retaliation. senator tom cotton calling on the white house to take a stronger stand against china in support of taiwan. president biden and the white house is going out of their way to minimize this visit, to say it s merely a private visit, not to defend the rights of senators and congressmen. not only are we going to continue this practice, but we ll stand up to any provocation that china undertakes in the western pacific because of these meetings. senior national correspondent william la jeunesse l live in si valley. with many western countries angry for china right now for a variety of reasons, this is an opportunity and pivotal moment for taiwan, which is about the size of maryland with a population of florida. taiwan is david. china is goliath. that s one reason president tsai needs support not just from the white house, but members of congress, including speaker pelosi, formerly, of course, and speaker mccarthy to counter that threat. china claims the island as i
dpogood evening, everyone. i m alisyn camerota. welcome to cnn tonight. there sure are a lot of suspicious objects flying around our skies lately. exactly one week ago it was that chinese spy balloon. this afternoon it s what the the pentagon call a high altitude object shot down by an f-22 fighter jet about 10 miles off the northern coast of alaska. but what is that object? who does it belong to, and what was it doing up there? plus, of course, it s super bowl weekend. bob costas will be here tonight with what he s most excited about. americans are expected to bet $16 billion on this game. is this harmless fun or a new national addiction? bob costas will give us all the scoop on the big game. and congressman george santos is still at it. this time he s lying about senator kyrsten sinema according to her. we ll bring you the full compilation of santos deceptions from just this week and what his colleagues are now saying about him. let s start with the mice tearious obj
starts right now. i m pamela brown in washington. new developments tonight in the idaho murder investigation. for the first time we are hearing from the parents of the suspect in this case. 28-year-old bryan kohberger. he is facing four counts of first-degree murder in the brutal slayings of four young students. it is a shock to his family. cnn s veronica miracle has more on what the family is saying today. reporter: pamela, that family put out a statement through his public defender. his attorney. this is according to cnn and here s what it reads. it says, first and foremost, we care deeply for the four families that lost their children. we pray each day for them. we ll continue to let the legal process unfold and as a family love and support our son and brother. we have fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in an attempt to seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make assumptions. we respect privacy in the mat
i mries rosemary church. just ahead here on cnn newsroom, two presidents, two special counsels, and classified documents that neither should have had. we ll discuss the politics and possible punishment. just hours after celebrating back-to-back national championships tragedy strikes the georgia bull dogs football team. what we are learning about a deadly car accident in athens, georgia. plus epic flooding in california, deadly winter storms have forced evacuations, shifted landscapes and caused millions of dollars in damages. we re live in monterey county with the latest. good to have you with us. well, u.s. president joe biden is under growing scrutiny over his handling of classified documents. and republican lawmakers who now control the house of representatives are now ramping up the pressure. the chairman of the house oversight committee has asked the white house for visitor logs for joe biden s residence where several classified items have been found. also seekin
also this hour, we will bring you the latest from the justice department issuing a flurry of subpoenas to trump insiders in connection to the january 6 probe. a former top u.s. attorney levels new accusations against bill barr for allegedly targeting prominent democrats for political prosecutions. we will have a report from new hampshire where the midterm s last primary today is taking place featuring a republican battle between a trump candidate and a more mainstream republican to challenge the democratic senator in a contest that could decide control of the senate. we begin overseas with nbc s kelly cobiella and keir simmons in london and andrew roberts and jillian tet. the casket departing earlier today than expected. tell us about the reception as the coffin left after an outpouring of people scottish people in chilly weather lining up to pay their last respects. there were tens of thousands waiting in that long line overnight. some waiting up to five hours or more,