Pool Reports of February 23 & 24, 2020

WH pool report 1

Good early (and chilly) morning from the White House, where President Trump will leave this morning for India. The departure from the White House via Marine One will be open press and we will send along quotes if he stops to talk.

WH pool report 2

The president stopped and took some questions. He congratulated Bernie Sanders for "a great win."

"I hope they treat him fairly "

More to come

WH pool report 3

The president accused Adam Schiff of leaking the information that Russia was helping Bernie Sanders.

"Nobody said it to me at all."
"They ought to investigate Adam Schiff for leaking that intelligence."

More to come

WH pool report 4

The president said he was hopeful of a final agreement to end the fighting in Afghanistan.

"People want to make a deal."

The Taliban is "tired of fighting."

"NIneteen years, that's a long time."

WH pool report 5 - president departs

Marine One took off at 918 . First lady Melania Trump and Dan Scavino were aboard.

Will file more quotes later.

WH pool report 6 - more quotes

On India:

"I hear it's going to be a big event."

"We're going to have millions and miliions of people."

"I get along very well with the prime minister."

"I hear it's going to be a big event. Some people say the biggest event they've ever had in India. That's what the prime minister told me, this will be the biggest event they've ever had."

On Afghanistan:

"We've been over there 19 years. We think they want to make a deal. We want to make a deal. I think it's going to work out....We want to make a deal and we think the Taliban wants to make a deal too. They're tied of fighting."

On the new intelligence chief:

"We have four or five people that are great, very respected."

He said Maguire had to leave because he had to step down by March 11.

"His time came up so he had to leave."

More to come

WH pool report 7 -- final quotes

On Russia helping Sanders:

"I have not been briefed on that at all. Nobody told me about it. They leaked it -- Adam Schiff and his group, they leaked it to the papers as usual. They ought to investigate Adam Schiff for leaking that information. He should not be leaking information out of intelligence. They ought to investigate Adam Schiff."

"What it could be is you know the Democrats are treating Bernie Sanders very unfairly and it sounds to me like a leak from Adam Schiff because they don't want Bernie Sanders to represent them. It sounds like it's '16 all over again for Bernie Sanders.

"He had a great victory yesterday, but you know what happneing, you can see the handwriting on the wall."

On Ukraine and Russia:

"I'd like to see them come together. If they came together in the sense that they got along with each other, that would be a great thing for the world."

On Roger Stone:

"I've seen a very sad thing going oin with respect to roger stone. yo hsvr a jurur thats obviously tainted.

"She somehow wiggled her way onto the jury. If that's not a tainted jury, then there is no such thing as a tainted jury. I think it's a disgrace."

"That shouldn't happen in our criminal justice system."

Trump schedule:

After India, rally in South Carolina on Thursday and the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday. "Not a lot of time for rest."

Will Bernie Sanders be the Democratic nominee?

"I think so, unless they cheat him out of it....Bernie is looking more and more like he'll be the nominee unless they cheat him out of it. A lot of people thought he was going to be nominee last time but it didn't work out. I think they're watching it very closely."

Coronavirus:

"We're very much involved, we're very cognizant of everything going on. We have it very much under control in this country."

U.S. had 12 victims at one pointy but many have gotten very much better.

"It's a big problem but President Xi loves his country. He's working very hard to solve the problem and he will solve the problem."

On the new intelligence director:

"This is just a temporary job. We have five people that we're looking at very seriously, expert people, and at a certain point in the not to distant future, we'll be announcing who they are."

On the championship fight:

Trump said he watched the WBC heavyweight champion fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, which Fury won. "That was a great fight."

He talked about bringing both fighters to the White House.

As always, check against transcript.

Thanks to ABC News for replaying the tape.

Travel pool report #1 - Leaving Joint Base Andrews

Good morning from Joint Base Andrews on a sunny crisp winter day.

Marine One landed at 9:27am.

POTUS waved at the pool and gave his trademark thumbs up but did not answer shouted questions. He climbed Air Force One stairs together with FLOTUS and briefly waved at the top.

They were followed by Dan Scavino, Robert O'Brien and Lindsay Reynolds. Wheels up shortly.

Next stops: Ramstein Air Base, Germany, for refueling, then Ahmedabad, India.

Travel pool report #2 - Landing in Ramstein Air Base

At 10:10pm local time, Air Force One touched down in Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany for refueling.

Uneventful flight across the ocean, no visitors in the press cabin.

Travel pool report #3 - Leaving Ramstein Air Base

Wheels up at 11:30pm local time from (rainy) Ramstein Air Base.

POTUS and FLOTUS did not leave the plane during the 80-minute refueling stop.

Next stop: Ahmedabad.

Travel pool report #4 - Landing in Ahmedabad

Air Force One landed at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, in Ahmedabad, at 11:35am local time.

The pool did not see POTUS during the flight.

Stephanie Grisham came in the press cabin soon after taking off from Germany for a 15-minute off the record exchange.

Robert O'Brien also came towards the end of the flight for a few minutes.

Travel pool report #5 - Ahmedabad airport

POTUS and FLOTUS disembarked at 11:55am.

POTUS was wearing a yellow tie, FLOTUS was in white with a large green belt.

They were greeted at the bottom of Air Force One stairs by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were already on the tarmac, waiting next to the red carpet.

The two leaders walked together on the red carpet towards a traditional group of musicians and dancers.

POTUS gave the pool a thumbs up before boarding the Beast.

Motorcade rolling.

Travel pool report #6 - Motorcading

The motorcade left Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 12:05 pm for what has been dubbed an "India Road Show".

As we were driving outside of the airport, there were traditional dancers on both sides of the road, many of them waving India and US flags.

Thousands of people holding their phones, waving flags.

Dozens of large billboards along the way with large pictures of President Trump and PM Modi.

"Stronger friendship for a brighter future"

"Two dynamic personalities, one momentous occasion"

"Two strong nations, one great friendship"

"Welcome to the land of Mahatma Gandhi"

Heavy security with hundreds of police officers on both sides of the road.

After a 20-minute drive, motorcade stopped at Sabarmati Ashram which was one of Mahatma Gandhi's residence and now hosts a museum.

Travel pool report #7 - Sabarmati Ashram

At Sabarmati Ashram, PM Modi took POTUS and FLOTUS on a tour of the small complex made of a series of small houses.

At one point, the Prime Minister could be seen explaining them how to use a charkha, a traditional spinning wheel used by Gandhi.

The pool was quickly ushered out and did not get to see much of the interactions between the two leaders.

Per WH, POTUS signed the Ashram guest book.

Pool holding in vans outside.

Travel pool report #8 - Arrival at Sardar Patel Stadium

After another 30-minute drive, the motorcade arrived at the newly constructed Sardar Patel Stadium, also known as Motera Stadium, largest cricket stadium in the world with a seating capacity of 110,000.

Thousands of people along the route albeit clearly far from the "six to 10 million people" announced by POTUS during his rally in Colorado Springs on Thursday.

As the motorcade was approaching the stadium, signs along the road read: "Two great democracies at the world biggest cricket stadium".

The motorcade passed in front of a marching band on camels

The two leaders are to participate in an event dubbed "Namaste Trump" which rivals the "Howdy Modi" which took place in Houston during PM Modi's visit to the US in September 2019.

Travel pool report #9 - Motera stadium

The two leaders got a raucous welcome when they entered the stadium which appeared to be packed at capacity.

First Lady Melania Trump also got a very warm welcome from the crowd.

Thousands of people were wearing white hats which read "Namaste Trump".

The speeches are open press.

Travel pool report #9b - Namaste Trump pic

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

Travel pool report #10 - Leaving Motera Stadium

After PM Modi's welcome remarks, POTUS took the stage under a heavy sun at 1:55pm.

His speech lasted 27 minutes.

PM Modi then spoke again.

Towards the end of the speeches, there were many empty seats, especially in the upper part of the stadium, in the sections facing the sun.

Pool heading back to the motorcade.

Travel pool report #11 - Back at Ahmedabad airport

The motorcade left the cricket stadium at 2:40pm.

Uneventful drive back to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.

Wheels up shortly in the smaller version of Air Force One.

Next stop: Agra, for the Taj Mahal visit.

Travel pool report #12- Arrival in Agra and POTUS quotes

Air Force Once landed at Agra Air Base at 4:10pm.

President Trump came at the back of the plane for a 15-minute off the record discussion with the pool.

The following quotes however are on the record:

Cricket stadium
"I thought it was fantastic"
"They worked really hard"

Trade deal with India?
"I am in no rush"
"We are doing well with India, we are making deals."

Democratic race ?
"It could go to the convention, it really could"
"They are going to take it away from Crazy Bernie, they are not going to let him win"
"I actually think he would be tougher than most of the other candidates because he is like me but I have a much bigger base"

Afghanistan peace deal ?
"It has received tremendous support"

Taj Mahal ?
"I have never been to the Taj"
"I hear it's incredible"
"I think it's going to be amazing"

Travel pool report #13 - Greeters in Agra

Per WH

The President and The First Lady are met by:

Shri Sanjeev Kumar Mathur
Commodore, Agra Air Base (VIAG)

Yogi Adityanath
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

Ananbdiben Patel
Governor of Uttar Pradesh

Devi Charon Dhuli
Deputy Chief of Protocol for the Republic of India

Travel pool report #14 - Taj Mahal

After a 20-minute drive, the motorcade arrived close to the Taj Mahal where everybody transfered to a "golf cart motorcade" for a short ride.

The usually overcrowded streets leading to the UNESCO World Heritage Site were totally empty.

Very peaceful and enchanting atmosphere as the sun was going down. Many birds but not monkeys at this stage.

Soon after 5pm, POTUS and FLOTUS stood watching the beautiful white marble mausoleum located on the bank of the Yamuna River.

A few minutes before them, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner also stood on the same spot for the photographers.

More to come.

Travel pool report #15 - Taj Mahal - POTUS & FLOTUS pics

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

Travel pool report #16 - Taj Mahal (visit)

POTUS and FLOTUS walked together to the mausoleum which they visited while the pool stayed behind next to the small bench where Princess Diana sat alone on February 11 1992, in an image that soon became iconic.

Travel pool report #17 - Leaving the Taj Mahal (with regrets)

"Really incredible, an incredible place", said POTUS once again as he walked back from the mausoleum to the entrance of the site.

Back in the "golf cart motorcade" at 5:55pm then in the regular motorcade at 6pm.

We are rolling, heading to Agra Air Base.

Travel pool report #18 - Leaving Agra

Motorcade arrived at Agra airport at 6:25pm.

POTUS and FLOTUS walked back on the red carpet, and, at the bottom of the stairs, were given a framed picture of themselves at the Taj.

Wheels up shortly.

Next stop: Delhi.

Travel pool report #19 - Landing in Delhi

Air Force One landed at Palam Air Force airport in New Delhi at 7:11 pm after an uneventful flight.

POTUS and FLOTUS swiftly boarded the Beast.

We are rolling.

Travel pool report #20 - Lid

After a short drive, the motorcade arrived at POTUS hotel in Delhi.

We have a lid.

Thanks to co-pooler Michael Bender from the Wall Street Journal.

Have a good evening everyone.