Pool Reports of April 6, 2021

In-Town Pool Report #1 - No schedule changes

Good morning from the White House where it's a sunny 63 degrees. I'm your print pooler today.

No changes to the president's schedule so far. Here's what we have on tap for today:

• 10:30am: POTUS receives the President's Daily Brief (closed press)
• 12:00pm: Jen Psaki will brief reporters (livestreamed)
• 1:45pm: POTUS visits a vaccination site at Virginia Theological Seminary
• 3:45pm POTUS delivers remarks on the state of vaccinations in the State Dining Room

Please feel free to reach out with any questions.

In-Town Pool Report #2 - Lunch lid

We have a lunch lid until noon.

In-Town Pool Report #3 - Two-minute warning

Two-minute warning until briefing begins.

As a reminder, you can livestream it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waSVNKBkCbA

I'll send along any notable color or if the Easter Bunny decides to make another appearance in the briefing room.

In-Town Pool Report #4 - Briefing begins

Jen Psaki took the podium at 12:14 p.m.

In-Town Pool Report #5 - Briefing ends

Briefing ended at 12:58 p.m.

In-Town Pool Report #6 - Pool holding

Pool has gathered outside the Palm Room Doors at 1:10 p.m. for the president's vaccination site visit in Virginia.

In-Town Pool Report #7 - Holding in press vans

In-Town Pool Report #8 - White House departure

In-Town Pool Report #9 - Vaccination site arrival

In-Town Pool Report #10 - Chapel vaccination site

Pool was led into the Immanuel Chapel where people were receiving vaccines, three at a time, at three long tables set up on the right side of the room. People were seated and socially distanced in chairs surrounding the center altar (pics attached).

POTUS has not been led into the chapel yet. Some background on who will greet him, per WH:

Upon arrival, POTUS will greet with the following:

• Dr. Basim Khan, Executive Director of Neighborhood Health
• Dean Ian Markham, Dean of Virginia Theological Seminary
• Dr. Marty Burnett, Acting Associate Dean of Chapel at Virginia Theological Seminary and Associate Professor of Church Music and Director of Chapel Music
• Reverend Craig Harcum, Macedonia Baptist Church
• Reverend Dr. Howard-John Wesley, Alfred Street Baptist Church
• Lolita Youmans, Administrator at Alfred Street Baptist Church

In-Town Pool Report #11 -POTUS arrival

Correction: Please note the Immanuel Chapel is not a working chapel so the Center structure is technically not an altar.

POTUS arrived at 2:20 pm and began thanking officials from Neighborhood Health seated on the left side of the room. He received a round of applause as he approached people waiting for a vaccine.

"You're doing the right thing," he told them.

He then asked how many were getting their first shot and a few people raised their hand. Majority were here for their second shot.

In-Town Pool Report #12 - more color from tour

POTUS gestured as if he was rolling up his sleeve before telling a man receiving a shot, "man you've got biceps as big as my thighs."

He also encouraged people getting their shots to go home and tell their friends and family to get a shot, too. He asked each person at the three long tables what their name was.

He asked the health worker administering a shot at the farthest table from your pooler, "are you ready?" Before adding, "fire away!"

POTUS said he expects a significant portion of the population to be vaccinated by the end of the summer.

Per the WH, here's who is joining the president on the tour:

• Dr. Basim Khan, Executive Director of Neighborhood Health
• Kevin Trac, Prevention Quality Coordinator at Neighborhood Health
• Dr. Martha Welman, Medical Director of Neighborhood Health
• Jeff Zients, COVID-19 Response Coordinator

In-Town Pool Report #13 - Motorcade rolling

Pool was escorted out shortly after 2:30 pm and loaded into the vans as POTUS continued to speak with the program director, health officials and people receiving a shot.

Motorcade is rolling at 2:49 pm.

Your pooler will listen back for more notable quotes but as always please check against the audio.

POTUS joked with people receiving and administering shots and thanked them.

POTUS said hopefully "pretty soon" the US will have enough doses to share with the rest of the world. "This isn't something that's not just going to get solved here in America... we need to solve it around the world."

"You can't build a wall or a fence high enough to keep out the virus," he added.

He watched as nurses administered the shots, telling those receiving them:

"You Realize you've got televisions," he said gesturing to media. "This matters, people see you get the shot. It helps get other people to get the shot."

In-Town Pool Report #14 - WH arrival

In-Town Pool Report #15 - More quotes from vaccination site event

Please check against audio:

Biden spoke to Neighborhood Health workers seated at a white table where people check in for their shot. He asked roughly how many people a day come through, to which an official said about 300 people a day.

Overall, Neighborhood Health has administered about 20,000 doses, or about 5,000 shots a week, the official said.

At that point, POTUS leaned over and whispered to the workers: "We passed 150 million yesterday," he said.

Approaching three people receiving a shot near where pool was held, POTUS said: "You're doing the right thing...really important. And when you go back, when you go home, get all your friends, tell them, 'Get a shot when they can,'" he said. "We're going to be able - everyone's going to be able to before the month is out. Every age."

"All these strains you're hearing about. You should not worry," he said. "They are more virulent. They are …more dangerous but the vaccines work on all of them."

"Hopefully we're going to get good enough, pretty soon, where we have enough that we can give the rest of the world. Because this is something that's not just... we can solve it here in America. We don't solve it around the world - you can't build a wall or fence high enough to keep out a virus," he said.

Asked if the worst of the coronavirus pandemic was behind us, POTUS said: "I think If everyone continues down the road that we're on now, it will be behind us but it's not over yet. We're in a situation where I believe by end of the summer, we'll have a significant portion of the American public vaccinated."

In-Town Pool Report #16 - Two-minute warning for POTUS remarks

Two-minute warning for the president's remarks on a vaccination update from the State Dining Room.

Eight chairs were set up toward the back right side of the room for members of pool and roped off from the podium.

As a reminder you can watch the remarks here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

In-Town Pool Report #17 - POTUS begins remarks

POTUS took the podium at 4:10 p.m.

"It's beautiful outside. We should be doing this outside," he said.

The event is being carried live: https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

In-Town Pool Report #18 - Remarks end

POTUS finished speaking at 4:25 p.m. for a total of 15 minutes. Will send more quotes from questions at the end.

He took five questions from reporters. Asked about the Vienna talks, POTUS said he will update reporters on that later.

On whether the Masters golf tournament should be moved out of Georgia, POTUS said: "I think that's up to the Masters."

He added that it's a very "tough decision" for a corporation or a group to make but added:

"The best way to deal with this is for Georgia and other states to smarten up. Stop it. Stop it," he said.

On whether he discussed with President Xi that China misled the world about the pandemic, POTUS said he has not had that conversation with President Xi.

In-Town Pool Report #19 - Travel/photo lid

We have a lid for today. Have a wonderful afternoon.

Will send on some fuller quotes from the questions in a separate report.

In-Town Pool Report #20 - Fuller quotes

On Masters golf tournament:

"I think that's up to the Masters."

"It is reassuring to see for-profit operations and businesses are speaking up about how these new Jim Crow laws are just antithetical to who we are. There's another side to it, too. The other side to it too is when they in fact move out of Georgia, the people who need the help the most, the people who are making hourly wages, sometimes get hurt the most."

"I think it's a very tough decision for a corporation to make – or group to make. But I respect them when they make that judgment and I support the judgment they make."

"The best way to deal with this is for Georgia and other states to smarten up. Stop it. Stop it," he said.

On vaccine hesitancy in red states.

POTUS says the Biden administration is working on a media campaign to tackle vaccine reluctancy. "And by the way the number of people who are reluctant to take it continues to diminish – continues to diminish across the country."

POTUS says there's two groups that are seemingly hesitant: One group who've been reluctant because of "past wrongs that have been done to them" and another group who "Mitch McConnell keeps speaking to them, which I give him credit for."

On whether he has spoken to Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell, POTUS says he has not.

"I think the Federal Reserve is an independent operation. And starting off my presidency, I want to be real clear that I'm not going to do the kinds of things that have been done in the last administration – either talking to the attorney general about who he's going to prosecute or not prosecute and under what circumstances, or for the Fed, telling them what they should and shouldn't do. Even though that wouldn't be basis upon which I'd be talking to him. So I have been very fastidious about not talking to them but I do talk to the secretary of treasury."