Pool Reports of February 9, 2022

Pool report #1: Psaki briefing is now at 1 p.m.

Morning, please note the new briefing time.

The rest of the schedule remains unchanged.

There’s a BBB round table at 2:30 p.m.

Pool report #2: POTUS will host Senate Judiciary Dems at the WH tomorrow

The meeting is related to the SCOTUS nominee review process -

More per an official:

• Building on the work the President has been doing to seek the advice of Senators of both parties, he will host the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats at the White House on Thursday.
• The President has also continued his conversations with Republicans this week, and he’s grateful to all of the members who are working with him in good faith during this process.
• As a former longtime chairman of the committee, and as you’ve heard him emphasize repeatedly, the President takes the advice role of the Senate very seriously, and also has a unique appreciation for Supreme Court nominations being one of the most important decisions that a president ever makes.
• He is considering a wealth of candidates, all of whom possess the best qualifications that any person could – first-rate legal minds, strong credentials, records, and character. They have also all lived the American dream, have compelling life stories and unique strengths. And any of them would be deserving of bipartisan support because of their deep qualifications.
• He’s also continuing to consult with a diverse group of legal experts for their views, as well.

Pool report #3: Waiting for briefing

It was scheduled for 1 p.m. No word on updated time.

Pool report #4: Two minute warning for briefing

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

Pool report #5: Briefing ended at 2:16 p.m.

The briefing with Jen Psaki started at 1:24 p.m.

Pool and credentialed media have been told to immediately assemble for the president's Build Back Better roundtable event, scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

Pool report #6: BBB event

Pool was ushered into the State Dining Room for the event at 2:39 pm.

The event will be streamed on the WH website but I’ll send along key quotes.

Pool report #7: BBB event with executives of electric utility companies

POTUS began by saying he couldn't stay for the whole event but thanked the executives for coming.

POTUS asked Patricia Vincent Collawn, CEO of of PNM Resources, an electricity provider in New Mexico, how BBB could help the economy:

"This legislation is going to allow us to be carbon free sooner," she said. Importantly, she added, BBB funding would allow "for a just transition," meaning workers can be retrained from other industries like coal or adjust to new jobs without leaving tribal lands where they live.

She pointed out that New Mexico is one of the poorest states but has "number three solar potential in the United States … and then number three, onshore wind potential."

"Your support … will really allow us to accelerate making energy reliable, affordable and cleaner, sooner," she said.

POTUS praised electric vehicles as "quiet n quick," which got him a laugh.

He said he and his wife spent time with indigenous communities in NM and other places and said the legislation "will make a difference for them in a big way."

Vincent Collawn (of PNM) said the Navajo Nation and others are ready and prepared to move to clean energy.

POTUS asked another executive about wind energy. He said on one related trip he was particularly impressed by windmill blade.

"They showed me a blade of a windmill that's 100 yards long. My lord. Holy lord."

Nick Akins, the CEO of American Electric Power, says they have a project in place that will say will save customers billions.

"I think it's a heck of an opportunity," POTUS agreed, adding that in "2012, 13 or 14" he was talking about a "major" wind initiative on the East Coast.

"But there was a real blowback when people said 'I don't wanna see those things.'"

He asked about the reception of people who live near the project in Oklahoma. Akins said "for us it's important to scope those projects."

"Generic question: are you getting less resistance when you talk about wind and windmills? I know they cause cancer," he said, a jab at former President Trump's claim that windmill noise caused cancer, a view experts have debunked and others in the Republican Party (Grassley) have called idiotic.

"Bad joke," POTUS added.

Gerald Anderson, chair of of DTE Energy, replied that people have embraced wind and reception to "solar" has been very high. "We expect that to be a well received renewable resource in the state."

POTUS said that "in some cases China is ahead of us but I think we're gonna end up having a significant export market as well."

He joked that he hoped when executives looked back in 10 years at this time when they didn't have any dinner at the White House (Covid joke) that it would have been worth it.

The president didn't take any shouted questions and joked to the executives about a "press conference" in a voice that was just nearly audible.

A WH aide was concerned about the president taking questions as the lingering last of the pool was shuffled out. "Don't think about it Matt," she said, singling out a Wapo reporter whose path out of the room was momentarily blocked by equipment.

Event ended at 3:03 pm.

Speaking Program, per WH:
The President
Pat Vincent-Collawn, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of PNM Resources
Nick Akins, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of American Electric Power

Background if you need it was sent last night from WH (note "tomorrow" is now today):

On background from The White House:

Tomorrow, the President will participate in a roundtable with CEOs of electric utilities to discuss his Build Back Better agenda, which will make the largest investment in combatting climate change in U.S. history to lower energy costs for working families, create good-paying, union jobs, and build a reliable, clean energy future. The executives and organizations attending tomorrow operate key parts of America's power grid and they know that the best way to ensure future economic growth is to make long-term investments that will combat the climate crisis, increase the competitiveness of our industries and protect our electrical grid from extreme weather events -- all while lowering costs for American families across the country.

Joining President Biden in the discussion from the Administration:

• Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm
• National Economic Advisor Brian Deese
• National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy
• Deputy National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi

Private Sector Participants:

• Nick Akins, Chairman, President and CEO, American Electric Power
• Gerard Anderson, Executive Chairman, DTE Energy
• Dennis Arriola, CEO, Avangrid
• Warner Baxter, Executive Chairman, Ameren
• Calvin Butler, SEVP and COO, Exelon
• Patricia Vincent-Collawn, Chairman, President and CEO, PNM Resources
• Thomas Fanning, Chairman and CEO, Southern Company
• Lynn Good, Chairman, President, and CEO, Duke Energy
• Thomas Kuhn, President, Edison Electric Institute
• Pedro Pizarro, President and CEO, Edison International

Pool report #8: Lid was called at 3:37 p.m.

Bye