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President Obama talks trade

This is what happens when the White House calls

Kai Ryssdal Jul 2, 2014

So here’s something I don’t get to say every day.

The White House called Tuesday.

I know, right?!

They said if I can be in Washington on Wednesday by 2 p.m., I can have 15 minutes with the President.

So…we said “Sure.” (Duh.)

A funny thing happens when that happens, though.

We gather a brainstorming team, of course, to figure out what we want to get out of the interview and how to frame the questions.

But then the ideas start coming. Everybody’s got a thought on what I should ask him – which is great. Catch is, I’ve only got a finite amount of brain space to process all those ideas.

So the closer the interview gets, the more the stress mounts.

It happened last time we had the President on, too. Exactly this way. More and more ideas, less and less time to process them, until that moment when he and I shook hands as we prepared to sit down.

Then – and this is the only way to describe it – I had a moment of clarity. I knew how the interview was going to go, I knew how his answers were going to go, and I knew exactly how it was going to turn out.

And it did. Just like I thought it would.

All of which is to say – I’ll be in Washington today.

Because the White House called.

The interview airs on Thursday. Here’s the way it turned out last time. Me and the leader of the free world. On folding chairs. In the middle of the desert.


Video Credits:

Produced by Preditorial http://preditorial.tv

Music:

“Faster Does It” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

“Backed Vibes (clean)” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

“Shades of Spring” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

“Acid Trumpet” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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