President Obama in Rome

Dear Blog Readers —

I was sitting at on the grass at the park yesterday in Rome, enjoying a gorgeous spring afternoon between the small white daisies popping up around me and the giant Roman pines looming overhead.

My daughter was playing nearby with our dog and I was flipping through some magazines when I decided to pick up my iPhone and see if I had any emails. (Dumb).

There was a very short email from my mother saying “Hi Trisha,  I’ve been looking for Mozzarella Mamma’s comments on the Obama visit….” Ah, yes, Obama was in Rome last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and I still haven’t written about it.  I tossed the phone back in my purse, lay down on the grass and was smitten with Blog Guilt– a terrible feeling that only fellow bloggers can relate to.

So here I am on Monday morning shoving aside my long to-do list to dedicate myself to a post on Obama in Rome.  It was quite an experience.  Obviously it is too late for me to give anyone any news, since anyone who might have been interested has already read all about it, however, I will give my usual behind-the-scenes Mozzarella Mamma view.

Obama came on a whirlwind visit to Rome after stop in the Hague where he met with NATO allies for a Nuclear Security Summit, but the meetings were over-shadowed by the Russian annexation of the Crimea.  From the Netherlands, Obama travelled to Brussels where he again discussed the situation in the Ukraine with G-7 leaders.

During his visit to Rome, I was asked to appear on five different Italian TV shows and two radio shows in and around my coverage for AP television.  I am not obliged to do this, but I thoroughly enjoy explaining American traditions and politics to the Italian public.

So the night of his arrival I found myself in the studio of RAI News 24, watching live as the massive Air Force One arrived.  Despite a light rain, a slender and fit looking Obama jogged down the stairs and greeted the officials waiting on the red carpet.  I was able to provide a little commentary on how Obama is quite athletic, plays basketball regularly and always runs up and down the stairs of Air Force One.  This is not typical for US Presidents. One president in particular was regularly tripping and falling down the stairs of Air Force One and that was President Gerald Ford (for a laugh check out this link on President Ford Trips).

There was enormous interest in reports in the Italian press that a few days prior to Obama’s visit a C-130 cargo plane had brought in loads of food for the President’s visit.  The President was staying at the fabulous Villa Taverna, home to the US ambassador in Rome  (see my blog post “Cocktails, Spike Heels, and Skullduggery“).  Italians were shocked that the US President would have had food brought in for him when obviously Italian food is the best in the world.  I assured the viewers that Americans and the Obamas love Italian food and that it was unlikely that Obama’s food would have been brought to Italy for him.  However, a US government official informed me the next day that there is strict checks on what Obama eats and the preparation of his food when he is traveling abroad is controlled.  When I mentioned this to Italians they said, “So, he has a taster just like the Roman Emperors?”

I have to admit that watching Obama’s visit here made me feel a bit as though I was observing a powerful emperor.  The massive security, the circles of advisors and flacks surrounding him.  To me he seemed terribly isolated from the real world.

As Obama’s convoy left the airport, there were a total of 26 vehicles and 8 motorcycles.  There was a huge interest in Italy — the land of tiny Fiats and Smart Cars — in the enormous vehicle used by the US President known as “The Beast.”

Quoting from David Remnick’s New Yorker article on Obama “Going the Distance” — “Obama’s Limousine, a Cadillac said to weigh as much as fifteen thousand pounds, is known as the Beast. It is armored with ceramic, titanium, aluminum, and steel to withstand bomb blasts, and it is sealed in case of  biochemical attack. The doors are as heavy as those on a Boeing 757. The tires are gigantic “run-flats”, reinforced with kevlar.  A supply of blood matching the President’s type is kept in the trunk”

The version of the “Beast” used in Italy was not a Cadillac, it was an SUV.  I know in the past when George W. Bush visited Rome, the Cadillac “Beast” had difficulty getting around corners and smaller streets in the city. When the TV cameras zoomed in on the license plate on “The Beast” Italians were intrigued to see that “The Beast” had a license plate from Washington D.C. that said, “Taxation without Representation” on it.

“Taxation without Representation” license plates I had to explain is a protest in Washington that people living in the nation’s capital have to pay taxes without having the full representation in government that the States have because Washington is a separate city not within a state.

There are two identical Air Force One planes and two identical “beasts” in Obama’s motorcade to confuse any potential attackers. Italians were intrigued by the black vehicle with odd antennas in the convoy that is known as the “jammer” that blocks any potential bomb attacks by scrambling phone lines.

The big event of Obama’s visit to Rome was his Thursday morning meeting with Pope Francis. Only a few journalists and photographers were allowed into the Cortile San Damaso inside the Vatican to film the arrival of Obama.  Among them was my AP photographer colleague Alessandra Tarantino who generously gave me her extra photos after she filed for AP.   AP wire’s Vaticanista Nicole Winfield was among the few journalists allowed briefly to watch the arrival of President Obama in the Papal library and hear (above the frantic clicks of the cameras) the first words they exchanged.  I was among the TV people left covering the arrival of the convoy in St. Peter’s Square and then getting the images of the meeting from Vatican Television.

While I was waiting outside for Obama’s convoy, I met Miriam Duignan wearing a big violet button on her pink jacket saying “Ordain Women.”  “Now that’s one thing these two men definitely will not be talking about,” I thought wistfully.

When he stepped out of “The Beast” in the Cortile San Damaso, Obama was greeted by Monsignor Georg Ganswein, Prefect of the Papal Household (see Blog Post Padre Georg-The Vatican Heart-Throb), and then went down the long line of “Gentiluomini” — the noblemen chosen to serve the Pope for live (a group that Pope Francis has said he will eliminate.)  He then made his way amidst the gentleman and the Swiss Guards down the long corridors of the Apostolic Palace and into the Papal Library where Francis was waiting for him.

“It is a great honor, I am a great admirer” Obama told the Pope as he shook his hand and unleashed his super-smile.  The Pope looked slightly less enthusiastic.

The two men met for 52 minutes — longer than the half-hour expected and addressed a broad range of subjects.   Obama later said in a press conference which I covered that the focus was on international issues with Ukraine, Syria, the Middle East, Africa being discussed.  They also addressed human trafficking, religious freedom and immigration.

A brief Vatican statement released to reporters later that was not widely enthusiastic about the meeting, simply noting:

“During the cordial meetings, views were exchanged on some current international themes and it was hoped that, in areas of conflict, there would be respect for humanitarian and international law and a negotiated solution between the parties involved.

In the context of bilateral relations and cooperation between Church and State, there was a discussion on questions of particular relevance for the Church in that country, such as the exercise of the rights to religious freedom, life and conscientious objection, as well as the issue of immigration reform. Finally, the common commitment to the eradication of trafficking of human persons in the world was stated.”

The use of the words “conscientious objection” was referring to the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act.  The US Bishops had pushed hard to have the Pope raise this issue with Obama.

Following the private meeting in the Pope’s library the two leaders exchanged gifts. Obama gave the Pope a box of seeds from the White House vegetable garden to be planted at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope’s summer residence.  Castel Gandolfo, a half hour from Rome has a small farm which provides some fruit and vegetables for the Papal table.  Michelle Obama’s White House vegetable garden is famous.

The Pope then gave Obama a copy of his first Apostolic Exhortation “Gaudium Evangelii” – “The Joy of the Gospel”.  The Apostolic Exhortation is a no holds barred attack by the Pope on the global economic system.  In it he writes, “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience.”

“Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion…”

Obama told the Pope “I actually will probably read this when I’m in the Oval office, when I am deeply frustrated, and I am sure it will give me strength and calm me down.”

When Obama left the Vatican he headed straight for the Quirinale Palace, once the home of the King of Italy, but now the home and office of the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano.  The 88-year-old Napolitano is an old friend of the president and someone Obama admires immensely.  Before Obama arrived the US Ambassador told the Italian press that the president sees Napolitano as a “rock of stability and integrity.”  That makes sense.  Since Obama came to office there have been four prime ministers in Italy — Silvio Berlusconi, Mario Monti, Enrico Letta and Matteo Renzi.  While the domestic politics in Italy sometimes seem enormously confusing to Americans, Napolitano has provided the US was a sense of continuity and solidity.

The two men tackled a whole series of questions regarding world affairs and then lunched on sea bass with plum tomatoes and olives. While Obama was lunching with Napolitano, Italy’s 39-year-old Prime Minister (and the press corps along with him) were cooling our heels at Rome’s Villa Madama waiting for the US President to arrive for a meeting followed by a press conference.  He came an hour late.

The 39-year-old Renzi became Prime Minister of Italy on February 22 when he ousted his fellow Democratic Party member, former Prime Minister Enrico Letta becoming the youngest Prime Minister in the history of Italy.  Renzi has promised to turn around Italy’s flailing economy and tackle the problem of widespread unemployment.  Overall unemployment is near 13% while youth unemployment is currently fluctuating around 40%. He is attempting to reform the Italian electoral system and has proposed to dramatically reduce the power of the Italian Senate.

When Obama briefly met Renzi in Brussels before coming to Rome he joked about his own grey hair and noted that Renzi would end up gray too if he continued in politics.  When Obama finally did arrive he did seem like the older politician walking calmly beside the younger, enthusiastic Renzi.  During the joint press conference Renzi–a former boy scout– seemed about to burst his buttons as he told Obama he and his generation of Italian politicians have been inspired by Obama’s “Yes we can!” philosophy.  Obama smiled warmly at him, but from my position in the packed press room it looked like Obama was treating him a bit like a sweet, younger brother who has along way to go.

The hundreds of journalists packed into the press conference at Villa Madama had been waiting hours and we were eager to hear what Obama had to say.  I was impressed at his ability to tackle a wide range of subjects – the Ukraine, the IMF, the European economy, US Healthcare, and his meetings with the various leaders with ease.

He repeatedly came back to his meeting with the Pope saying, “The great honor of meeting His Holiness Pope Francis, and like people around the world, I have been incredibly moved by his compassion, his message of inclusion.  I was grateful to have the opportunity to speak with him about the responsibilities that we all share to care for the least of leasts, the poor. ”

When the press conference finally ended, I climbed off the photographers ladder that I had been standing on at the back of the room so I could see, and began frantically editing and writing with my colleagues.  Obama and his entourage rushed off for the President’s private tour of Rome Coliseum.

Italian commentators were somewhat surprised to hear that Obama commented “It is bigger than a baseball stadium.”  I think they were hoping for something more historic or intellectual.  But I suppose Americans care more about baseball than history.

Following his visit to the Coliseum, Obama returned to the ambassador’s residence where he had dinner.  The Italian media was convinced that he would slip out to an Italian restaurant for dinner and tv reporters were doing liveshots from different restaurants around the city waiting for Obama to show up.  But he did not.

I ended thinking it must be hard for Obama to live in this security bubble — driving around in “The Beast” – delivering his super-smile to people eager to shake his hand and have a photo taken with him, but he could never just lie down in the grass on a nice spring day in Rome and enjoy the daisies and the Roman pines.

NOTE: A huge thank you for AP photographer Alessandra Tarantino who generously gave me her marvelous extra photos after she filed for AP.