Bourdain’s Field Notes
HANOI, September 2016—We started talking internally about the possibility of shooting a scene with the president of the United States a long way out—nearly a year before it actually happened.
Some people at the White House had reached out and hinted at the possibility that maybe, just maybe, we might find a time and a place where the two of us could sit down to a meal together. These discussions were, out of necessity, very closely held until the very last minute.
CNN didn’t know.
The producers, even the camera guys who were to shoot the scene, were not told until the day before.