hello. i m abby philip in washington. a desperate search is under way for survivors after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck turkey and syria. the death toll is now more than 2500 and aid from across the world is pouring in. the aftermath of this is catastrophic. this was the strongest earthquake to hit that area in more than 100 years, and it struck while nearly everyone was asleep. hundreds of people this hour are still believed to be trapped. massive high rises reduced to rubble, as more than 50 aftershocks some as strong as 7.5 magnitude, make matters even worse for rescue crews. one survivor capturing this horrific moment that the building collapsed. floor after floor falling as people run from a massive debris cloud. nearby, another collapse. look at this. and video of dramatic rescues are also coming in. this child pulled from the wreckage. crews are now hoping to uncover more miracles in the rubble. cnn s scott mcclain will lead us off here. scott, a massive r
how did this happen? that s an excellent question, katy. the balloon was able to get past our west coast anti-balloon defense system, the seattle space needle, but once it was here, we were able to keep an eye on it with our sophisticated tracking technology of going like this. our thanks to saturday night live there. there are rising dramatic tensions, however, between the united states and china after a white house decision to shoot down that massive spy balloon. we ll walk through what happened and take a look at the growing fallout. plus a powerful earthquake leaves hundreds of people dead in turkey and syria. this morning rescue crews are searching through the rubble for any survivors. and heading into 2024, democrats have approved a new primary calendar, reshaping the way the party picks its precedential nominees, but there are still some potential challenges ahead. good morning and welcome to way too early on this monday, february 6th. i m jonathan lemire
good day. i m chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. as president biden gears up for one of the biggest speeches of his political career, can he use tomorrow night s state of the union address to address growing unease among his fellow democrats and drum out growing criticism from republicans over his handling of that chinese spy balloon? brand new polls show president biden isn t the only one facing discontent within his own party. donald trump is, too. the big difference, the dozen or so republicans who appear to be lining up to take trump on. will the bae hive make out better than the swiftys did? with sales about to get under way, the pressure is on ticketmaster to make sure it doesn t crash like it did in november. will today s test impact calls from washington to break up the country. we have a lot to get to. we start with the enormous political stakes in tomorrow night s state of the union address, a speech that will be watched by millions
good to be with you, i m kay katy tur, the chinese spy balloon is still hanging over the white house. why they didn t know about it sooner and what the u.s. was able to gather about the balloon while it was still in the air. the gang of eight is waiting for a full briefing. the white house has offered one and it s expected to get on the schedule next week. house intel chair republican mike turner said the balloon exposed a weakness at the top. clearly this was an attempt by china to gather information to defeat our command and control of our sensitive missile defense and nuclear weapon sites and that certainly is an urgency that this administration does not recognize. i ll know the answer to that question this week when we actually get briefed on the decision making process about when and how to take down the balloon. there s an awful lot of people like me coming to absolutely rock solid conclusions based on very few facts. none of us know what the decision making process
shot down, we are getting new information on past incursions by china, including three during the trump administration. we are also getting new details on president biden s state of the union. now just days away. new developments in two major criminal investigations of the former president in new york city, georgia as well. we will take a look at the very latest there. and then a dire warning from a mental health professional in the state of utah who says a new law aimed at trans teens could literally cost lives. all of that, plus, in my next hour, a little girl gets a very big honor. i m going to talk to nine-year-old bobby wilson, her research on bugs caused a neighbor to call the cops on her but that incident has not led to a major honor for the scientists. a conversation you will not want to miss. we begin off the coast of south carolina, where navy divers are retrieving what remains of that chinese spy balloon after being shot down by an air force fighter jet. we are a