There was considerable skepticism on display during Friday's episode of CNN This Morning regarding the Biden administration's dismissive attitude toward the drone sightings over New Jersey.
Host Kasie Hunt led the charge of the skeptics. Thus, reacting to Biden spokesman John Kirby saying that none of the sightings have been corroborated and that many have turned out to be manned planes or helicopters operating legally, Hunt said: "Ah-ha! So, basically, he says, don't believe your own eyes?"
Question for Kirby: You say "many" of the sightings have turned out to be legally operating planes or helicopters. What about the rest of them?
Hunt later said: "On its face, what the White House is saying feels implausible to so many people. It's like, we can see this. And yet the White House says, nothing to see here."
There was bi-partisan skepticism on the panel. Elliot Williams, an Obama appointee at the Department of Justice, said "People are frustrated that they don't seem to be getting a consistent or plausible answer as to what these things are."
And Jonathan Kott, a former adviser to two Democrat senators, said: "It doesn't help when the Defense Department, the FBI, and the White House say, don't worry about it, but we won't tell you what it is."
Republican strategist Brad Todd bluntly rejected the Biden administration's know-nothing protestations: "Nobody believes that the government doesn't know what it is."
Earlier this week, we caught Eugene Robinson on Morning Joe exposing his elitism, snickering that by getting lost on the NYC subway, he has "seen parts of Queens and the Bronx that I really never intended to see." There was more such elitist condescension on display this morning. The show aired a clip of Neil deGrasse Tyson wondering why, if aliens are visiting us, they would be interested in New Jersey, of all places.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CNN This Morning
12/13/24
6:02 am ETKASIE HUNT: The truth is out there? Americans in New Jersey would really like to know who is flying sometimes massive drones over their homes and infrastructure.
WOMAN IN THE STREET, NJ: I think the creepy part is not that it's just a drone, that they're so large.
HUNT: Now, some of the things that people are seeing on social media, posting on social media, they have been identified as normal things in the skies: planes, helicopters. But not all of them.
One New Jersey mayor says the drones have been flying over the state's critical infrastructure. The drones have also been spotted near a U.S. military research facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. And those sightings have prompted the FAA to issue temporary flight restrictions.
And according to the Associated Press, the Coast Guard says multiple low-altitude aircrafts were spotted near one of their vessels. Still, they weren't seen as an immediate threat, and they didn't interfere with any operation. So, what has the White House been saying about all this?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: I don't have anything beyond that we're tracking this very closely.
HUNT: Needless to say, New Jersey lawmakers, who are hearing from their constituents, have found the non-explanations to be lacking.
CORY BOOKER: I'm concerned. I issued a letter to ask for more information, and I think there should be a lot more transparency about that.
. . .
HUNT: So yesterday, the White House sent out John Kirby. He is, of course, a retired Navy admiral, and national security communications adviser, to clear things up.
JOHN KIRBY: We have not been able to, and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings. To the contrary. Upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully.
HUNT: Ah-ha! So, basically, he says, don't believe your own eyes? . . . So, of course, the question everyone has is, who is doing this? Some New Jersey lawmakers have been speculating that it's Iran or China. Those of us who don't live in New Jersey are just wondering: why New Jersey?
NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: I can't claim to know the motives of aliens, but, just being an earthling. But of all the places to show up on Earth, they pick New Jersey? That would be odd for me to wonder what the aliens are looking for.
. . .
HUNT: I mean, on its face, what the White House is saying feels implausible to so many people. It's like, we can see this. You know, we're not, there's a contradiction between the state police have been telling people that these drones, have been telling lawmakers up there, that these drones are shutting off their lights when they're approached, and that it's dangerous. And yet the White House says, nothing to see here.
. . .Why not shoot them down?
ELLIOT WILLIAMS: We shouldn't have a practice of willy-nilly shooting down unidentified flying objects over domestic soil. However, in, in the event that they are flying over sensitive places, absolutely, they can be engaged. You know, I think the issue here far more, perhaps, than any actual threat that's posed, is the inconsistent messaging that seems to be coming out of government. I think what people are frustrated by is that they don't seem to be getting a consistent or plausible answer as to what these things are. And I think the longer it's going on, the worse it's getting.
. . .
HUNT: So I have to say, I mean, you know, there's like a laughing element to this in some instances. But it's very, it's actually very serious, right? Like that the American government doesn't know what this is, Brad. And the fact that the Biden -- is the Biden administration building confidence with the way they're talking about this?BRAD TODD: Nobody believes that the government doesn't know what it is. That's the thing. Only the government is trying to convince us that.
. . .
JONATHAN KOTT: It doesn't help when the Defense Department, the FBI, and the White House say, don't worry about it, but we won't tell you what it is.
