Molly Roecker is a journalist for NBC News in New York.
Mirna Alsharif is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.
President Joe Biden was asked on Saturday as he deplaned Air Force One what he plans to do about the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been hovering over the northern U.S. for the past few days.
"We’re gonna take care of it," Biden, who was accompanied by his son, Hunter Biden, said.
Biden did not elaborate on how his administration plans to take care of the balloon.
The U.S. military has been monitoring the suspicious balloon for the past few days, and military and defense leaders have discussed shooting it out of the sky, according to two U.S. officials and a senior defense official.
“The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told NBC News on Thursday. “We continue to track and monitor it closely.”
“Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information,” Ryder said.
The high-altitude balloon was spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday. It flew over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, through Canada, and into Montana.
A senior defense official said the balloon is still over the U.S. on Thursday but declined to say where it is now.
