On board Air Force One
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 23 April 2016
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The plane where even the paper napkins sport the presidential seal, and where exclusive little boxes of chocolate sweets feature a picture of Barack Obama: it's America's presidential Air Force One, and you're only allowed on board if you're in "the bubble". In the West Bank a roundabout encapsulates what's going on, and going wrong, in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Libya has seen much chaos and suffering in the last five years. But one family now wants to embrace the future optimistically again, despite losing several of their relatives in the fighting. The beautiful trekkers’ destination with tea houses and stunning mountain landscapes that was turned into a sea of rubble. For the survivors of the Nepalese village obliterated by the earthquake a year ago, the suffering is still raw. And on a trip to China to take tea in a picturesque garden and haggle with antiques dealers, our correspondent's local guide lets slip more than she had perhaps planned.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thank you for downloading this edition of From Our Own Correspondent from the BBC. |
| 0:05.0 | It was first broadcast on the 23rd of April 2016. |
| 0:10.0 | Here now is Kate Aide introducing introducing reports from aboard the American presidential plane Air Force 1, the West Bank, Libya, Nepal and China. |
| 0:22.0 | Hello. |
| 0:23.0 | There are many ways to symbolise a complex conflict, |
| 0:26.0 | but how about a traffic roundabout |
| 0:28.0 | to stand for the Palestinian Israeli situation? |
| 0:31.0 | We're in Libya, where even after five years of violence one family speaks of |
| 0:36.4 | optimism. A year after the desolation wrought by an earthquake, Nepalese villagers |
| 0:42.1 | are also wondering about their future. |
| 0:45.1 | And on a trip to China, we haggle with antique dealers, and we learn more from the local guide |
| 0:50.3 | than she perhaps had planned to let slip. |
| 0:54.3 | But we start in the air with the enormous retinue that always accompanies an American president |
| 0:59.2 | abroad. |
| 1:00.2 | Barack Obama's on the second day of his visit here having flown in from Saudi Arabia. |
| 1:06.0 | His transport is iconic Air Force One, packed with AIDS, staffers and journalists and just enough room for our own John Soapel. |
| 1:15.0 | As the BBC's North America editor, I travel all the time from one regional airport to another |
| 1:21.0 | on American Airlines where the best you can hope for is a packet of pretzels. |
| 1:26.4 | Americans fly for work like Britain's hop on and off buses or trains. |
| 1:31.4 | Consequently it's utilitarian. Customer service is virtually |
| 1:35.6 | non-existent. It is grin and bear it travel, though more grim than grin. |
| 1:41.2 | Air Force One is not like that. Before I describe the flight, I need to explain |
... |
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