subcommittee hearing effectively saying that americans have been kept in the dark about the existence of unidentified aerial phenomenon, otherwise known as uaps or ufos. grusch was one of three to testify today as they ve pushed for more information into the mysterious aircraft and objects as a matter of national security. late today, the defense department released a statement saying in part it has not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently. joining our coverage congressman robert garcia, the ranking democrat in the house oversight committee s national security subcommittee which oversaw and led today s hearing. thank you so much for taking some time to talk to us. yeah, happy to be here, thank you. it is a remarkable thing when democrats and republicans agree these days in washington and on
every day can be extraordinary with rich, creamy, delicious fage total yogurt. a key senate panel is addressing serious questions about the ethics of u.s. supreme court justices after a reported conflict of interest by justice clarence thomas. joining us now senator dick durbin. he s the chairman of the senate judiciary committee who led today s hearing. he s also the second highest ranking democrat in the u.s. senate. senator, thank you so much for joining us. i want to start with what some of your republican colleagues are saying about your efforts to
welcome to the lead i m jake tapper. and we start with the world lead and new information about the chinese spy balloon shot done. it started analyzing the first pieces of its balloon, and senior officials say those parts could be used as evidence in a future possible criminal case against groups linked to the chinese military. the biden administration has determined the balloon was capable of monitoring u.s. communications, but sources say u.s. officials believe the chinese government did not have the opportunity to gather much intelligence because the chinese government stopped transmissions to the chinese mainland once the u.s. found out about the balloon. house and senate lawmakers were briefed on the spy balloon today including the president s decision to let it fly across the country before shooting it down. a top senate democrat who led today s hearings is going to join us in just a few minutes. but we re going to start with cnn s alex marquardt.
are only lasting between two and three hours. and so we have to kind of ruthlessly say what s most important to convey to the public. and that means a lot, hits the cutting room floor. ultimately we intend to open up and release our files and let the public know the much bigger volume of what we have a obtained. i cannot tell you exactly when that is going to happen but we do intend to share a lot that we couldn t cover in these hearings. but yes, some very difficult decisions are made with each of these hearings, what s most important, knowing that we can t convey it all, or even more than a small fraction. congressman adam schiff, democratic california member of the january six investigation, who led today s hearing, sir i hope it s not weird for me to tell you that part of our job of recapping the hearing, was i think made easier tonight by
focus on the evidence the committee will present. don t be distracted by politics. this is serious. we cannot let america become a nation of conspiracy theories and thug violence. and city councils and town councils, on school boards and election boards, from the congress to the courts, dedicated public servants are leaving their posts because of death threats to them, and to their families. this is not who we are. it must not become who we are. congressman adam schiff, who led today s hearing, vice chair of the investigation, liz cheney, laying out that core basic problem, we ve got the president, former president when he tried to hold power by illegal and ultimately violent means. that it is a slippery slope and a short one, from illegal means, and coercion, to violence, to a country in which power is held