By ,
Published January 14, 2015
It's going to be hard to make a case that we are not making headway taking down Usama bin Laden's (search) network after this incredible, but hairy week. Gradually it seems we are closing in on bin Laden.
Many experts try to tell us UBL does not matter as much because he is on the run. But if you read the 9/11 report and listen to our guests, you know he is hands-on. In fact, we have now found out his chief operative got his orders directly from him. Now all we need is a few radical Muslim perp-walks here in the U.S. and then New York, D.C., and New Jersey can exhale. I'll know they are close to bin Laden's mud-hut when Geraldo lets me know he's heading out. He's in his office today.
Other issues we blanketed: Kobe case coming apart; Scott Peterson (search) and his demented escapades on the Internet and Germany's warped Subway sandwich tray covers. It seems Deutschland's so anti-American Subway is mocking us with a cartoon-like 9/11 attack depiction. Yes the people that brought us fascism, Nazism and concentration camps think they can sell a few extra sandwiches by bringing up the worst attack in our nations history. If you think I m upset you can only imagine how angry JARED feels.
Now it's time for a special treat: An exclusive, behind-the-Friend's Boston tour of the Democratic Convention as told by the only three people who lived it for the entire week: producers Paulina Krycinski, Jess Todfeld, and Tara Ruotolo:
It’s pitch dark outside the DoubleTree hotel in downtown Boston and the only lights visible are those coming from the headlights of a super stretch limo parked in front of the hotel. The limo’s not there to pick up some big name guest, but rather the three of us, plus our executive producer, Matt Singerman. This is not the normal treatment we get, but because the Democratic big shots were in town, local car companies were hard-pressed to find a Lincoln Town Car for the staff of “FOX & Friends”… the only vehicle left in stock was the white super stretch limo parked in front of the hotel at 4 a.m.
Day one really set the tone for what the rest of the hectic week would be like: very early mornings, afternoons of booking guests, producing segments from our hotel room and the evenings capped with a stop by the Fleet Center for the big speeches. Rough math would put the workday at 18 hours.
Our week was divided by the anchors schedule. Steve was our leadoff man Monday and Tuesday, Brian batting second on Wednesday and E.D. closed things up with Thursday and Friday. Now, we’ve known all three for years now, but it’s amazing how much more we learned in the week that followed.
Let’s start with Steve. The man is very easygoing and pretty proactive about guest bookings. He secured our 8:15 Monday guest while checking into the hotel. Later on he would endure a second dinner, just to hang with us… we talked politics, family and argued over which was a better suburb to live in: New Jersey or Long Island. In bed by 11 p.m.
Monday’s show would go smoothly, except for some random audio glitches and having to hold our editorial meeting in the bathroom of our workspace at the Boston Harbor Hotel.
Unbeknownst to Steve Doocy who departed for Logan Airport immediately after the show, Brian rolled into Boston, with one mission: to be more fun than Steve and E.D. There will be no ruling on Brian’s success or failure in fulfilling that mission.
Brian defines the phrase “hit the ground running.” Actually, in the case of Brian it’s like taking off in a rocket and the sky’s the limit. Jess had the fortune of shooting a package with Brian, which had the two of them all over Boston and culminated with Brian on top of a handsome cab, grilling the driver about the parallels between the Boston Red Sox/Yankees rivalry to that of the Dems and GOP.
In between Brian’s Boston tour, we had lunch, saw several speeches at the fleet center, chatted with Brit Hume in the FNC trailer and took in the nightlife at the pubs around Quincy Market. We capped off the night with a late night bump-in with Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt and Ronald Reagan Jr. In bed by 1 a.m.
Poor E.D. She checked into the same room Steve and Brian occupied in the previous days. Brian left the room in less than perfect condition. The hotel cleaning staff did not have time to straighten things up before she checked in, so as a result her room looked something like this: Wet towels scattered around the bathroom floor, Brian’s dry-cleaning draped over an unmade bed, and shampoo and a make-up pad decorated the bathroom counter.
E.D.’s a rock-star and low maintenance one at that. She looked great; sporting a beautiful new necklace her husband gave her for her birthday. She took in some bargain shopping at the original Filene’s Basement and joined us for a lobster feast at Legal Seafood’s. One minute is all E.D. needed to pick the meat out of her lobster in the neatest most efficient manner we’d ever seen. Even Shep Smith, who sat to her right, was impressed with her lobster-eating dexterity. She saved room for a mean slice of chocolate peanut butter pie, which she generously shared with us. In bed by 11:30 p.m.
Friday morning E.D. bangs out the show like a total pro, maneuvering her way between exhausted guests like New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and New Jersey Senator Jon Corzine
9 a.m. Friday: show over, week over, Democratic Convention over. 9:05 a.m. E.D. in her car driving back to Connecticut, Paulina and Tara on a ferry heading to the airport, Jess in his car with his wife and son heading back to Long Island. “FOX & Friends” crew, striking the set and the workspace.
It was a long, but fun week. We accomplished with near precision thanks to the hard work of: Steve, E.D., Brian, the rest of the “FOX & Friends” back in New York, our awesome tech crew on site and of course us. Thanks to all for making the week possible.
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https://www.foxnews.com/story/behind-the-scenes-in-boston