Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had a late change to her schedule and appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Photo / Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
Political reporter Derek Cheng spent a few days with the New Zealand media contingent following Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as she rubbed shoulders with the world's most powerful in New York, and made announcements about the Christchurch Call and climate change.
Ardern lands in New York on what is considered one of the world's toughest flights, a 13-hour trip that leaves Japan at the same time of day as it arrives in New York.
She is expected to make an announcement cracking down on social media, but is not opposed to using it herself. In a Facebook live video, Ardern walks to the UN building to meet UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Bit of walking and talking on the way to the UN...
Posted by Jacinda Ardern on Sunday, 22 September 2019
"I'm told New York really locks down during leaders' week, [with] people with quite large motorcades, like the President of the US, moving around. I always opt for walking. Got my walking shoes on."
After a stand up with New Zealand media, she promptly changes her formal footwear back to her walking shoes before departing to get some shut-eye before her big day tomorrow.
There are protests everywhere, with signs saying all kinds of messages from "Arrest Trump" to "Iran: Time for change".
The streets around the UN are packed with police and barriers blocking various streets. At one point, a government minder tries to weave around the blockades to get our media contingent to the NZ Residence building.
The building is one block from the UN, but we somehow end up walking 10 blocks, which would be funny if it wasn't 400 Degrees Celsius and I hadn't broken my foot in a bike accident. Walking with crutches and in a moonboot makes it less funny.
I get a break during a forced pedestrian freeze as Trump's enormous motorcade - complete with decoy vehicles - rolls past.
During a bilateral inside the UN, Ardern hands a gift to King Abdullah of Jordan, who opens it with what appears to be a switchblade that he carries. "He opened it in a very efficient manner," Ardern later told the Herald.
It's a huge day for the PM. She has meetings with Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, and speeches on climate change.
Following a tech roundtable, she announces that social media giants will join forces in the fight against extremism, and have a framework to follow when urgent action is needed to take down online terrorist or violent extremist content.
Facebook's 2IC Sheryl Sandberg joins Ardern at the press conference at the NZ Residence. Above the podiums is a flax lightshade made by Kiwi artist David Trubridge.
Apparently there had been a discussion about whether the lightshade posed the risk of a photo that made it look like Ardern or Sandberg were wearing elaborate headwear. Any attempt to take it down for the presser was quashed when it was revealed that it would require the entire ceiling to be repainted.
An older, white-haired journalist comes to the presser equipped with a heavy, old-fashioned tape recorder, rather than the usual tiny digital dictaphone or an appropriate app on her phone.
When told the presser will be restricted to only four questions, the woman makes noises along the lines of how she hates such rules. A Google search later revealed her to be award-winning war journalist Edith Lederer.
That evening, a story on the Herald website about the PM's meeting with Trump is tweeted out by Trump himself. This causes a flurry of phone calls, emails and tweets to the author of the article - yours truly - that exude far more excitement than my tired state can muster.
True. A wonderful meeting! https://t.co/W9ByXaS8Qf
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019
NewstalkZB requests an interview, despite having already done a pre-recorded interview with me about Ardern's day in New York.
Under a barrage of flattery, I consent. When asked if my Twitter following has exploded, I say this was unlikely as the tweeted story came from the Herald's Twitter feed, but I'd be very happy for my employer if the Herald's Twitter base had ballooned.
In a ZB interview previewing Ardern's next day at the UN, I am again asked to express my excitement level about the president's tweet. The pinnacle of my career, I reply.
During the day I receive multiple requests for the number of page views of the tweeted story, but obviously such information is commercially sensitive. I can confirm, though, that liking a tweet about a news story doesn't necessarily translate into clicking the link.
We arrive at the UN general assembly early to watch Trump's speech, which was so full of fire and fury that it apparently put 81-year-old Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to sleep.
Wilbur Ross has the right technique for listening to trump's UN speech, or ANY trump speech.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) September 24, 2019
Earplugs are also recommended. pic.twitter.com/sGj23YhdxG
Ardern has a number of bilateral meetings during the day. These are open to media for the opening exchanges, where we can photograph and film the smiles and handshakes.
It turns out that people are reluctant to move a moonbooted person with crutches, as is evidenced when Ardern meets European Council president Donald Tusk.
When Ardern goes to shake hands with Tusk's delegation, she finds them politely declining to move past said moonbooted man with crutches. Ardern explains: "That's Derek. He came in a moonboot."
Later, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen arrives at the NZ Residence. A member of the New Zealand team tells her that he saw her at a restaurant recently and stared at her for perhaps longer than he should have, trying to recall who she was.
This prompts Ardern to assure her that none of her staff are weirdos.
Ardern later gives a speech at a celebration of Gandhi's 150th birthday, and is then photographed with other people touching a large, blue orb.
Efforts to learn what the orb represents or why they were touching it have been unsuccessful.
Ardern finishes the evening delivering New Zealand's national statement to the UN general assembly, calling for collaboration and drawing on the lessons of March 15.
Afterwards media are told about a mystery event for the PM the next evening that may or may not come through. Questions about whether it relates to the orb are not thoroughly answered, raising suspicions.
The 18-hour work days are taking a toll. Ardern heads to an early television interview with CBS, and no journos volunteer for the one media spot on offer.
One journo in our contingent then fails to wake up at the designated hour despite a knock on the door, lights being switched on and repeated calls of his name. His eyes snap open, however, at the first mention of perhaps taking a humiliating photo.
Another in the group, who had yesterday misplaced a bag of allegedly non-essential cords and a power bank, forgets his media pass on our way to Goalkeepers 2019, hosted by the Gates Foundation.
At the event Melinda Gates introduces Ardern, whose speech about the wellbeing Budget provokes a single, lone cheer from the audience. This leads to a "thank you" from Ardern.
She is upstaged somewhat by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose pledge of 100 million euros to the Global Fund triggers rapturous applause.
We head to the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, arriving in time to see an interview with the head of Disney Bob Igor, who is asked if he has ever considered running for political office.
He says he discussed it with his wife, who encouraged him to run for any office he liked "but not with this wife", a response he found "somewhat discouraging".
Ardern then takes the stage with, among others, Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam for a discussion on trade and climate change.
When Thiam is asked why he doesn't push to cut fossil fuel subsidies, there's an awkward pause that Ardern eventually fills by saying: "Go on."
Back at the UN, she announces a new trade negotiation to cut tariffs on climate change-related technology and eliminate fossil fuel subsidies.
There are only four other countries signing up, but Ardern says it's only the beginning and the small number is not an indication of the scale of their ambition.
The grip of fatigue causes one journo to fail to record the announcement.
Afterwards the mystery event, which has been given the green light, turns out to be a special guest appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
TONIGHT: Stephen makes a big announcement with help from the Prime Minister of New Zealand, @jacindaardern! #LSSC pic.twitter.com/llaOCmhFgx
— A Late Show (@colbertlateshow) September 26, 2019
Some journos are casually waiting by a side entrance at CBS when movie star Renee Zellweger walks up to the door; she is another of Colbert's guests tonight.
Inside CBS, the snack bar is a glorious array of American food treats: smores in a bar, cookie bakes, doughnuts and Smarties.
After the show, Ardern has a final bilateral with the PM of India, but the journos all head to their hotels to file stories about Colbert visiting New Zealand next month.
The PM is due to fly out the following morning after a hectic schedule: 18 bilaterals, nine speeches, two major announcements, two US media appearances and one press conference.
As delirium sets in, a message from someone in the PM's team arrives: "I think everyone is as exhausted as each other."
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