Pool Reports by Jennifer Bendery, HuffPost
| Sent: | Reports: |
| February 2, 2022 12:01 |
Pool report #1: checking in Good afternoon from the White House. All quiet here for now. We've got one pooled event today and two press briefings. Stay tuned for any updates. 1:30 PM THE PRESIDENT, THE VICE PRESIDENT, and THE FIRST LADY host an event at the White House to reignite the Cancer Moonshot; THE SECOND GENTLEMAN also attends Briefing Schedule 12:30 PM Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki 3:00 PM Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and public health officials |
| February 2, 2022 13:31 |
Pool report #2 -- Cancer Moonshot event starting soon Pool ushered into the East Room at 1:20 for the Cancer Moonshot event, which is being live-streamed on the White House website. The speaking program, via the White House: The First Lady Spotted in the room: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz Maybe 80-100 people in here. Lots of chatter, lots of hugs and pictures being taken among guests. Waiting for the event to begin. |
| February 2, 2022 13:41 |
Pool report 2b -- official guest list The below list of guests is provided by the WH. One person spotted here who is not on that list is Republican Rep. Tom Cole. In attendance at the event to reignite the Cancer Moonshot are approximately 100 invited guests. Attendees include: In addition to stakeholders in the cancer community. |
| February 2, 2022 13:52 |
Pool report #2c -- still more congressional guests From the WH: Also in attendance: Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD) |
| February 2, 2022 14:39 |
Pool report #3 -- color from Cancer Moonshot event POTUS and FLOTUS entered the East Room at 1:50 to applause, preceded by VPOTUS and SGOTUS. Event ended at 2:30. POTUS spoke for 25 mins. Snippets below from everyone's remarks. Check against transcript for full quotes. From FLOTUS, who got a standing ovation: "Four of my friends were diagnosed with breast cancer in one year." "Since then I've seen the darkness of this disease." "We will build a future where the word 'cancer' forever loses its power." From VPOTUS, who also got a standing ovation: "My whole life, I stood witness as my mother the scientist worked to end breast cancer... She worked at a national laboratory. She published groundbreaking research." "Since the turn of the century we have learned so much." "More people are surviving cancer, more people are enduring cancer since being diagnosed than ever before." "Cancer ended my mother's life. I will never forget the day she sat me and my sister down and told us she had been diagnosed with colon cancer. It was one of the worst days of my life." "One of the last questions she asked the hospice nurse was, 'Are my daughters going to be okay?'" VPOTUS choked up a bit here. POTUS began at 2:06, to a standing ovation. He motioned to someone in the front row and said, "That's the man who spent 18 months trying to save our son's life. Doctor, I love you." Tackling cancer is "one of the reasons, quite frankly, why I ran for president." Says the effort remains bipartisan in Congress. "This could really be an American moment... prove to the world we can do big things." Cancer has claimed 1.2M American lives amid the COVID pandemic, he says. POTUS notes that in 2016, it was Mitch McConnell who made the request to rename a Cancer Moonshot bill after Beau Biden, POTUS' late son who died from brain cancer in 2015. "Cancer Moonshot brought the country and world closer together on this issue." POTUS says his actions today include forming a new cancer cabinet and new entity in NIH focused on preventing, detecting and fighting cancer. Needs Congress to fund it. Calls on the private sector to go "bolder" in tackling cancer, and says today is "a call to action" for people to get their cancer screenings. "It's a mission that can truly unify the nation," POTUS says several times, in different ways. After the program ended, Biden shook hands with members of his cabinet on stage with him and then turned to the crowd and shouted something about his great grandfather Finnegan "saying Joey, keep the faith" and then his mother saying "no, spread the faith." Someone in the crowd raised a fist in solidarity. |
| February 2, 2022 15:08 |
Pool report #4 -- some tidbits post-Moonshot event Two tidbits to pass along: 1 -- As pool was ushered out of the Moonshot event, CNN's Kaitlan Collins' was able to ask POTUS a question re: Putin. Here's her tweet about it: https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1488959267797446657 Biden tells me his decision to deploy troops is "totally consistent" w/ what he's told Putin since the beginning. "As long as he's acting aggressively, we are going to make sure we reassure our NATO allies in Eastern Europe that we're there and Article 5 is a sacred obligation." 2 -- A White House aide says she doesn't believe any additional members of Biden's family were at the Moonshot event, and does not know the name of the oncologist seated in the front row of today's event who treated Beau Biden. |
| February 2, 2022 15:21 |
Pool report #5 -- We have a travel/photo lid. That's all from here, folks. Have a good one. |
Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Pool Reports of February 2, 2022 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/354364