Fact check: No, vigilante didn't shoot down suspected spy balloon

The claim: A vigilante 'shot down the Chinese spy balloon'

A Feb. 3 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a tweet that features a photo of a man posing with a gun next to a photo of what appears to be a crashed white balloon.

"BREAKING: A local man has SHOT DOWN the CHINESE SPY BALLOON in an EXTRAORDINARY act of vigilantism," reads the tweet.

The Instagram post was liked more than 4,000 times in four days.

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Our rating: False

A vigilante did not shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon. A U.S. fighter plane took down the balloon after it passed into territorial waters off the South Carolina coast. The person shown in the photo is Sam Hyde, a comedian who has been falsely linked to mass shootings and other events in recent years.

Fighter jet, not vigilante, took down Chinese balloon

A large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance drifted across a huge swath of the U.S., from Montana to the Carolinas, in early February.

A fighter jet flying at about 58,000 feet fired a single air-to-air missile and hit the balloon shortly after 2:30 p.m. EDT on Feb. 4, as previously reported by USA TODAY. At the time, the balloon was flying at about 65,000 feet and was six miles off the South Carolina coast. The entire incident was captured on video.

But that incident has nothing to do with the picture shown in this post.

The photo of the balloon in the Instagram post was taken in 2015 after a 240-foot helium-filled blimp broke loose from a U.S. military facility in Maryland. It climbed to about 16,000 feet and traveled about 150 miles in three and a half hours before deflating and coming down on its own, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The person shown in the post is Sam Hyde, a comedian who has been repeatedly – and falsely – linked to mass shootings and other events for years. In 2022, false rumors spread online that "Samuyil Hyde" was the name of a Ukrainian pilot dubbed the "Ghost of Kyiv" for single-handedly shooting down six Russian fighter jets.

The viral tweet was originally posted by a parody account. The Instagram post, however, fails to disclose the tweet's satirical origins.

It's an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where stories written as satire and presented that way originally are captured via screenshot and reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.

Fact check:False claim Joe Biden 'signed away' US sovereignty

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.

PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

Chinese spy balloon shot down after drifting across continental US

An Air Force jet shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast Saturday afternoon, after it drifted for five days across Idaho, Montana and the continental U.S. before reaching the Atlantic.

An F-22 Raptor jet fired a single missile that sent the balloon into the ocean at about 2:39 p.m. Efforts to recover its surveillance equipment were underway.

The Pentagon had been tracking the balloon, which appeared over Billings, Montana, Wednesday after passing near an American missile launch site.

How many spy balloons have been spotted? Congress demands ...

WASHINGTON–The U.S. military on Sunday shot down yet another unidentified flying object in North American airspace, the fourth in three days, raising additional questions about where the objects are coming from and putting President Joe Biden in a tough spot politically.

On one hand, he's facing mounting pressure from Congress – including from members within his Democratic party – who want him to respond with transparency and strength. On the other hand, he is trying to de-escalate rising tensions with China after the U.S. Air Force shot down a Chinese spy balloon nine days ago off the South Carolina coast.

After the latest flying object entered U.S. airspace and posed a "very real" threat to air traffic, according to White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, lawmakers want to know how many more are out there.

Here's what we know:

Where was the spy balloon shot down?

Sunday night marked the first time in history that U.S. warplanes have shot down aircraft over or near the United States, according to Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command.

The extraordinary move was taken after the object shot down on Sunday was first detected by radar late Saturday afternoon about 70 miles north of the U.S. border in Canada, he said. F-15 fighter jets were scrambled but were unable to locate it. But it appeared again on radar Sunday near Wisconsin, he said, and was tracked across the state into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The object had been flying at about 20,000 feet over Lake Huron in a path and altitude that raised concerns about it being a hazard to civilian aviation, said Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. He said an F-16 shot down the object at 2:42 p.m. ET Sunday at the direction of President Joe Biden, firing an AIM 9X sidewinder missile. That's the same weapon used in the previous instances, including the suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon shot down six miles off the South Carolina coast on Feb. 4

Three subsequent takedowns came Friday on sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaksa; on Saturday in the Canadian Yukon; and on Sunday 15 nautical miles off shore in Lake Huron.

“We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities,” Ryder said of the latest shootdown, indicating the possibility that it is another spy balloon.

'It was a success':White House says a second 'high altitude object' shot down over Alaska

How many spy balloons have been spotted?

Though many lawmakers continue to refer to multiple "spy balloons," Kirby wouldn't commit to that language Monday for the latest "objects" spotted in the sky.

He said officials couldn't "definitively assess" what the latest flying objects were.

Pentagon officials on Sunday evening acknowledged that they had a lot of unanswered questions about the latest three incursions, including whether they might have been civilian aircraft engaged in some kind of research.

On Monday, a congressional aide told USA TODAY that the three objects shot down by U.S. fighter planes since Friday appear to have been balloon-like surveillance devices.

The first object, shot down Friday over Alaska, has been described by the Pentagon as the size of a small car. The second device was metallic and balloon-like with a small payload attached to it, according to the aide who was familiar with briefings on the objects but not authorized to speak publicly.

The Chinese spy balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina after floating across the country from Idaho also had a payload that U.S. officials say consisted of devices meant to snoop on sensitive communications.

Efforts to recover debris from some of the subsequent shootdowns have been hampered by severe winter weather, limited daylight and the remote arctic terrain. Crews worked Monday to recover the most recent device from Lake Huron where it had been shot down by an F-16 on Sunday.

More:Chinese spy balloon flew over other US missile and nuclear weapons sites, lawmaker says

Balloon controversy raising tensions with China

U.S. officials last week disclosed that they believe China has been engaging in a years-long balloon surveillance effort that includes many types of airborne vehicles that have been deployed over wide swaths of the globe.

Meanwhile, on Monday morning, a senior Chinese official accused the U.S. of flying high altitude balloons over its airspace more than 10 times without permission since early 2022, according to reports by Reuters and other news agencies.

Beijing's claim drew a swift denial from Washington. But it widens an already contentious rift between the two superpowers that began after the U.S. shot down the first object on Feb. 4, which it continues to maintain was a brazen attempt by China to spy on sensitive U.S. military and nuclear weapons sites. That prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a diplomatic trip to Beijing.

Bloomberg reported that Blinken may meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, this week to discuss the situation.

Was the U.S. ready for the balloons?

That is one of the biggest unanswered questions, and one that has members of Congress clamoring for answers.

On Feb. 6, VanHerck told the media that the Pentagon didn't know – in real-time – of at least one balloon that entered U.S. airspace at the early stage of the Biden Administration and at least three others that transited through during the Trump Administration.

The general acknowledged that "every day as a NORAD commander it's my responsibility to detect threats to North America. I will tell you that we did not detect those threats. And that's a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out. But I don't want to go in further detail."

More recently, Pentagon officials said that they are moving to identify and address such gaps, including working with Canada on improving NORAD's surveillance and detection capabilities and more closely collaborating with other U.S. allies internationally.

Are we under attack by aliens?

No, there is no indication that any of the unidentified flying objects are anything other than surveillance or research vehicles owned by foreign governments like China or civilian research agencies.

But there has been much uninformed speculation about that, which intensified on social media after VanHerck refused to rule "anything" out.

VanHerck's comment came in response to a question from a reporter who asked if aliens or extraterrestrials had been ruled out.

"I'll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out. I haven't ruled out anything," VanHerck replied. "At this point, we continue to assess every threat or potential threats unknown that approaches North America with an attempt to identify it."

Elon Musk appeared to be among those attempting making light of the unanswered questions on social media. "Don’t worry, just some of my friends of mine stopping by …" Musk tweeted Sunday on Twitter, the social media platform he owns. Musk included an emoji for an alien and another for a flying saucer. By Monday morning, it had garnered more than 65 million page views.

Kirby said Monday said there was no sign of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with the recent takedowns.

Congress wants answers after flying objects shot down

Two House members from Michigan, Reps. Jack Bergman and Elisa Slotkin, both said Sunday in tweets that they had been briefed by the Pentagon on fighter pilots shooting down an object over Lake Huron.

“The American people deserve far more answers than we have,” Bergman, a Republican, said in a tweet.

“As long as these things keep traversing the US and Canada, I’ll continue to ask for Congress to get a full briefing based on our exploitation of the wreckage,” Slotkin, a Democrat, said in a tweet.

The Senate is the only chamber in session this week, and all members are scheduled to have a classified briefing on the issue Tuesday morning.

Similarly, a Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday is set to examine global security, and it’s expected to include a lot of discussion about spy balloons.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he supports the effort of Sen. John Tester, D-Mont., to look into why it took so long for Congress, the U.S. military and our intelligence to know about the spy balloons.

As Defense subcommittee chair, Tester said he is receiving regular updates from the Pentagon and intelligence community about incursions in American airspace. “I’ll keep demanding answers for the public,” he said in a tweet Sunday.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Republican who also is on the committee, said late last week she is “angry” about spying objects in American airspace and expressed frustration that they aren't stopped first over her home state of Alaska.

“It seems to me the clear message to China is, ‘We got free range in Alaska because they’re going to let us cruise over that until it gets to more sensitive areas,’” Murkowski said.

Video shows moment US shot down suspected Chinese spy balloon ...

Americans on Saturday reported seeing the large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance as it drifted over the Southern U.S. Hours later, it was shot out of the sky over the Atlantic Ocean.

TV footage showed the moment the balloon appeared to be hit and began its descent toward the water.

The balloon was downed after it passed into U.S. territorial waters, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. It carried a large payload of spy gear according to U.S. officials, and had soared over several strategic sites, including nuclear missile silos as it crossed a huge swath of the U.S.

Earlier in the day, people had used cell phones and professional cameras to document the balloon's trajectory. The balloon was spotted over Montana earlier this week.

UPDATES:US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast

More:Blinken postpones China trip amid spy balloon row; US officials scramble to get rid of it

More:Surveillance, research, civilian use? What the Chinese balloon is and how the U.S. can bring it down

Video shows Chinese balloon being shot down

Footage on TV and captured by onlookers appears to show aircraft over the Atlantic firing at the spy balloon. After a small explosion, debris could be seen slowly floating down toward the ocean.

U.S. military jets were seen flying in the vicinity and ships were deployed in the water to mount the recovery operation.

Senior Pentagon officials briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity said F-22 warplanes from Virginia and F-15s from Massachusetts were scrambled to down the balloon after it passed the coastline of South Carolina. A single AIM 9X sidewinder air-to-air missile was fired and struck the balloon at 2:39 p.m. EDT, officials said.

WATCH:US jets shoot down suspected Chinese spy balloon

The debris landed in about 47 feet of water, a relatively shallow site that a salvage ship and divers will investigate in the coming days. Debris could scatter over about a 7 mile radius. No people or vessels were struck.

What was the Chinese balloon doing?

The balloon was a "high-altitude surveillance balloon," Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said.

China has maintained it was a weather research "airship" that went off course, but that has been rejected by U.S. officials. It's not the first time China has tried to collect sensitive information, Ryder said.

“Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years, Ryder said. “Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”

The Pentagon also acknowledged reports of a second balloon flying over Latin America.

Where did people see the balloon?

The balloon was spotted Saturday floating east over the Carolinas, headed toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Evan Fisher, an atmospheric sciences major at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, photographed what he said was a "surprisingly large" balloon just before 9 a.m. Saturday. He used a professional camera with a zoom lens to capture detail on the balloon.

"I'm used to weather balloons, I'm a meteorologist, so I'm familiar with 12- to 18-foot-wide balloons, but the fact that this thing is three school buses wide just just blew me away," Fisher told USA TODAY.

Amy Ostrosky, who works in digital marketing and lives in Cornelius, about 20 miles north of Charlotte, said she and several neighbors ran outside to spot what they thought was the balloon Saturday morning. It looked like a bright star in the sky, but bigger, she said.

Ostrosky said the whole ordeal made her uneasy: "What is it for? What’s it doing? Why is it here?"

Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook, Josh Meyer and Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

Fact check: No, Biden didn't ask China for permission to down balloon

The claim: Biden asked China for permission to shoot down spy balloon

A Feb. 4 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) purportedly explains President Joe Biden's recent decision to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon.

"The Chinese Balloon has been shot down after Biden called the Chinese President and asked for his permission to shoot it down," reads the post.

The post is from Terrence K. Williams, a comedian, but commenters took the claim seriously and reacted accordingly. It was shared more than 400 times in 10 days.

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Our rating: False

There is no evidence Biden asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for permission to shoot down the balloon. A spokesperson for the White House told USA TODAY the claim was false.

Biden didn't ask China for permission to down balloon, White House says

In early February, a large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance drifted across a huge swath of the U.S., from Montana to the Carolinas.

A fighter jet fired a single air-to-air missile and hit the balloon on Feb. 4, as USA TODAY previously reported. At the time, the balloon was flying at about 65,000 feet and was six miles off the South Carolina coast. The incident was caught on video.

There are no credible reports that Biden asked Jinping for permission before downing the balloon.

"This is false," Andrew Bates, a White House spokesperson, told USA TODAY.

Biden had ordered that the balloon be shot down days earlier, but officials worried about debris harming people on the ground. He explained his decision-making process while taking questions from reporters days after the balloon was taken down.

Fact check:False claim a vigilante shot down the Chinese spy balloon

"Once (the balloon) came into the United States from Canada, I told the Defense Department I wanted to shoot it down as soon as it was appropriate," Biden said. "They concluded we should not shoot it down over land, it was not a serious threat and we should wait until we got across the water."

China claimed the object was a weather balloon thrown off course, but State Department officials have said it carried devices used to intercept sensitive communications. The situation prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a planned trip to China.

USA TODAY reached out to Williams for comment.

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Fact check: Image altered to add balloon victory marking to F-22

The claim: Image shows victory marking on F-22 that shot down Chinese spy balloon

A Feb. 6 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows the pilot of an F-22 Raptor giving a thumb’s up to a crew member. The plane has a white decal below the cockpit that looks like a balloon with a payload suspended beneath it.

“The F-22 has a balloon kill marking," the post reads.

The post was liked more than 2,000 times in three days.

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Our rating: Altered

The marking was digitally added to a photo of an F-22 originally published to social media in 2020. The marking depicted would not be allowed under Air Force regulations.

Image of fighter jet is altered

On Feb. 4, an F-22 shot down a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina. The balloon carried a payload of spy equipment, according to U.S. officials, and had flown over strategic locations across the U.S.

The incident marked the first time an F-22 downed another aircraft since making its combat debut in 2015.

The same photo, minus the decal on the plane, was posted April 2, 2020, to the Facebook account of Edwards Air Force Base in California. The caption on that post says a pilot in the 411th Flight Test Squadron, F-22 Combined Test Force was giving a thumbs up after a crew member prepared the fighter for flight.

The altered image is intended to look like a victory marking, a symbol placed on a plane to denote it had been the winner in air-to-air combat.

The tradition of placing victory markings or kill marks on aircraft dates back to at least World War II for the Air Force and its predecessors. Markings during WWII often included insignias or symbols relating to the type of mission flown and the nation of the target or other enemy combatant.

Air Force Instruction 21-105 standardizes the look of markings for the branch. Victory markings are limited to green stars with black borders. The type of aircraft shot down would then be stenciled into the star in white block lettering.

“No other victory markings are authorized,” the instruction says.

Fact check:False claim a vigilante shot down the Chinese spy balloon

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.

The Associated Press also debunked the claim.

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Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

What to expect from Biden's State of the Union address, spy balloon ...

Democrats and Republicans found themselves on Sunday morning pressed over the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down off the South Carolina coast.

The balloon debacle comes ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address where he's expected to lay out his administration's priorities for the remainder of his term and give America answers about what his political future holds.

“The operation took place without any damage or injury to any American lives or property,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on CNN’s State of the Union, defending the White House over the balloon.

Here's what else is going on in politics:

Buttigieg defends the White House over Chinese spy balloon: Buttigieg defended the Biden administration's downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast telling NBC's Meet the Press, "This thing was brought down in a safe manner."

Buttigieg defended the Biden administration's downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast telling NBC's Meet the Press, "This thing was brought down in a safe manner." Shot down sooner: While the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's "Meet That Press" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier, "before it entered U.S. airspace."

While the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's "Meet That Press" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier, "before it entered U.S. airspace." Bye, Iowa: Democrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election and bumping up four other states.

Democrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election and bumping up four other states. New poll on Biden: 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents prefer another nominee over Biden, according to a poll from the Washington Post and ABC News.

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Biden aide: Republicans have no debt ceiling/spending cut plan of their own

During his Sunday show tour, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg repeated the president's pledge that he would not negotiate a necessary debt ceiling increase with Republicans – and added that the GOP hasn't proposed anything to negotiate about anyway.

House Republicans have said they will block a debt ceiling hike unless the Biden administrations cuts overall spending, but they have not offered a specific set of cuts.

"It's very hard to understand what exactly they're proposing to cut," Buttigieg said on ABC's This Week, adding that a refusal to act on the debt ceiling would lead to a government default on existing debt that would wreck the economy.

The debt ceiling standoff is expected to be discussed during Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday.

– David Jackson

Schumer: Senate will get a classified briefing Feb 15 on the Chinese balloon

The full U.S. Senate will receive a classified briefing Feb. 15 on the Chinese surveillance balloon threat, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday.

In announcing the briefing, Schumer praised the Biden administration for taking out the Chinese balloon and criticized Republicans for second-guessing.

"The bottom line here is that shooting down the balloon over water wasn’t just the safest option, but it was the one that maximized our intel gain," Schumer told reporters.

While Republicans said Biden waited too long to take out the balloon, Schumer said the critics "were breathless, political, and premature."

– David Jackson

'Too late:' McConnell attacks Biden over Chinese balloon

Mitch McConnell, the Senate's top Republican, weighed in on the Chinese balloon affair Sunday, saying it reflected habitual slowness by the Biden administration.

"As usual when it comes to national defense and foreign policy, the Biden Administration reacted at first too indecisively and then too late," McConnell said in a written statement. "We should not have let the People’s Republic of China make a mockery of our airspace."

McConnell, the Senate minority leader, said the incident may well be part of an upcoming budget debate with Biden over military spending: "Let’s hope his budget proposal this year is more decisive, serious, and strong than the embarrassment that just played out in our skies."

– David Jackson

House GOP opens investigation into Hunter Biden’s art

Hunter Biden’s paintings have drawn the eye of House Republicans, but not for the art.

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee wants to know who bought the art and how much they paid, after list prices initially ranged up to $500,000. The chair called the figures "exorbitant" for a "novice artist" and questioned whether it amounted to influence peddling over federal policy.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the committee, wrote to George Berges, Hunter Biden’s art dealer, requesting a transcribed interview by Feb. 15.

“Despite being a novice artist, Hunter Biden received exorbitant amounts of money selling his artwork, the buyers’ identities remain unknown, and you appear to be the sole record keeper of these lucrative transactions,” Comer wrote.

– Bart Jansen

Gallagher, chair of House committee on China, attacks White House over balloon

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chair of the House select committee aimed at increasing the United State’s competitiveness with China, compared the suspected spy balloon to “a robber on your front porch.”

“Letting a Chinese surveillance balloon lazily drift over America is like seeing a robber on your front porch and inviting him in,” said Gallagher on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures.

Gallagher warned the balloon could signal future aggression from China, saying “It's time to push back before it's too late, before something far more dangerous than a balloon is flying over American territory.”

– Ken Tran

Republicans: Biden team should have shot down the Chinese balloon earlier

Congressional Republicans took to the Sunday shows to bash Biden over the China surveillance balloon, saying the entire incident reflected administration weakness toward an increasingly aggressive China.

While the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's "Meet That Press" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier.

"This should have been taken down before it entered U.S. airspace when it was over Alaska," said Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Administration officials said they waited until the balloon was over the ocean so as to minimize the risk to aircraft and people on the ground.

– David Jackson

Rubio: Balloon ‘not a coincidence’

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized the Biden administration over the suspected Chinese spy balloon, saying the timing was “not a coincidence.”

“It’s not a coincidence this happens leading up to the State of the Union address, leading up to Blinken’s visit to China,” Rubio said on CNN’s State of the Union.

The Biden administration is scheduled to brief the “Gang of Eight” this week about the balloon. The group is comprised of Congress’ four party leaders and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, which includes Rubio.

– Ken Tran

Ex-Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, crucial supporter of U.S. after 9/11, dies at 79

Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan leader who provided crucial support to the U.S.-led "war on terror" following the 9/11 attacks, has died at 79, the Pakistan military announced Sunday.

No cause of death was revealed, but Musharraf, had been battling a rare disease, amyloidosis, and was being treated at a hospital in Dubai, Pakistani media reported.

Musharraf seized power in 1999 from then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup. Sharif had tried to remove Musharraf from his position as military leader – a year after Sharif had appointed him.

The Pakistan military issued a statement expressing "heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of General Pervez Musharraf. ... May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to bereaved family."

– John Bacon

Buttigieg say Biden will use State of the Union to promote his economic policies; stays mum on 2024

Buttigieg went on the Sunday shows to promote President Biden's prime time State of the Union speech on Tuesday – and to avoid discussing Biden's plans to seek re-election in 2024.

"That's out of my lane," Buttigieg said on ABC's "This Week."

Buttigieg, who said it wouldn't be appropriate to discuss politics in his position as Transportation Secretary, said Biden would use the State of the Union to argue that his economic policies are working; the Cabinet member also made it clear that he hopes Biden will stay on the job after 2024.

"I'm humbled and honored to be part of his team," Buttigieg said.

– David Jackson

Buttigieg: The U.S. waited to shoot down the Chinese balloon until it drifted out over the ocean

Responding to Republican criticism, Buttigieg said Sunday the Biden administration waited several days to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon because it was over American land and air space.

Shooting the huge and heavily-equipped balloon over land would have been risky for aircraft and people on the ground, Buttigieg said on NBC's Meet The Press.

Related:US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast

So the U.S. waited until it drifted out over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.

The Federal Aviation Administration "worked closely with the Pentagon," Buttigieg said. "This thing was brought down in a safe manner, and flights are back to normal in the U.S."

– David Jackson

Ahead of State of the Union, Democratic voters aren't keen on Biden: poll

Democratic voters aren’t keen on Biden running for reelection in 2024, with 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saying they would prefer another nominee rather than Biden, according to a poll released by the Washington Post and ABC News on Sunday.

The poll comes ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, where he is expected to also make the case for his 2024 campaign, which he has yet to formally announce.

On the Republican side, 49% of GOP voters and GOP-leaning independents would prefer if a candidate other than former President Donald Trump compared to the 44% that do support Trump. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

– Ken Tran

Is he running?:5 big questions Joe Biden will answer in the State of the Union

Biden to answer America's questions in the State of the Union

The State of the Union address Biden is slated to deliver Tuesday night is likely to draw his biggest audience of the year and provide a blueprint for the rest of his presidency – from his stance toward the Republicans who have taken control of the House to the political question looming over his future.

Is he running for re-election?

He's not likely to directly answer that, of course. A formal announcement of his intensions isn't expected until later this month or next. But the balance he strikes between seeking common ground with the GOP and promoting Democratic causes that have limited prospects of passage will be a clue.

– Susan Page

Chinese spy balloon shot down

The United States on Saturday downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America and became the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.

An operation was underway in U.S. territorial waters to recover debris from the balloon, which had been flying at about 60,000 feet and estimated to be about the size of three school buses.

Television footage showed a small explosion, followed by the balloon descending toward the water.

– Associated Press

On Chinese spy balloon, the question of 'why'

Among the many lingering questions about the Chinese spy balloon drifting over the United States is why the balloon was in U.S. airspace – and why now.

“What are they signaling? And what do they hope to achieve?" said Kari Bingen, a former deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. "Because this is something that you can't miss. They were going to get caught. That's what's so brazen about it."

In his first remarks about the balloon, which the Chinese maintain is a “civilian airship” used mostly for weather research that was blown off course, Biden projected confidence: "We’re gonna take care of it," he told reporters Saturday.

– Josh Meyer, Maureen Groppe, Tom Vanden Brook, Ella Lee

Democrats approve 2024 primary calendar

Democrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election.

The national party green-lit a calendar that makes South Carolina the initial contest, elevates Nevada to the second position alongside New Hampshire and welcomes Georgia and Michigan to the early primary window for the first time.

Democrats are seeking to amplify diverse voices earlier in their presidential selection process. The calendar Democrats approved on Saturday will only apply to 2024. They have vowed to revisit it before the 2028 election.

– Francesca Chambers

Contributing: Associated Press

'Four more years':Biden hints at 2024 as he rallies Democratic Party leaders in Philadelphia

Chinese spy balloon went over key military sites sites, lawmaker says

China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon maneuvered over sensitive U.S. missile and nuclear weapons sites in addition to ones in Montana passed over before being shot down off the South Carolina coast Saturday, House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner said.

“If you take the path that this balloon did, and you put up an X every place where you have a missile defense site, actual nuclear weapons infrastructure, you're going to follow this path,” Turner, R-Ohio, said in a briefing with reporters Tuesday. “So I think the natural conclusion is, it is intelligence-gathering with respect to try to affect in some way the command and control of our missile defense and nuclear weapons.”

Turner did not elaborate or share other details about the investigation into China’s balloon, in some cases citing classified information. But he said the U.S. intelligence community is scheduled to brief him and other members of congressional leadership who comprise the Gang of Eight later this week on the balloon and efforts to gain any intelligence from the recovery of it.

The Gang of Eight refers to a group of congressional lawmakers who are responsible for reviewing and receiving highly sensitive intelligence information given to them by the executive branch. It includes top-ranking Republicans and Democrats and top Intelligence Committee lawmakers in the House and Senate.

Shooting down the balloon:US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast

Blinken puts off trip to China over spy balloon

Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to China because the Chinese surveillance balloon drifting over the U.S. was a "clear violation" of sovereignty and international law, Biden administration officials said Friday.

That, and the takedown of the balloon, have heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing and sparked criticism from Republicans that the Biden administration should have done more. Beijing has also criticized Biden, saying he overreacted by ordering an F-22 fighter jet to take out the puffy white dirigible.

Meanwhile, China won’t take Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s calls, according to Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.

On Saturday, “immediately after taking action to down the PRC (People's Republic of China) balloon, the DOD submitted a request for a secure call between Secretary Austin and PRC Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe,” Ryder said in a statement. “We believe in the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and the PRC in order to responsibly manage the relationship. Lines between our militaries are particularly important in moments like this. Unfortunately, the PRC has declined our request. Our commitment to open lines of communication will continue.”

The Pentagon maintains open lines with adversaries, including Russia, to avoid misunderstandings that could lead to confrontation.

GOP Intelligence Committee chair worried balloon mission exposed U.S. security gaps

Turner said Tuesday that the balloon’s journey across the U.S. – including past Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana – highlights not only the fear of intelligence gaps on what the U.S. knows about China’s intentions and capabilities but also “actually what those gaps can mean in real security threats."

"And that doesn't just mean spy balloons or even surveillance," he said, "it can also mean an actual threat to our country that these gaps could penetrate.”

The Pentagon referred to a background briefing Thursday by a senior defense official when asked about Turner’s remarks.

In that briefing, the defense official was asked whether the balloon was trying to collect intelligence on siloed nuclear weapons in Montana. “Yes, so clearly the intent of this balloon is for surveillance,” the official said. “And so the current flight path does carry it over a number of sensitive sites.”

U.S. response:State Department calls out China for knowingly sending spy balloon over the United States

"But we know exactly where this balloon is, exactly what it is passing over. And we are taking steps to be extra-vigilant so that we can mitigate any foreign intelligence risk, the official said.

A Turner spokesperson said Tuesday that the congressman could not comment further on the specifics of where the balloon traveled and what it surveilled but referred to remarks Turner made on NBC’s “Meet the Press With Chuck Todd” on Sunday.

On that show, Turner criticized the Biden administration for waiting too long to shoot down the balloon, describing it as “sort of like tackling the quarterback after the game is over.”

“The satellite had completed its mission. This should never have been allowed to enter the United States, and it never should have been allowed to complete its mission,” Turner said.

The White House has said Biden waited until the balloon – described as the size of three buses – was over water before shooting it down to prevent anyone from being injured or killed by the debris.

And Biden directed the military to "ensure we protected all sensitive sites from collection, which was straightforward because we could track the path of the balloon and ensure no activities or sensitive unencrypted (communications) would be conducted in its vicinity," White House spokesman John Kirby said. "At the same time, we turned the tables on China and collected against the balloon so that we would learn more about China’s capabilities and tradecraft."

U.S. Northern Command commander Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck said Monday that the balloon itself was 200 feet tall and that its surveillance payload was about the size of a regional commercial aircraft and weighed about 2,000 pounds. Its size and weight fed into the decision to wait until the balloon was over water to shoot it down, VanHerck said.

But Turner said that decision jeopardized national security, despite the Biden administration's assurances that it was taking steps to cover up sensitive facilities as the balloon made its way west to east.

The balloon, with its high-tech payload of surveillance devices, “didn`t go and look at the Grand Canyon. They went and looked at our nuclear weapons sites and the missile defense sites throughout the country," Turner said.

Also Tuesday, the Navy released its first photos of its balloon recovery effort and said it was being led by its Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Military officials described the mission as an extensive operation that included the use of underwater drones, warships and inflatable vessels, according to a release from the Navy.

Some of the photos, taken Sunday, show naval operators from the Navy explosive team pulling debris from the balloon onto a boat, including huge swaths of white fabric. The Navy said the debris is being taken to an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.

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Heightened concerns over US-China relations after objects shot down

The takedown of four unmanned aircraft has raised new concerns about relations between the United States and China, with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers putting a new focus Sunday on national security.

“We’re going to have to begin to look at the United States airspace as one that we need to defend and that we need to have appropriate sensors to do so,” said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, on CNN’s "State of the Union." “We certainly now ascertain there is a threat.”

On Sunday, the U.S. military shot down another unidentified flying object over Michigan. The shootdown occurred hours after airspace was temporarily closed over Lake Michigan by the Federal Aviation Administration and NORAD and after lawmakers had made the rounds on the Sunday political talk shows.

U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets downed the object, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment.

On Feb. 4, a U.S. fighter jet shot down a Chinese spy balloon over the South Carolina coast. Less than a week later on Feb. 10, an unidentified object was shot down over Alaska. The next day, another unidentified object was shot down in northern Canada.

Related:How the Pentagon shot down an unidentified object over Alaska, echoing Chinese spy balloon

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Late discovery of balloon program is 'wild,' Schumer says

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on ABC’s "This Week" that “it is wild” that the U.S. did not learn of China’s balloon program “until a few months ago."

Schumer said he was briefed by national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Saturday night regarding the aircraft, saying that the U.S. believes the two unidentified objects that were destroyed in recent days were also balloons, but that they were "much smaller" than the initial balloon shot down Feb. 4.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee, said he was “glad” to see a swift response from the White House, but told ABC’s "This Week" that “we've got a whole lot bigger problem with China than the spy balloons," saying the White House needs to be more "firm" against China.

Related:Video shows moment US shot down suspected Chinese spy balloon

Hours after the second aircraft was shot down, the Department of Commerce announced sanctions against six Chinese companies which it said were supporting China’s military aerospace programs.

“Today’s action demonstrates our concerted efforts to identify and disrupt the PRC’s use of surveillance balloons, which have violated the airspace of the United States and more than forty countries,” Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement, said in a statement.

Turner: Preferable to be 'trigger happy'

Lawmakers on Sunday also expressed concerns over the U.S. military’s protocol when unidentified objects are discovered.

When asked about whether the U.S. has changed its posture towards flying objects, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said “I certainly hope not.”

“If that’s where we’re going to go, there will be an accident. At some point we’re going to shoot down something we don’t want to shoot down,” Himes said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Turner said the White House does “appear somewhat trigger happy, although this is certainly preferable to the permissive environment that they showed when the Chinese spy balloon was coming over some of our most sensitive sites.”

The first balloon's path visualized:U.S. tracked suspected Chinese spy balloon for 5 days before shooting it down over the Atlantic

Several lawmakers raised questions about the spy balloon’s flight path and whether it flew over sensitive military and nuclear weapon sites. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester noted on CBS' "Face the Nation" that the balloon flew over his home state of Montana, which houses 150 nuclear missiles.

Concerns about TikTok, foreign ownership of U.S. farmland

The discovery of the balloon and two other unidentified objects has raised concerns about other issues pertaining to China. Tester pointed out his own concerns over foreign, including Chinese, ownership of U.S. farmland.

“I don’t think they should have any opportunity to try to dictate our food supply,” said Tester, who introduced a bipartisan bill in January with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., aimed at preventing foreign companies from owning domestic farmland.

Related:Spy fears spark flurry of proposed laws aiming to ban Chinese land ownership

Schumer also suggested that Congress should take a closer look at TikTok, the popular social media app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, to which Comer agreed, citing worries over Chinese data collection.

“(TikTok) would be a concern if we continue to see escalation among China and the United States,” Comer said.

Ban TikTok?:Restrictions on the popular video app are spreading across the U.S.

'SNL': Chinese spy balloon interviewed in breaking news cold open

"SNL" landed a big interview in breaking news related to the suspected Chinese spy balloon, hours after it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.

In the show's cold open, Chloe Fineman starred as MSNBC host Katy Tur interviewing the floating, and indignant, spy balloon itself (Bowen Yang).

"Well, I’m sorry you are in the water, but thank you for speaking to us," Tur said to the balloon.

The balloon tells Tur, "You got me. Congrats, you shot a balloon."

"I entertain you people for four days but then get shot down by Biden! I can’t believe I’m Joe’s Osama," the balloon added.

'SNL' video game trailer: Pedro Pascal's next HBO show is 'Mario Kart'

More:'The Last of Us' Nick Offerman talks surprising love story, that Linda Ronstadt song

"What were you doing flying over Montana?" Tur asked.

"I love the show 'Yellowstone.' It’s like 'Succession,' but outside," the balloon answered.

When the balloon was asked about legitimate spying concerns, he became more indignant:

"By me, a balloon? Everyone is being surveilled constantly. But it's, 'Shoot the balloon!' never 'Unplug Alexa!' If you care so much about data why do you keep bank passwords in the notes app?"

Kenan Thompson's Pentagon official: 'We popped the balloon'

The skit opened with Tur announcing, "Our long national nightmare is over. We got the balloon."

Tur added: "The discovery of the massive surveillance balloon earlier this week inflamed already volatile U.S.-Chinese relations, and had many on the right calling the Biden administration’s response soft, including this tweet from Donald Trump Jr. saying: ‘If my Dad was president, there would be no balloons.”

The anchor then interviewed stern Pentagon official General William Hamilton (Kenan Thompson) who announced, "We popped the balloon."

"The balloon was somehow able to get past our West Coast anti-balloon defense system, the Seattle Space Needle," Thompson added.

'Weekend Update' joked about the spy balloon controversy

"Weekend Update" newscaster Colin Jost joked about the spy balloon controversy.

"Earlier today an American fighter jet shut down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that had been spotted crossing the United States ending history's most complicated gender reveal party," said Jost.

"Chinese officials condemn the US decision to destroy the surveillance balloon saying it was a civilian aircraft," Jost added, as a picture of a Spirit Airlines plane flashed onscreen. "But even civilian aircraft can be extremely dangerous."

The show is hosted by "The Last of Us" star Pedro Pascal.