is it time to pop that balloon? i m michael smerconish. it sparked kshs about national security regarding beijing. is it more a about symbolism? secretary of state antony blinken was due to travel to china this weekend. he postponed his trip calling the infiltration a, quote, irresponsible act that created conditions that undermine the purpose of the trip. the public first learned of the balloon s existence thursday while it was over montana, which is home to ballistic missile silos and bomber bases. china is saying it s all innocent. a spokesperson for the chinese foreign min city sits is a civilian air shift used for meteorological purposes affected by the westerlies and limited self-steering capability, it deviated from its course. the chinese side regrets the entry of the ship. but it was a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international law. the balloon does not pose a military or political threat and a senior defense official said military officials a advise
hello, everybody. i am randi kaye. we re glad you are with us. we start off with the victims of irene. for those of you who think irene was a dud, well, tell that to the families of the 21 people who died in that storm and the people that lost their homes and the estimated $10 billion price tag is nothing to sneeze at either. irene may not have been as bad as expected in some areas, but worst in others. vermont, much of the state is under water. a short time ago president obama declared a state of emergency making vermont elvauable for disaster relieve. it will take time to recover from the storm of this magnitude. the affects are being felt across much of the country. in new england and states like vermont where there has been an enormous amount of flooding. the responses continues and i want to make sure fema and other agencies are doing everything they can to help people on the ground. check out the video of vermont. it shows the power of irene destroying one of the st