INDONESIAN EMBASSY VISIT: This is designed to be a courtesy visit to your embassy. It is housed in a beautiful building on Massachusetts Avenue, what we call "embassy row", since many other embassies are also located here. I have requested a meeting with their new ambassador who arrives this weekend.
U.S. CAPITOL TOUR: We will have a special tour, not part of the normal visit to the Capitol Building. This is the big white dome that you often see on TV when they do stories about Washington. There is a fabulous "shot" of it from the balcony of the Newseum as well. Many people think that this is where the president works, or lives, but it is not. He lives and works in the White House, the Capitol is the centerpiece of the two elements that make up the "Congress". Facing the Capitol Building, the House of Representatives (435 members from each state based on population. California has the most, 53, Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Montana and Wyoming, each have only 1 representative) are on the right side of the building and the Senate (100 members, 2 from each state) form the left side of the building.
SENATOR DANIEL K. AKAKA: We have an interview with one of the longest serving US senators and was in the Senate when Obama was a senator from Illinois. The main reason I lined up an interview with the senator is for him to explain to you what it means to be Hawaiian, and why it helped form the character of Obama. There is something about the islands that affects the political and social culture fabric of those living there. There are no "suburbs" to escape to. The islands are surrounded by water, so everyone has to learn to live with each other. It is this legacy that helped shaped Senator Akaka, and probably Barack Obama too. As with all interviews, we also want to learn more about the subjects as well, so they don't feel like we are using them only because of their connections to Obama. We want them to share their lives and careers with us too. Since we will meet the senator in Washington, before we go to Hawaii, it will be useful for us to get a sense of what it means to be Hawaiian and hearing his ideas on this "aloha spirit".
INDONESIAN GOLDEN TICKET/RCTI PROJECT: NARRATIVE
WASHINGTON, DC.
SCENIC SHOOTING: Washington is a city of memorials and monuments. Between set appointments, we will visit some of these memorials and places that make Washington special. Many of them have good vantage points since they are all exterior shots. Most are best viewed from a short distance to take advantage of their size,like the Washington Monument, which is an obelisk, much like yours for Monas which is 132 meters high. The Washington Monument is about 170 meters high.
CHICAGO:This city was where the president got his career going. He came here from Harvard University and taught law at the University of Chicago Law School for 12 years. This is where he wrote his famous book and where he became senator from Illinois and from the capitol in Springfield, announced that he was running for president.
DOROTHY COYLE: She is the Director of the Chicago Office of Tourism, and will be able to tell us about the city of Chicago, why it is special, discuss its culture and history. During the time we are in Chicago, the World Music Festival will be happening in the city. Some of the venues will be open to the public and if time permits, we will check some of them out. Chicago is a city made up of many different ethnic groups, for example, the largest number of Polish people, outside of Poland. Most countries are represented in this city and Dorothy can talk about the fabric that makes up the city.
DOUGLAS BAIRD: The law professor from the University of Chicago who hired a young Barack Obama from Harvard University. We can ask him what it was about this young lawyer that got his attention and hired him to teach at the University of Chicago Law School. He will discuss with us the time Obama spent with him and he will show us where Obama wrote his book, and some other key points on the campus. In many ways, Professor Baird changed the course of history by hiring Obama and even though he is quite modest about this, in fact, he did certainly change the course of Barack Obama's life.
JOHN OWENS: You hear a lot about the time Obama spent as a community organizer and activist in Chicago. John Owens was one of those activists he worked with during his time in Chicago. He can tell us about that time and his views and impressions of a young Barack Obama.
TOURS R US: To insure that we see all of the Obama sites in Chicago, I have enlisted the services of Marshall Jacobson, who will come with us on our Chicago tour. He knows the places that meant something to a young Obama. We will try and get a shot of his current house in Chicago, but since he is now the president, the Secret Service has closed his street to all except the residents. But, Marshall says we will be able to get a shot, even from a distance.
