Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Dead at 79; U.S. Shoots Down Suspected Spy Balloon; Papal Visit to Africa; Chile Wildfires. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired February 05, 2023 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[02:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to viewers joining us from the United States and around the world, I'm Laila Harrak.

A single shot from a U.S. fighter jet bringing down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast, capping off a days-long ordeal that has captivated the American public and adding new strain to the already tense relationship between Washington and Beijing.

We'll have much more on the suspected spy balloon in a moment but first this breaking news just coming in.

The man who led Pakistan at the start of America's declared war on terror and the conflict in neighboring Afghanistan has died. Pervez Musharraf died after a prolonged illness, according to a statement from Pakistan's military. He was in Dubai where he lived for several years in self-imposed exile. Musharraf was 79 years old.

You're now about to see and hear -- I think we're going to -- you're now about to see and hear the dramatic moment a U.S. Sidewinder missile took out the suspected Chinese spy balloon that caused such havoc last week. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK (voice-over): It happened Saturday off the coast of South Carolina near Myrtle Beach. The balloon was so high up, at nearly 12 miles or 20 kilometers, that it took a few seconds for the shock wave to reach the ground.

China issued a stern protest afterward, accusing the U.S. of overreacting. Beijing insists it was a civilian research balloon that blew off course. But Pentagon officials say they're confident it was conducting surveillance.

At last report, we're told salvage efforts are underway to retrieve the wreckage from the ocean bottom. The water in that area is only about 50 feet deep or 15 meters. Well, CNN's Oren Lieberman explains what the U.S. plans to do with the balloon's remnants.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: What has been an effort to track this Chinese surveillance balloon for days, as it made its way across the United States and out over the ocean, is now a recovery effort to bring up the wreckage of the Chinese surveillance balloon and the payload it was carrying from the ocean floor.

Not all that deep, according to the Pentagon, a senior Defense official said the wreckage landed in 47 feet of water, so relatively shallow there. And there were Navy and Coast Guard assets onsite to begin establishing a perimeter and a salvage vessel on its way to start bringing up the wreckage.

It may be difficult to see what's left; it did fall from a height of 60,000 feet, nearly 12 miles, and impacted the water. That may have done serious damage to the technology on board.

That's what the Pentagon and the U.S. government will figure out, what condition it's in, what is salvageable, what can you learn from this and what can you glean about the state of Chinese technology and what they put on the surveillance balloon.

A senior Defense official said it didn't just start now; over the course of the last several day, the Pentagon made an effort to make sure this balloon couldn't gather as much information as they were looking for.

They wouldn't detail exactly what those efforts entailed; instead, they tried to flip the scrip, monitoring the balloon constantly and trying to learn what they could about it as it traversed the United States.

In terms of what went into this beforehand, there were days of planning to figure out what was the best time to shoot it down. In fact, it was decided not to shoot it down over the continental United States because of the risk to people and property.

Instead the decision was made to shoot it down over the water. The Pentagon and Northern Command launched F-22s from Langley Air Force Base as well as support aircraft, F-15s and tankers.

In the end, it was a single F-22 that fired a single AIM-9 Sidewinder, a short-range heat seeking missile, that pierces the balloon, one shot, one kill, bringing down the surveillance balloon as it made its way across the U.S.

That's the military side. The diplomatic side as well, the U.S. making it very clear they found this unacceptable and considered a violation of U.S. airspace and now we have seen the military's response -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, at the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: CNN's Ivan Watson is standing by in Hong Kong with the latest from there.

Ivan, there were some strong words on Friday.

[02:05:00]

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Initially on Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry confirmed it was a Chinese balloon but argued it was a research airship, used primarily for meteorological use.

And that they regretted the fact it had been blown off course over the U.S. Well, fast forward to today, where the Chinese foreign ministry is unhappy with the fact that U.S. fighter plane has now shot this down after it basically traveled diagonally across the U.S. Here's a statement.

Quote, "China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and protest against the U.S. use of force to attack unmanned civilian aircraft."

"The Chinese side has repeatedly informed the U.S. side after verification the airship is for civilian use and entered the U.S. due to force majeure. It was completely an accident."

Now one big question is what would China have done if a U.S. research airship was flying across the length of China?

It's hard to imagine not seeing some kind of parallel perhaps use of force. But that's all speculation here.

The fact is that U.S. officials are now saying this isn't the first time that what they're claiming is a Chinese spy balloon has flown over the U.S.

In fact, we've got U.S. officials telling CNN there were three such balloons that flew over the U.S., albeit it for shorter periods, during the Trump administration and at least one similar aircraft over the U.S. earlier in the Biden administration.

Why is there so much of a scandal this time?

Well, perhaps because ordinary citizens could see it with the naked eye and film it and clearly see that it had giant solar panels and what U.S. officials are also saying are additional technology for surveillance as well.

We're going to have a lot of questions and hopefully perhaps hear more from Chinese government officials on Monday, the first workday after the weekend -- Laila.

HARRAK: And initially Beijing was keen to put the incident behind it and turn the page. But it turns out it's not going to be as easy as that.

WATSON: No. It's not because this balloon shot down over the U.S.; initially it had been tracked by Canada going through Canadian airspace. So it's a violation not only of U.S. airspace but also Canadian airspace. And then there are reports of another suspect balloon that Costa Rican

officials said they detected and the Colombian air force says it has seen this. It put out a statement in Spanish.

We're starting to see images coming from Latin America of this object in the air. And according to the Colombians, it was operating at an altitude of more than 55,000 feet. That's kind of roughly similar to the balloon we've seen over U.S. airspace.

It has now moved out of Colombian airspace but they were monitoring it. And that raises more questions. We've reached out in writing to the Chinese foreign ministry to ask about that.

And this all comes down to the question again to the Chinese -- why put these types of devices up into the air that then perhaps blow off course, according to the Chinese narrative, carrying presumably expensive equipment as well?

Lots of questions that we'll be looking to the Chinese government for some kind of answers.

HARRAK: Ivan Watson reporting from Hong Kong. Thank you so much.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: And we want to take you now to Singapore to Drew Thompson, a former U.S. Department of Defense official, who focuses on China, Taiwan and Mongolia. Currently, he's a visiting senior research fellow at the School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Thank you so much for joining us.

This very public diplomatic breakdown, how damaging has this been?

And what do you think the long-term impact will be?

DREW THOMPSON. FORMER U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I think the impact is definitely not good. But it is limited in a way. It's not a sustained crisis. The balloon has been downed, so it actually has an end.

And that opens the door for discussions and the two sides to move ahead. And it's important to remember this isn't the first crisis in the relationship and it's not going to be the last one.

So it underscores the deep levels of distrust. The U.S. doesn't believe what China says but Beijing has a long history of not believing what the U.S. says, either. Neither side has credibility with the other and I think that's the bigger, longer-term problem toward the relationship.

HARRAK: What we understand, this isn't the first time something like this happened.

Is this incident isolated or confined to the U.S.? Or do similar incidents occur in the region where you are?

[02:10:00]

THOMPSON: So, yes, these balloons are being spotted in other places. They have apparently happened in the past in India. Remember, this balloon left China to head eastward toward the United States, approaching from the west.

It probably passed over Japan and possibly South Korea as well. So there's certainly a major impact and -- on China's bilateral relations with more than just the United States.

I think here in Asia, countries are particularly concerned about sovereignty.

A lot of the discussion I think in Washington right now is over whether it was harming U.S. security, whether it was dangerous, whether the president should have moved faster, slower or -- but at the end of the day, in Asia, the real concern is about sovereignty and about the violation of airspace, which is the major concern.

And I think that reflects a different culture in the U.S. in terms of strategic outlook. So I think China has got a real problem on its hands and it's going to have to manage its relations with its neighbors, because they're now acutely aware of this violation of their own sovereignty

HARRAK: This all comes as the U.S. is strengthening military ties to counter China.

How is this playing out where you are in terms of regional powers?

Are they worried about this diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and China?

THOMPSON: I think there's deep concern about heightened competition between the U.S. and China. The refrain here is countries don't want to be forced to choose sides. They don't want to be in one camp or the other.

They want to be able to have autonomy, agency, economic relations with China, security relations with the U.S.

So what they're telling both Beijing and Washington is to give them space. They want to benefit from the relationship. What they're also doing is hedging, hedging against U.S. policies that could shift or change with different administrations.

And they're hedging against China being aggressive or hegemonic. So looking for economic and security benefits from both parties so they can retain their autonomy.

HARRAK: Let's get the final thought. The United States and China have a rocky diplomatic history. But as the world's two top economic powers, are they doomed to each

other, you know, in other words, they have to engage, whether they like it or not?

THOMPSON: Yes, they have to engage and I think both sides realize that. Secretary Blinken's trip being postponed is unfortunate because the objective is to engage.

But the question is to engage to what end?

The Biden administration has, I think, set a fairly low bar and low objectives for the relationship, that they're looking to prevent the relationship from spiraling into conflict or outright confrontation.

So they're trying to achieve what they call guardrails. They're trying to create stability in the relationship and ultimately find the floor. We're not there yet, clearly.

And I think the relationship is going to get worse before it gets better. We're looking at some politically sensitive periods coming up. You have the two congress meetings in China in March, the National People's Congress and the People's Consultative Congress.

I think you'll also have the potential flashpoint when Speaker McCarthy travels to Taiwan, possibly in April. And that will be another hurdle the two countries will have to overcome.

HARRAK: Drew Thompson joining us from Singapore, thank you.

THOMPSON: My pleasure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Going to go back to our breaking story. More now on the death of the former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf. CNN's Sophia Saifi joins us now from Islamabad.

Sophia, he'll perhaps be best remembered for the complicated relationship he had with the U.S. during the war on terror.

What can you tell us about the legacy he leaves?

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) after a very long illness in exile on (INAUDIBLE) exile in Dubai. And he was, post 9/11, one of Washington's most important allies after those attacks. He allowed U.S. forces to operate armed drones from secret bases on Pakistan's soil.

In a memoir he wrote back in 2006, he made the famous statement, that, according to Musharraf, he'd been told by U.S. officials that Pakistan should be prepared to be bombed back to the Stone Age if they did not ally itself with Washington. Now in that legacy there is also an increased amount of militancy within Pakistan.

[02:15:00] SAIFI: In force in Musharraf's time was initially a military dictatorship (ph) and then became the president of the country. He was in power during the time of what many have said was a time of enlightened moderation.

But his detractors have said, because of the policy he enacted during his long rule, Pakistan split further into militancy and has left a legacy we're still seeing here in this country.

We still have the Taliban attacking people. Just last week we had one of the worst attacks in the history of the country take place. So the shadow of his legacy for both the people who have admired him and will be mourning him today will also be interlinked with the increase in a very deadly and bloody time in Pakistan.

HARRAK: CNN's Sophia Saifi reporting from Islamabad, thank you so much.

Some of the Western tanks promised to Kyiv are now headed Ukraine's way and as these weapons depart, Ukraine is getting commitments that more Western firepower will follow. That's ahead.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HARRAK: Back to our top story now in the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the U.S. East Coast. A U.S. fighter jet successfully brought it down on Saturday after hitting it with a single missile. The balloon then fell into the Atlantic from a height of about 12 miles or 20 kilometers.

In a new statement, China's defense ministry has expressed protest and says it reserves the right to use necessary means to deal with similar situations.

Ukraine's president is warning about the situation on the front lines as Western allies pledge more firepower for Kyiv to fight back. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the grueling war with Russia is not getting any easier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Over the 346 days of this war, I have often said the situation at the front is tough and that the situation is getting tougher. Now it is such a time again, the time when the occupier is throwing more and more of its forces at breaking down our defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: Well, meanwhile Mr. Zelenskyy thanked British prime minister Rishi Sunak for training Ukrainian tank crews. Some of them are in the U.K., learning the ropes of the Challenger tanks, which Britain plans to send to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Canada says the tanks it promised to Ukraine are already on the way. Canada's defense minister posted this video of the Leopard tanks being loaded on transport planes.

On Saturday, Portugal became the latest country to pledge Leopards to Ukraine, while France and Italy are now promising a new air defense system to be delivered this spring.

Britain and the European Union are hoping to inflict more economic pain on Russia with new sanctions going into effect today. The E.U. is introducing a ban on imports of Russian diesel, while the U.K. is slapping a ban on insurance and other services affecting maritime transport of Russia's oil products.

For more now, CNN's Scott McLean is in London.

New sanctions going into effect.

What can you tell us?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The West clearly feels they need to do something to keep the pressure on Russia, considering the IMF forecasting the Russian economy is forecast to grow ever so slightly this year, despite the war and despite the growing list of sanctions against the country.

So this latest round is essentially a brand new price cap. It's been agreed by the U.S., the G7, the E.U. and Australia and it caps the price of refined oil products. So this is diesel, gasoline, things like that.

This is on top the price cap of Russian crude oil at $60 a barrel that has already been agreed to back in December. A U.S. Treasury official said, look, the goal here with this is not to tank the Russian economy but to force the Kremlin into a choice, either prop up its economy or spend more money on the war effort. It can't have both.

Essentially Western ships will not be able to carry refined oil products that were purchased above the cap and insurance companies won't be able to insure them. What this does not do is bar any third countries from purchasing Russian oil products.

But because of the cap in place and reduced demand for Russian products, there's going to be a lesser price put paid by these third countries. Case in point, Russian crude, Brent crude they trade usually around the same price. You can buy Russian crude around 30 percent.

One thing to add quickly, the E.U., coming off an E.U.-Ukraine summit in Kyiv this week, says there'll be a brand new round of sanctions to coincide with the anniversary of the war. This round of sanctions will have an impact to the tune of $11 billion or so and will go after the trade and technology behind Russia's war effort. HARRAK: Scott McLean reporting, thank you so much, Scott.

And we'll be back with more news after this break.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:25:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HARRAK: Welcome back to all of our viewers around the world. A quick recap for you for one of our top stories right now.

The U.S. has shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean after it drifted across America for several days. Onlookers near the coast captured the moment it was struck by a single missile from a fighter jet.

One official says debris from the large balloon landed in 47 feet of water -- that's about 15 meters -- and that should make it fairly easy to recover. Chinese officials deny it was a spy balloon and they're condemning the U.S. for using force to bring it down.

President Biden says he approved the plan to shoot down the Chinese balloon earlier in the week. CNN's Arlette Saenz has details from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden told his top military leaders on Wednesday to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon transiting over the U.S. as soon as possible.

The president heard advice from military leaders, who warned that shooting anything down over land, over ground, could pose a risk to American lives. So ultimately the president heeded their advice and waited to have this balloon shot down until it was over the waters on Saturday afternoon.

President Biden was briefed on those final plans Friday evening and ultimately Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gave that final go-ahead shortly after noon on Saturday. The president was flying on Air Force One from Syracuse, New York, to Maryland and was on the phone with his top officials as this operation was underway.

Here's what he had to tell reporters about the considerations given.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: On Wednesday, when I was briefed on the balloon, I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday as soon as possible.

They decided -- without doing damage to anyone on the ground. They decided that the best time to do that was, as it got over water. [02:30:00]

BIDEN: Outside -- within our -- within the 12-mile limit.

They successfully took it down. And I want to complement our aviators who did it. And we'll have more to report on this a little later.

Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what does this say about China?

What's your message to China?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were saying the recommendation from your -- was from your national security --

BIDEN: I told them to shoot it down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Wednesday?

BIDEN: On Wednesday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the recommendation from them --

BIDEN: They said to me, "Let's wait until the safest place to do it."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Republicans were quick to criticize the president for not taking it down sooner. They said it's a sign of weakness. The White House pushed back, saying this was a responsible action for the president to take. He was trying to save American lives. There are lawmakers on both sides of the aisle calling for briefings and hearings in this matter.

The so-called Gang of Eight will receive official information from the president next week as there are so many outstanding questions about how this unfolded. Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: The suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down off the Carolinas wasn't the only one in the Western Hemisphere. The Pentagon said a second balloon was flying over Latin America.

The director general of Costa Rica's civil aviation authority confirmed the sightings and told CNN the balloon didn't originate in Costa Rica and it has now disappeared.

The Colombian air force, meanwhile, said the balloon spotted in their airspace near Valledupar, Colombia, was at an altitude above 55,000 feet and it's working with other countries to establish the balloon's origin. The balloon has since left Colombian airspace. Rafael Romo has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: There were reports of sightings of a second balloon in at least two Latin American countries looking a lot like the Chinese surveillance balloon shot down Saturday after flying over the United States.

CNN is aware of at least half a dozen eyewitnesses in Latin America, who have reported seeing it and sharing images on social media. An airborne object similar to the Chinese surveillance balloon seen flying over the United States was spotted over Colombia near Valledupar.

As this video shared with CNN shows, it was around Friday noon local time. Colombian media have also reported sightings of a balloon flying at about 70,000 feet over the South American country's airspace, citing the Colombian military.

We've seen reports a balloon has been spotted over Costa Rica. A lawyer, Esteban Carranza, posted a video of the balloon on Twitter, saying the same type of balloon spotted in the U.S. was visible all day in the Costa Rican sky.

Carranza confirmed to CNN he filmed the white balloon flying overhead above San Jose on Thursday.

CNN geolocated the video to a village, a shopping mall in San Jose. On Friday, the Pentagon confirmed sightings of a balloon over Latin America and said it was another Chinese surveillance balloon.

Civil aviation authorities in Costa Rica confirmed the sightings but not the origin of the flying object. CNN has been unable to confirm whether these objects are indeed Chinese balloons -- Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Pope Francis meets with internally displaced people in South Sudan and gives the country's children a special blessing. This story just ahead.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:35:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HARRAK: It's Pope Francis' last day in South Sudan. We're bringing you live pictures now from the capital, where he's been celebrating mass at a mausoleum. He called for a rejection of violence and all conflicts.

The pontiff and two other religious leaders with him said a special blessing for South Sudan's children. He was accompanied by the heads of the Anglican Church and the Church of Scotland, representing the Christian denominations to which most South Sudanese belong. Joining us now is John Allen, CNN's senior Vatican analyst and he

joins us now live from Rome.

So good to see you, John. Pope Francis there with other church leaders on a peace mission. The pontiff met with displaced children.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SR. VATICAN ANALYST: You're right. Yesterday the pope met with displaced persons and (INAUDIBLE) South Sudan has the worst crisises (sic) of internally displaced persons in the world.

It gained its independence in 2011. Civil war broke out in 2013 and has never really ended. That's created a massive crisis, which today is being compounded by what the United Nations describes as one of the world's greatest crisises (sic) in terms of malnutrition and food insecurity.

The pope addressing many of these people in the national capital of Juba, described them as the seeds of a new South Sudan. He noted one of the things about these camps, where internally displaced persons reside, is all the country's different tribal and ethnic groups are there together, in the same boat.

And he noted that creates a sense of solidarity across some of the traditional dividing lines in the country's culture that he believes can be the basis for a new future of peace and reconciliation, Laila.

HARRAK: But what will his visit have changed for the people of South Sudan?

ALLEN: Well, it's difficult to say, isn't it?

I mean, some trips leave a deep and lasting impact. Others come and go without much notable change. I'm not sure we're going to know later today which one this is.

[02:40:00]

ALLEN: I will say South Sudan is one of those places in the world where the pope stands a fighting chance of making a real difference. I mean in 2011, Catholic radio was essentially the communications network of the independence movement.

Two-thirds of the population in South Sudan more or less is Roman Catholic. The road map peace agreement that was agreed to but never implemented in 2018 was signed in Rome under the aegis of a Catholic movement.

So the Catholic Church has all kinds of social and diplomatic capital in the country. If anyone can nudge the country to a better future, arguably it's Pope Francis, the man who is in town, even as we speak.

HARRAK: John Allen in Rome, thanks so much, John.

And we'll take a quick break. For our viewers in North America, I'll have more news for you in just a moment. For our international viewers, "MARKETPLACE AFRICA" is up next. (MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HARRAK: Welcome back to all our viewers joining us from across North America. I'm Laila Harrak and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

The U.S. military right now is working to salvage the suspected Chinese spy balloon after it was shot down over the Atlantic. President Biden gave the go-ahead to shoot it down several days ago and the Pentagon waited until it was out over water on Saturday.

A single U.S. missile hit the balloon at an altitude of some 12 miles or 20 kilometers. The debris is now said to be on the ocean floor in relatively shallow water.

While China accuses the U.S. of shooting down a, quote, "civilian unmanned airship," and the Chinese defense ministry warned it reserves the right to use, quote, "necessary means to deal with a similar situation," well, divers from the U.S. Navy are working to recover debris of the Chinese spy balloon from the Atlantic Ocean.

Sources tell CNN it'll then be taken to the FBI lab from Quantico, Virginia, for analysis. CNN's Tom Foreman has more on the challenges ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the portion of this balloon investigators want to get their hands on, the payload, central core and what looked like a couple of solar arrays on either side.

When the balloon was destroyed, you could clearly see it falling away below. Now if this had the mass of a human, like a sky diver, it might be falling at 100-150 miles an hour, something like that.

If it had the mass of a couple of cars, its terminal velocity might have been more like 500 miles an hour or up from that. What that means is, when it got to this area just off Myrtle Beach, the water would be essentially like concrete.

It would hit it with tremendous force and be absolutely misshapen, torn apart and broken up by this impact.

What does that mean to recovery?

What it means is the first thing they have to do when they get settled out there, to get divers down, 47 feet down, that's good. That's a good, workable depth. There they have to look at this, figure out how many pieces it's in, where they are, assess it, figure out if some of it is buried down in the muck below.

And then come up with a list of priorities.

What do they want to bring up first?

How do they want to bring it up to protect all of this as much as they can?

And how long will it take?

These operations typically are longer than most people expect, even though they believe this one could be pretty fast. Think of it this way: this is like an underwater crime scene now and they have to protect their evidence as best they can if they want to learn all they can about this balloon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton spoke to CNN earlier about the shootdown of the Chinese balloon on Saturday. And this is what he had to say on the type of training Air Force pilots undergo before they get sent on these missions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: The training that these pilots undergo is really significant. They, you know, go for about a 1.5 years of what's called undergraduate pilot training when they first come into the Air Force and first get their commissions. And then after that they specialize in their particular airframes.

Most of the pilots that are flying the F-22 have flown another airframe before that, so they will have had experience with another type of airplane. But the types of skills that they acquire in these kinds of situations are then honed in places like Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where they have the fighter weapons school.

And so these kinds of tactics are really essential, not only to warfighting but to really precise operations like this. And the targeting piece of this from the pilot, to the weapon, the Sidewinder missile, in this case, to the actual target.

That really speaks to the precision that it you know, is very evident in these cases. And it speaks to the precision of the U.S. weapons systems that are available to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: And Cedric Leighton also noted how rare instances of spy balloons have been in American history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEIGHTON: That's a very rare occurrence. I mean, you can go back to World War I and probably a little bit of World War II to find a few instances like this in the history of airpower. But I this is something that in the modern age, you never expect to see this. But what it really tells us is that the adversaries that we have can use a variety of weapons. Some of those weapons are unexpected weapons, some of them are you know, old fashioned in a sense like these balloons are.

But these weapons systems or these intelligence platforms, they can be used in many, many ways and we have to really understand what the enemy is or the adversary is up to and adapt our tactics and our techniques to whatever platform they might be using.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: People across the Carolinas were carefully tracking the balloon as it moved overhead.

[02:50:00]

HARRAK: It was downed near a popular tourist destination, Myrtle Beach. CNN has spoken with several people who watched U.S. F-22 fighter jets shoot the balloon out of the sky. Let's take0 a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEY LOPES, MYRTLE BEACH RESIDENT: I've seen a lot of crazy stuff in Myrtle Beach over the last few years. This was by far the craziest. We were at lunch.

And we were kind of like joking around like, you know, what, if we see it, what if it's right here?

What if like, obviously, them shooting it down, as reports indicated, was imminent?

So we went outside and we saw the fighter jets circling around. There were about three or four of them. And then after that, we heard a bang and the balloon was gone.

TRAVIS HUFFSTETLER, MYRTLE BEACH EYEWITNESS: People were outside. They were in the parking lots, pulling over on the side of the road. All the beach accesses, it looked like it was almost summertime here the way the beach accesses was almost packed with people.

So I actually went to one of the local condominiums and went up to the 15th floor on it because I knew I'd have a better vantage point to be able to see it a little higher in the sky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: The northeastern U.S. is thawing out from an arctic blast that brought bone chilling and life threatening temperatures. The wind chill alerts have ended and the gusting winds have died down. Temperatures are expected to be about 5 to 10 degrees above normal in the coming hours.

On Saturday, Boston dropped to a low temperature of -10 degrees Fahrenheit. And parts of New York City hit 5 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday. As CNN's Gloria Pazmino reports, the brutal cold forcing many to stay home and off the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Record low temperatures across the region. But here in New York City, right outside of Central Park, people have been doing what they do best here in New York: they have been braving the elements.

All day I've been speaking with tourists and New Yorkers who are unfazed by the cold temperatures. All day, I've been watching my friend here, Jamal (ph), who is running this hot dog cart here. He had a hard time this morning trying to get it set up because his generator had actually frozen. The oil and gas inside of it.

He had a hard time getting it set up. And he told me that business is a little bit slow today.

Right?

Not so good. Not many people out here in these cold temperatures. And just take a look. This bottle of water frozen solid. It has been frozen all day. That should give you an idea of just how cold it is here. But as I said New Yorkers, those who are visiting, for the most part, taking it in stride, out for a jog, walking the dog and just enjoying the weather.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just ran around the park.

PAZMINO: Just ran around the park?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

PAZMINO: 12 degrees?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not bad when the wind is not blowing.

PAZMINO: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels good.

PAZMINO: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels really refreshing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people here and they're like, oh, my God, it's like fashionable. And I'm like yes, but it's also function. Like the hat to make sure ears are warm, like her face is warm, her head and the shoes because it's like New York and there's gloves and like all these other stuff, so yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: I also spoke to a man who was visiting New York City from Chicago. He told me this is nothing. He was perfectly comfortable because he was dressed for the elements.

That is one of the most important things; if you are going to go outside in these very cold temperatures, do dress appropriately. Wear you layers. And if you don't need to, it's probably best to stay home -- I'm Gloria Pazmino, in New York, CNN

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Dozens of wildfires are burning in Chile and the weather is not helping. Temperatures in excess of 100 degrees or 40 degrees Celsius. An area the size of Philadelphia, already charred. The cost in human lives continues to rise. The death toll now standing at 23. CNN's Michael Holmes has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fires have done their damage in this part of Chile, home after home burned to the ground, some flames yet to die out. Wildfires are raging through some 40,000 hectares of land in the south and central parts of the country, fanned by strong winds and searing temperatures.

The government declaring a state of catastrophe in some areas, so that soldiers can join firefighters in battling the blazes. Chile also asking its neighbors for assistance, with Argentina pledging to send more manpower and machinery.

That help too late for some; more than 20 people have died because of the fires. And hundreds of homes have been damaged. Much of the terrain in the fires' path made up of vulnerable farms and forests.

Some residents going into salvage mode, pouring buckets of water on their still-smoldering property to prevent reignition.

[02:55:00]

HOLMES: But for many, a total loss. What's left of their homes lies in scrap piles.

On Friday, Chilean president Gabriel Boric cut short his summer vacation, visiting people in shelters, saying the government is using all its strength to combat the fires and the families of the victims will get the help they need.

No help in sight from the forecast, with more hot temperatures and windy conditions expected, which could further the advance of the fires, despite the reinforcements Chile is bringing in -- Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: A massive fire near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border followed a train derailment that happened nearly 24 hours ago. Evacuation and shelter in place orders were put into effect for nearby residents in northeastern Ohio. No injuries have been reported. But the train was hauling some 20 cars with hazardous materials, according to a local transport official. However, environmental authorities say they have not detected any harmful releases at the moment. The cause of the derailment, unclear.

Thank you so much for joining us. We'll be back in just moment.