Woman in congress could be sitting in this very room. Im really excited to bring up our next speaker. She has more than 30 three yeaf experience in National Security and defense, both in the federal government and the private sector. Shes an expert in the fence, government services, and has extensive leadership experience. She was the 23rd secretary of the air force. [cheers and applause] one of two women to hold the position. And i know she will probably talk but her new book. We have available in the bookstore here on the Convention Floor and i just got a cup and i look forward to reading it. Id like now to bring up ms. Deborah james and moderator colonel carol. [applause] good morning, everybody. Good morning. All right. Well, good morning and im honored to be able to moderate you this morning. So as she just mentioned were going to be talking about secretary james new book. I read it. Listen to. It is absolutely amazing i will say to you today thats what were going to talk about. S
about half firearms. about half of all u.s. households have at least lea one gun at home, and many have. much more than that. plus, they have ammo, billions and billions of rounds of it. those are all real numbers, butg they are hardly an argument forn gun control. they re an argument, in fact, against ask yourself what would it require to confiscate allmmuo those guns and all that ammunition in turn, the united states into disarmed nation like turkmenistan or north korea? wellrea., it would take a police state and it would end in civil war. nono sam sane person wants eithr one of those things. but thankfully, we don t neehinn the fact that so manyirearm americans have a firearm withi n reach but never commit violence that gtbe that guns are no the problem. just as we can this country can be trusted with an ar-15, just as we can be trusted with cars and light aircraft t in andand electricity, basebaw and insecticide and chainsaws and pruning shearsct and countless other objec
ira allegedly after the government knew about the leaks and were desperately trying to find out who was behind it. we learned all that and more after 21 year old tixeira made his appearance in court today. jonathan shunt live in or wes coast news room with all the details. it was a brief court appearance for the accused leaker today in federal court in boston beginning a likely lengthy legal process and potentially a very long prison sentence. if 21 year old jack tixeira if he is found guilty under the espionage act. there are very serious penalties with that. sign there s if you try toep does he need its thisg mants goo astounding torting this ist forw look are. serious consequences that this country faces. we live in an extremely dangerous world and we are probably the most attractive jewel on the planet, and it s essential that we have intelligence agencies operating to make sure that we americans are what i have thought about sharing whether it was on a game site
down to earth. the u.s. shoots down a suspected chinese spy balloon monitoring u.s. military sites. i told them to shoot it down. what specifically was the chinese government looking for? how might the incident affect the u.s.-china relationship? vice chair on the senate intelligence committee marco rubio joins me ahead. making his case. president biden gears up to address a divided congress. the state of the union and the state of our economy is strong. ahead of the suspected 2024 bid, how will he make his pitch? i ll speak to cabinet secretary pete buttigieg next. debt dilemma. biden and speaker mccarthy plan another meeting as democrats wait for the gop to put their cards on the table. are these the members that could come to a deal and avert financial catastrophe. bipartisan chair of the house problem solvers caucus will join me in moments. hello. i m jake tapper in washington where the state of our union is deflated. the u.s. military is recovering the remnan
u.s. officials tell cnn the possibility of shooting down the chinese spy balloon has not been ruled out. this as the secretary of state warns beijing that the balloon s brazen flight over the united states is a clear violation and an irresponsible act. also tonight, president biden is out touting a blockbuster jobs report, proving it claims critics of his policies are wrong. we ll break down the political impact for the president just ahead of the state of union address and the expected launch of his re-election campaign. and a life-threatening arctic blast is bearing down right now on the northeast. stand by for an up-to-the-minute forecast on the bitter cold and dangerous winds, putting tens of millions of americans at risk. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. we begin with the rising tensions right now between the united states and china as that massive spy balloon is still out there