national security spokesperson john kirby says that an earlier device a balloon shot down off south carolina nine days ago was part of a chinese high altitude programme for intelligence gathering. we were able to determine that china has a high altitude balloon programme for intelligence collection that is connected to the people s liberation army. it was operating during the previous administration but they did not detect it. we detected it. we tracked it. and we have been carefully studying it to learn as much as we can. we know that these prc surveillance balloons have crossed over dozens of countries on multiple continents around the world, including some of our closest allies and partners. earlier, i spoke to dean cheng who is a senior fellow at the potoemick institute for policy studies, and a researcher of china s security affairs. i asked where the truth lies in us and china accusations. well, it s important
could have been spying on america. could have been spying on america- could have been spying on america. ., ., ., america. even though we had no indications america. even though we had no indications that america. even though we had no indications that any america. even though we had no indications that any of america. even though we had no indications that any of these - indications that any of these three indications that any of these three objects were surveilling, we couldn t rule that out, and so you we couldn t rule that out, and so you want to on the side of safety so you want to on the side of safety here in terms of testing our national security interests and the our national security interests and the fact that these objects could and the fact that these objects could have and likely dead at some could have and likely dead at some point in their path transii some point in their path transit over potential military sites transit over potential military s
put it this way saying the president owes the american people an explanation direct and on camera of what we know about these objects. meanwhile again schumer wanting to do a deep dive here into why defense officials didn t understand china s massive espionage program better and earlier. congress is going to conduct a careful bipartisan examination at these various incidents and also look into why u.s. authorities didn t find these chinese surveillance balloons sooner. an all-senate briefing. the house is out this week so unclear as to when those folks will get their classified briefing. they also want one. dana: thank you for that. the only way black kids now can succeed in america is through charter schools and private schools and maybe catholic schools. they cannot in the current public school system right now
what s interesting to me is this silence is leading to more talk of ufos than i have heard not in the disrespectful or condescending way. but ordinary, reasonable, normal people talking about unidentified flying objects and aliens and so forth. you can t let that spread. you ve got to tell us what the hell is it. it should not be you know it s going to leak. you can tell a senator anything. dana: it hasn t so far. geraldo: i m surprised by that. but it will. why not tell us w what the holidays. greg: it s got to be surveillance over americans. they are surveillance balloons. they have to figure out the story. the balloons are ours. we are shooting down our balloons. that has to be the story.
a quote, any claim that the u.s. government offers surveillance balloons over the prc is false. china has a high altitude surveillance berlin program for intelligence collection that is used to violate the sovereignty of the u.s. and over 40 countries across five continents. of the white house striking right back against china this morning saying that with the chinese are now claiming is simply false. we are looking to see if they expand on their statement later on today. a number of lawmakers from both parties have said they would like to hear more from the white house about what exactly is going on. we know some lawmakers have been getting briefings over the weekend, that whether or not we are going to see a more comprehensive briefing is yet to be determined. there s no public events on the president s schedule today but there will be a white house briefing on camera later on this afternoon. ainsley: he s been criticized for not coming out and taking the reporters questions. pe