The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Few answers intensify questions over shot-down UFOs

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–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.* 

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

NEWS THIS MORNING 

Eh, we’re not out of the woods yet with inflation:

Consumer prices rose 0.5 percent in January, the Labor Department announced this morning.

For context: Prices rose 0.1 percent in December, so this is a bit of a jump.  

What about annual inflation?: Prices rose 6.4 percent in the past year. That’s down from its high of 9.1 percent last June.  

What this could mean: The Federal Reserve could further raise interest rates to slow the economy. 

HEADLINES IN THE NEWS:
‘Inflation eased again in January – but there’s a cautionary sign’: From NPR’s Scott Horsley

‘Inflation was still hot in January, but some prices are cooling off’: From CNN Business’s Alicia Wallace 

‘January inflation hits 6.4%, missing analysts’ expectations for a faster slowdown’: From NBC News’s Rob Wile 

Graph showing the rise in consumer prices since 2019: From The Wall Street Journal 

It’s Tuesday — Happy Valentine’s Day, my valentines! 💕 I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here. 

❣️ Flying objects 

So far, we can’t blame China: 

“The White House on Tuesday said that they don’t have an indication that the three objects shot down by the U.S. military over the weekend were part of China’s spy program, noting though the difficulties with recovering the debris.”  

From National Security Council spokesman John Kirby: “While we can’t definitively say, again without analyzing the debris, what these objects were, thus far — and I caveat that by saying thus far — we haven’t seen any indication or anything that points specifically to the idea that these three objects were part of the [China’s] spy balloon program, or that they were definitively involved in external intelligence collection efforts.”  

Is it possible the debris will never be recovered?: “I think we’re taking this day by day and doing the best we can to try to locate the debris and then develop a plan to recover it,” Kirby said. 

What we know, from The Hill’s Alex Gangitano 

Senators are hopefully getting the 4-1-1:

Senators are expected to receive two classified briefings on the recent Chinese spy balloon and the three unidentified objects that were shot down over the weekend. 

The first briefing: Senators gathered at 10 a.m. today to hear about the unidentified flying objects that were shot down in Alaska, Canada and over Lake Huron. 

The second briefing: Senators will meet tomorrow at 3 p.m. for a briefing on U.S.-China relations. 

What to expect, from The Hill’s Alexander Bolton 

LAWMAKERS ARE DEMANDING THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN ADDRESS THE NATION ABOUT THE RECENT UFOS: 

For example — from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.): “The president owes the American people an explanation, direct and on camera, of what we know about these ‘objects’ and what steps he’s taking to protect America’s sovereign airspace.”  

Another example — from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee: “NORAD’s been around almost 65 years. We’ve never shot anything down, and in eight days we’ve shot down four things. That’s a pretty big deal. It doesn’t happen every day.”

What the White House is saying — National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters: “We have been, I think, as transparent as we can be.  I won’t speak for the President’s personal speaking schedule. But, I mean, he has been deeply engaged in every one of these decisions.” 

HIGH-FLYING BALLOONS ARE APPARENTLY EXTREMELY COMMON:
Read this article from The New York Times’s William J. Broad: “Thousands of high-flying balloons are aloft at any given moment, including many from U.S. agencies, researchers and hobbyists.” The full explanation 

💜 2024

Ready or not, here I come!:

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) officially jumped in the 2024 presidential race this morning. 

But wait, I thought she was announcing her bid tomorrow?: She’s been widely expected to launch her campaign tomorrow at an event in Charleston, S.C., but prefaced tomorrow’s event with a Twitter video this morning.  

Haley’s message: “Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections. That has to change. Joe Biden’s record is abysmal, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again. It’s time for a new generation of leadership.” 

Watch her 3-minute 33-second campaign announcement 

AN INTERESTING POLL ABOUT HALEY’S CANDIDACY:
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) pulled support away from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), according to a recent Yahoo News-YouGov poll. 

In a Trump-DeSantis matchup: DeSantis leads 45 percent to 41 percent. 

But in a Trump-DeSantis-Haley matchup: Trump leads with 38 percent, followed by DeSantis with 35 percent and Haley with 11 percent. More from the poll 

‘TRUMP RAISES NIGHTMARE SCENARIO FOR GOP AS HE LASHES OUT AT POTENTIAL PRIMARY FOES’:
Analysis from CNN’s Stephen Collinson 

💚 At Michigan State 

How horrible: 

A suspected 43-year-old gunman killed three people and injured several others on Monday night at Michigan State University. The alleged shooter has reportedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

What we know from The Detroit News’s Craig Mauger, Jakkar Aimery and Beth LeBlanc 

Timeline of events from Click On Detroit 

💘 In other news 

What happened with the Super Bowl field?:

The Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore writes, “The NFL wanted a lush Super Bowl field. It ended up with an ice rink.” What may have happened 

HOW WERE THE RATINGS?: 
113 million people watched this year’s Super Bowl, making It the third most-watched television event ever. Details from CNN 

❤️‍🩹 The COVID-19 numbers 

Cases to date: 102.7 million 

Death toll: 1,110,364 

Current hospitalizations: 12,749 

Shots administered: 670 million 

Fully vaccinated: 69.2 percent of Americans 

CDC data here. 

💙 Notable tweets 

Commander and Willow Biden made it!:

First lady Jill Biden posted a photo of the festive Valentine’s Day setup on the White House lawn. Photo  

More photos of the setup: From CBS News’s Ed O’Keefe 

This Super Bowl clip has become a meme:

Video of the backup dancers jogging across the field has become an internet meme. Watch 

SOME OF MY FAVORITE CAPTIONS: 
@BaileyCarlin tweeted: “White blood cells showing up to help the body fight infection and other disease.”  

@taliaswlcek tweeted: “Gen Z voters rolling up at the polls during the midterms after pundits said we wouldn’t turn out.” 

@GeoffBurgan tweeted: “Comms staffers sending their ideas to the Policy team.”

♥️ On tap 

The Senate is in. The House is out. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. 

• 10:30 a.m.: Biden and Harris received the Presidential Daily Briefing. 
• 11:30 a.m.: The Senate held two roll call votes. Today’s Senate agenda 
• 12:45 p.m.: Biden leaves for the Washington Hilton Hotel. 
• 2:15 p.m.: Two more Senate votes — a confirmation vote and a cloture vote.  

All times Eastern. 

💛What to watch 

• 1:15 p.m.: Biden delivers the keynote address during the National Association of Counties. Livestream 
• 2:30 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a press briefing. Livestream 

💝 In lighter news 

Today is National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day! 

Here’s a list of Valentine’s Day specials across the country, via CNET 

Now this is a power list of Disney movies:

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced new sequels that are in the works. 

Sequels to which movies?: “Frozen,” “Toy Story” and “Zootopia” 

Details from The Hollywood Reporter 

And to leave you in a festive mood, here’s a puppy who wants to be everyone’s valentine. 

^ Make sure your sound is on!