security issue economically if you fact or in what s being talked about now. what happens if chinese starts purchasing oil on the global market? china s brazen infiltration of our airspace is a key topic. we re learning it hasn t been the first time. republican mike rogers chairs the house armed services committee. the biden administration allowed a spy balloon to look at our nation s military sites. it was intentionally launched as a show of force. we have to stop being naive about the threat we face from china. harris: well, they were on full defense the administration and pentagon about the timing of taking down that spy craft. the white house deflected on possible additional china spy flights on biden s watch. the chinese surveillance balloons program has been around for some time. when the surveillance balloons transited the continental u.s. briefly three times during the prior administration and once that we know of the beginning of this administration, but never
charges now. also new this morning, some amateur balloonists say that one of their small balloons is, quote, missing in action. it s last known location, somewhere over alaska on saturday. this as president biden has now spoken on the u.s. shooting down a chinese spy balloon, as well as three other objects. he says he makes no apologies for the first one, but is now asking his team to device sharper rules for dealing with other unidentified objects. questions as to whether those were real threats. also happening right now, vice president kamala harris, secretary of state antony blinken in munich, germany. world leaders gathering for a security conference as we quickly approach the one-year anniversary of russia s invasion of ukraine. we want to begin at the white house. cnn s jeremy die nond mr. the president addressing those downed objects now after mounting pressure over the last several days. what more did we learn from those remarks? reporter: biden made very clea
address, days after russia s invasion of ukraine. tonight, his speech is going to be heavily focused on reminding americans what his administration has accomplished over the past two years. it comes as ukraine is now preparing for a major russian offensive. we ll have more on the mobilization of troops in putin s army. meanwhile, we are learning more about the chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down, and other incidents that went undetected by u.s. force. also ahead, the latest from turkey and syria where the death toll is rising following a massive earthquake, and rescuers continue to hold out hope of finding survivors. good morning and welcome to morning joe. it is tuesday, february 7th. the death toll from the earthquake in turkey and syria passed 5,000 and continues to climb. a 7.8 magnitude quake hit the region early yesterday along with multiple aftershocks, including a 7.5 magnitude one that struck just hours later. tens of thousands have been injured.
happening now, mass destruction in more than 3,400 people dead after a powerful earthquake, and dozens of after o armageddon. stand by for new reporting on the catastrophes in turkey and syria as rescuers search for survivors and the death toll keeps rising and rising. also tonight, u.s. officials reveal new information on the size, cape abilities and the vae of the downed balloon. amid rising u.s./china tensions, and as president biden faces new international emergencies, he s also engaged in last-minute preparations for his state of the union address. we ll tell you what the president just said about his prime time speech to congress and the nation a little over 24 hours from now. welcome to our viewers here in the united states, and around the world, i m wolf blitzer, you re in the situation room. let s get right to the unfolding earthquake disasters in turkey and syria and its truly devastating toll. cnn s jomana karadsheh is in istanbul. one of the most powerful quakes t
live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it s newsday. republicans have criticised president biden over the amount of time it took to shoot down a chinese observation balloon that flew across the united states. china has said shooting down the balloon was an obvious over reaction. the diplomatic fall out is continuing, as warships try to recover the debris. secretary of state antony blinken was due to be in beijing this week, but he postponed the trip after the balloon was discovered. barbara plett usher reports from beijing. for days, this solitary object floated serenely through us airspace, putting a diplomatic crisis onto television screens in real time. was it a harmless weather balloon, as the chinese claimed, or a spy in the sky? moments after it arrived over the atlantic, the us brought an explosive end to the drama. that trail of white vapour you see on the left of the screen is an american fighterjet heading for the balloon. the second vapour trail is fr