New Account Of The Bosnia Trip: Did A CBS News Editor's Keen Eye Save Hillary's Life?
This post is written by guest blogger Francois Bringer, a former CBS News producer and current documentary filmmaker. You can read Attkisson's report on Hillary Clinton's 1996 Bosnia trip here.
Yes this is me, in the middle of this picture, listening intently to two very famous American women chatting politely aboard a U.S. military plane. We were on our way to Bosnia to visit the troops, almost twelve years ago to this day. The shot was taken on the fourth leg of a grueling First-Lady-does-Europe-in-five-days trip.
I was a CBS News pool producer then. With my CBS colleagues, we were responsible for providing everything that a U.S. TV correspondent would need to cover such a journey. That means we handled all the video, interviews, natural sound and edits from the trip you may have seen in the news on CNN, ABC, NBC or of course CBS.
I got to meet and work alongside then-First Lady Hillary Clinton for this whole crazy week. In a typical day, she would meet the highest ranking official in the country, visit ruins and museums, admire the work of charities, kiss babies, have lunch with dignitaries … and then dinner with leaders of the opposition. At every stop she’d answer the band of reporters' questions. Mrs. Clinton was simply astonishing. Her unfailing (and effortless) politeness with everyone, her interest in the historic or the mundane, her well-briefed self and steely composure after days of this schedule, her ability to keep smiling (and stay chic!) were simply outstanding. Only very gifted beings can project such strength over such long hours – and she did it. She had it. She did not make a faux-pas the whole week.
Which brings us back to the landing in Tuzla.
[Editor's note: Read on for more photos from the trip, as well as Francois's story of a CBS News editor's sharp eye that may have saved lives - including that of the former First Lady.]
(White House Photo)
I was a CBS News pool producer then. With my CBS colleagues, we were responsible for providing everything that a U.S. TV correspondent would need to cover such a journey. That means we handled all the video, interviews, natural sound and edits from the trip you may have seen in the news on CNN, ABC, NBC or of course CBS.
I got to meet and work alongside then-First Lady Hillary Clinton for this whole crazy week. In a typical day, she would meet the highest ranking official in the country, visit ruins and museums, admire the work of charities, kiss babies, have lunch with dignitaries … and then dinner with leaders of the opposition. At every stop she’d answer the band of reporters' questions. Mrs. Clinton was simply astonishing. Her unfailing (and effortless) politeness with everyone, her interest in the historic or the mundane, her well-briefed self and steely composure after days of this schedule, her ability to keep smiling (and stay chic!) were simply outstanding. Only very gifted beings can project such strength over such long hours – and she did it. She had it. She did not make a faux-pas the whole week.
Which brings us back to the landing in Tuzla.
[Editor's note: Read on for more photos from the trip, as well as Francois's story of a CBS News editor's sharp eye that may have saved lives - including that of the former First Lady.]
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