Richardson negotiated for release of balloons stuck in China

governor richardson is joing us now to talk about what he has been doing the last week or so tryi...  More »

governor richardson is joing us now to talk about what he has been doing the last week or so trying to retrieve some balloons that have been stuck in china. actually, they were participating in a festival i mongolia, and they we supposed to be shipped back to albuquerque for balloon fiesta. and there were some problems, and you and some senators intervened. tell us where we are right now. >> where we are right now is four balloons are heading our way. they have cleared customs. some have landed in the united states. chicago. nine others are still kind of stuck. but we expect them to leave on monday, and they are stuck because the and i shan airline that was going to -- asian airline, that were going to send them back, because of the holiday of the 60th anniversary in china, postponed their departure. it has just been water torture. i give credit to the whole congressional delegation. bingaman. udall. our office. we have talked to the chinese ambassador several times in washington. he speaks excellent english, because my chinese is nonexistent. but i think they are going to make it for the special shapes and the rodeo by thursday. but it's been so difficult dealing with the chinese read tape and bureaucracy, but i think we have finally got some progress. >> do the chinese understand how important this is to us? >> we tried to fell them this, and we even sent them slides, to the local balloonists that are working on this, and they have been great, too. we told the chinese, you know, this is like your pandas, this is for us a great symbol, probably the most photographed event in the world, and albuquerque is known worldwide for this festival, for this fiesta. so for god's sake, do your bureaucracy normally and stop delaying. >> do they understand that they have a bureaucracy. >> yes, they have a big bureaucracy, and they understand it. each agency there we dealt with criticizes the other. oh, no, it is the shipping company's fault. oh, no, it is the custom's fault. >> blame even other. >> yes. it is the government's fault. but finally it is working. and i think we will get them all by the special shapes. but that's my hope.  « Less