ran his criminal history. that s when all the bells went off. he pulls in, asked me to get in the car. i feel the cold blade against my neck. he carries me to the basement of his home. it was jaw-dropping! just chilling! they started digging and they found women s clothing. it was just escalating! escalating! there were so many victims, aren t there? there. were there still are. until this guy is no longer in existence. i will carry this fight! hello, and welcome to dateline! shannon melendi dreamed big. at 15, she wanted to become a supreme court justice. in college, she scored a prestigious internship at former president jimmy carter s foundation. then, suddenly she vanished! detectives had a suspect in their sights. but it would take years
are threats on my life and i know we are in danger, i know we are. it is a riveting mystery that started in a place of glamour. it became a destination for the rat pack, and sinatra. and it ended in a case of murder, the wealthy heir to this legendary hotel, dead. he was my father. he is the only father that i ever knew. now, police said that she was next, someone in the shadows wanted her. my suspicion is growing and growing by the minute. so who is behind? those plenty of suspects. and plenty of motives. anger, jealousy, greed. someone had 10 million reasons to kill. look back, and say oh my god. i couldn t believe what i saw. you are not gonna believe it either because in this day, there is a final, terrorizing twist. [inaudible] hello, and welcome to dateline, ben novak junior was a successful entrepreneur and the wealthy son of a famous miami businessman then he was bound and bludgeoned to death in and knew your coat got tell room. who wanted
looked at was have you seen kayleigh? dispatch, how can i help you? my daughter is missing. i had this sickening feeling. i m looking at a desperate man, anything can happen. i would ve never been able to tell my daughter, your monster, your bogeyman, we will pull up beside you instead of him coming to help you. come to harm you. inside the shed there was a green purse there s also a large rock saturated and dry blood. this is not a good sign at all. it is not. ever been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer, that s about what it feels like. she began coming to and trying to fight, she was trying to turn emergency lights on, grabbing the radio, anything she could do. because she knew, she knew. it was a saturday night, summer, and they were so happy at the bachelorette party as they laughed and danced and played their drinking games. outside in the dark, watchful waiting, hidden it s clever disguise, death cruised by. looking for one of them. all around,