Pool Reports of December 14, 2023

In-town pool report #1 -- lunch lid

The White House called a lunch lid until 12:45 PM.

In-town pool report #2 -- briefing now at 1:15

From the White House: The press briefing will begin at 1:15 PM.

In-town pool report #3 -- two minutes to the briefing

[APP Note: No additional text was included in this report.]

In-town pool report #4 -- briefing starts

The briefing started at 1:17 pm

In-town pool report #5 -- briefing concludes

The briefing concluded at 2:15 pm

In-town pool report #6 -- pool gathering

the in-town travel pool is gathering for biden's afternoon event

In-town travel pool report #7 — motorcade rolling

At 2:43 pm, the motorcade started rolling. We didn't see POTUS get into the beast, but it appeared he entered from the Oval Office.

In-town pool report #8 — arrival at NIH

Motorcade arrived at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland at 3:13 pm

The motorcade was uneventful

From the WH:

Traveling with the President via motorcade en route to the National Institutes of Health:

Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President & Director of Oval Office Operations
Neera Tanden, Assistant to the President and Domestic Policy Advisor
Ryan Montoya, Assistant to the President & Director of Scheduling & Advance
Marc Gustafson, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for the White House Situation Room
Megan Rooney, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Presidential Speechwriter

In-town pool report #9 — event starts

POTUS began speaking at 3:26 pm

The event is being carried live

From the White House

In attendance for the President's remarks on his Administration's progress to lower prescription drug costs and crack down on Big Pharma price gouging:

National Institutes of Health Doctors and Pharmacists

Speaking Program
David Mitchell, President & Founder, Patients for Affordable Drugs
The President

In-town travel pool report #10 — event wraps/POTUS q

POTUS wrapped at 3:40 pm. Event was carried live.

He answered one question:

In-town pool report #9a — resending potus answer to questions
[APP Note: See reporter's comment in Report #11 that this should be numbered as #10a.]

Was told the text of Biden's answer didn't come through. Trying again

POTUS was asked if he'd like to see Israel move to phase down the war or move to a less intense phase by the end of the year.

He said, "I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives. Not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful"

He did not respond to follow up questions.

Motorcade started moving at 3:47 pm. We didn't see potus enter the motorcade.

In town travel pool report #11 — arrival back at the WH

Motorcade arrived back at the White House at 4:20 pm.

From a distance, we watched POTUS exit the motorcade and walk into the Oval Office. He was with Bruce Reed and Annie Tomasini. We were too far away to shout questions.

The motorcade ride back from NIH was uneventful, aside from lots of stopped traffic all around us. At one point, we went under an overpass on the highway just outside DC that had graffiti on it. "Ceasefire now," it said.

Correction: the last pool report should have been labeled 10a not 9a.

In-town pool report #12 -- Artemis II Crew at sticks

The White House just informed us of the following:

The Artemis II Crew is heading to the sticks.

In-town pool report #13 -- lid

The White House called a travel/photo lid at 6:01 pm.

The crew of the Artemis II spoke to reporters at the sticks for about eight minutes. They said they met with Biden for roughly an hour, and met earlier in the day with Vice President Harris.

They said their families came along for the visit to the White House, and they used the opportunity to than the president and vice president for their leadership

Here's a link to the Otter of their comments

https://otter.ai/u/Dq0h69gwcnfF8SUqGI7y8xG7wbk?tab=chat