Pool Reports of March 11, 2024

Out of town pool report #1: Rolling

Good morning from sunny Wilmington. The motorcade is rolling from the Biden residence as of 8:38 a.m.

Per the president's schedule, we are headed to DANG where he will lift for the return trip to JBA.

Out of town pool report #2: DANG arrival

Motorcade arrived at the Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle at 8:46 a.m. after an uneventful drive.

From the White House:

Traveling with the President via motorcade en route to Delaware Air National Guard Base:

Anita Dunn, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President
Marc Gustafson, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for the White House Situation Room
Sheila Grant, Special Assistant to the President & Chief of Staff & Senior Advisor to the Deputy Chief of Staff

Out of town pool report #3: Lift from DANG

President Biden boarded Marine One at 8:47, and he lifted off from DANG at 8:53. Handing off to the in-town pool, who will handle the arrival at JBA.

From the White House:

Traveling with the President via motorcade en route to Delaware Air National Guard Base:

Anita Dunn, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President
Marc Gustafson, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for the White House Situation Room
Sheila Grant, Special Assistant to the President & Chief of Staff & Senior Advisor to the Deputy Chief of Staff

In-town pool report #1 - JBA arrival/rolling

Marine One touched down at Joint Base Andrews at 9:47 am. President Biden stepped out at 9:50 am.

Pool was held by the press vans for M1 arrival, too far out to shout questions.

We are now rolling at 9:53 am back to Washington for Biden's speech to the National League of Cities.

In-town pool report #2 — Marriot

The motorcade arrived at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Washington at 10:15 am. Your pooler did not see POTUS exit the beast.

Pool was led into a large ballroom at the hotel, packed with several hundred people attending the National League of Cities event.

Pool is now waiting for POTUS remarks to begin.

In-town pool report #3 -- Remarks underway

POTUS took the stage at 10:56 a.m. A reminder that the remarks are streaming on the White House site.

Also, from the press office:

Participating in a photoline with the President:

Mayor Sharon Weston Broome, Baton Rouge, LA, First Vice President, National League of Cities
Mayor Steve Patterson, Athens, OH, Second Vice President, National League of Cities
Mayor David Sander, Rancho Cordova, CA, President, National League of Cities
Mayor Victoria Woodards, Tacoma, WA, Immediate Past President, National League of Cities
Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities
Mayor Vince Williams, Union City, GA
Mayor Roberta Cano, Winslow, AZ
Mayor Doug Nicholls, Yuma, AZ
Mayor Viola "Vi" Lyles, Charlotte, NC
Mayor Brad Cavanagh, Dubuque, IA
Mayor Chris Roberts, Shoreline, WA
Mayor Pro Tem Jessica Harrison, Zebulon, NC
Mayor Pro Tem Denise Mitchell, College Park, MD
Councilmember Mark Freeman, Mesa, AZ
Councilmember Dan Kealey, Burnsville, MN
Councilmember Kevin Kramer, Louisville-Jefferson Metro Government, KY
Councilmember Ruth Grendahl, Apple Valley, MN
Council President Blaine Griffin, Cleveland, OH
Councilmember Adriana Rocha Garcia, San Antonio, TX
Commissioner Yvette Colbourne, Miramar, FL
Councilmember Victor Aguilar, San Leandro, CA
Councilmember Yolanda Trout-Manuel, Auburn, WA
Councilmember Lisa Ford, Broken Arrow, OK
Councilor April Fournier, Portland, ME
Councilmember Kristopher Dahir, Sparks, NV
Councilmember Frank Aurelio Yokoyama, Cerritos, CA
Jeanie Garner, Executive Director, Florida League of Cities
Teri Goodman, Director of Strategic Partnership, City of Dubuque, IA

In-town pool report #4 -- Remarks over

President Biden ended his speech to the National League of Cities at 11:13 a.m.

Pool was ushered out of the ballroom and we’re now heading back to the press vans.

In-town pool report #5 - Rolling to JBA

The motorcade is rolling back to JBA at 11:20 a.m. Pool did not see POTUS during departure from the Marriott Marquis.

In-town pool report #7 - AFI gaggle

From the White House press office:

Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton will gaggle aboard AF1 at 12:15pm EDT

In-town pool report #8 — rolling from JBA

Air Force One was wheels down at Joint Base Andrews at 5:39 p.m.

President Biden stopped to talk briefly to the travel pool at 5:51 pm.

Picking back up from the travel pool. Motorcade is rolling to the White House at 5:53 p.m.

In-town pool report #9 - WH arrival

The motorcade arrived at the White House at 6:15 p.m. following a quick drive back from JBA.

POTUS was spotted from a distance entering the White House at 6:16 p.m.

In-town pool report #10 - lid

The press office called a lid at 6:39 p.m. Have a good evening,

WH travel pool report 1 — NH day

Greetings from Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland, where the large version of Air Force, the modified 747, tail number 29000, is on the tarmac awaiting the president’s arrival for today’s trip to New Hampshire.

Principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton is scheduled to take questions on the flight to Manchester. That session will be live streamed on the WH web site.

WH travel pool report 2 – departure from JBA

The president’s motorcade arrived on the tarmac at 1142 and came to a stop with his limousine beside the plane’s forward, built-in staircase.

He climbed out wearing his Aviators, chatted briefly with his Air Force greeters and climbed up and aboard at 1144.

We should be airborne shortly for the hour-long flight to Manchester.

Reminder that principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton is scheduled to gaggle with the pool on the flight. This will be live-streamed on the White House web site.

WH travel pool report 2a — AF1 travelers

Traveling with the President aboard Air Force One en route to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport:

Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Vinay Reddy, Assistant to the President & Director of Speechwriting
Ben LaBolt, Assistant to the President & Director of Communications
Ryan Montoya, Assistant to the President & Director of Scheduling & Advance
Olivia Dalton, Deputy Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy Press Secretary
Ashley Williams, Deputy Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President & Director of Strategic Outreach
Jen Daskal, Deputy Assistant to the President & Deputy Homeland Security Advisor
Alex Haskell, Deputy Assistant to the President & Chief of Staff for the Office of Legislative Affairs
Marc Gustafson, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for the White House Situation Room
Krystal Ortiz, Special Assistant to the President & Director of Political Engagement

WH travel pool report 3 – arrival at Manchester

Air Force set down at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport at 1251 following a 58-minute flight that featured somewhat exciting turbulence at both takeoff and landing.

Principal deputy press secretary gaggles for 18 minutes, with 5 minutes of statements at the top about the president's budget, this afternoon's health care speech, and Sec Fudge's departure.

Topics in the Q and A included the budget proposal, Israel-Gaza, his statement re Laken Riley's accused killer, and his emphasis on things like drug costs and junk fees in the context of his belief that American democracy itself is at risk.

Audio should be available on the WH web site.

No major news, but points: no elaboration on consequences might take place if Netanyahu does not honor the "red line" the president mentioned this weekend, and a claim that the president's "regret" for the use of "illegal" in his speech on Thursday was not an apology.

The president came down the stairs at 1302 and shook hands and chatted with a half dozen greeters in the cold, biting, 25 kts wind.

At 1305, he entered his limousine and at 1307 we are on our way to Goffstown, about to 11 miles away, for his health care remarks.

WH travel pool report 4 — arrival in Goffstown

The motorcade arrived at the Goffstown YMCA at 1325 following an 18-minute uneventful drive along shut down highways and roads.

A half dozen Trump supporters stood across the street from the Y, with a red Trump flag and some signs. One had a bullhorn and was chanting "Let's go Brandon" as pool was led inside.

The president is to speak at 1430, and the event will be live-streamed at the WH web site and C-Span.

Pool is holding at this open press event.

Per the WH press office:

Greeting the President upon arrival at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

Senator Maggie Hassan (NH)
Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01)
Mayor Jay Ruais, Manchester, NH
Bill Shaheen, spouse of Senator Shaheen
Stefany Shaheen, daughter of Senator Shaheen

WH travel pool report 5 -- color from the site

The venue is an indoor tennis court at the YMCA Allard Center in Goffstown (in bounds is purple, out is painted green), with blue curtains stretched across the far baseline.

There is a stage with a lectern bearing the presidential seal, a U.S. flag, and two large placards reading "LOWERING COSTS FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES" placed on either side.

About 175 invited guests are seated in white folding chairs facing the stage (although many are at this moment milling about).

Two large flatscreens, that will presumably display the text of the president's speech, are mounted on the camera riser about 30 feet directly in front of the stage.

WH travel pool report 6 -- President Biden takes stage

The president took at the stage and began his remarks at 1406.

The speech is being carried live at the WH web site.

WH travel pool report 7 -- Biden wraps up

President Biden spoke for 17 minutes, speaking again about his successes thus far in reducing health care costs and expanding insurance coverage and hopes to do more.

He also noted that his predecessor and likely challenger this November, former President Donald Trump, said in an interview this morning that there were numerous cuts possible in Social Security and Medicare to save money.

"The bottom line is: He's still at it," Biden said.

He also boasted of being able to pass a provision to let Medicare negotiate for lower drug prices:

"We finally beat big pharma."

"For years people talked about this, but we finally got it done."

Biden also talked about increasing taxes on the wealthy and large corporations to pay shrink the deficit and pay for his new programs.

"I'm a capitalist. Make all the money you want. Just begin to pay your fair share."

Pool was hustled out to the press vans.

WH travel report 8 -- motorcade rolling

At 1441, the president's motorcade is underward toward Manchester for his campaign event.

Across the street, a different Trump supporter had taken up the "Let's Go Brandon" chant.

(pool report timing note: cell service at the Y was not good; hence the bunched together reports.)

Per the WH press office:

(again, cell service was terrible inside the venue)

The President is delivering remarks on lowering costs for American families.

Pre-Program
Senator Maggie Hassan (NH)

Run of Show
Rose Keller; accompanied by Donald Kreis
The President

WH travel pool report 9 — arrival at NH campaign office

President Biden’s motorcade arrived at the Biden/Harris NH campaign office at 1458, sandwiched between a Chinese restaurant and a fitness studio in a Manchester strip mall.

We’re crowded to a room plastered with the placards of many Democratic candidates running for office in New Hampshire.

We are awaiting Biden’s entrance.

WH travel pool report 10 — Biden takes the floor

The president came into the room at 1505 to whoops and applause and then a "four more years" chant.

He had lost the tie and suit coat and put on a zip-up pullover.

He is holding a wireless mic and moving around the room. He began speaking at 1508.

WH travel pool report 11 — Biden remarks

Biden hit his oft-repeated themes of having created 15 million new jobs, lowering inflation, trying to make the wealthy pay more in taxes.

As he approached the back of the room where the press were located, he joked:

"I don't know why you don't like me more than Trump, given the way he talks about you."

He tried to allay concerns about polling, pointing out how it has become harder to get a good sample, and then joked about his age:

"I know I don't look it, but I've been around a while."

He spoke about still running to restore the "soul of the country," about wanting to lower health care costs.

He then came back to Trump's apparent antipathy toward the nation's fundamental values, and said that he had with Hungarian leader Orban and praised him.

"He was with Viktor Orban, who talked about democracy being the problem, and telling how much he understood and agreed with him. Come on. I mean, this is not who we are. And we've got to make sure that we communicate that."

After eight minutes, the president said he would take questions, at which point the pool was led out and back to the vans.

Where we hold.

WH travel pool report 12 — info about campaign event

Per the WH press office:

On behalf of the Biden-Harris campaign:

The President will deliver remarks at a New Hampshire coordinated campaign field office opening.

Run of Show
Aaron Jacobs, New Hampshire Campaign Manager
The President

WH travel pool report 13 — motorcade rolling again

At 1601 the president’s motorcade is again rolling, en route to the airport for the trip back to DC.

WH travel pool report 14 — back at Manchester airport

The president boarded Air Force 1 at 1617 using the built-in staircase at the front of the plane.

The drive from his field office was uneventful, and he did not take questions from the pool.

We should be in the air shortly for the flight back to Andrews.

Please note that we are currently nearly an hour ahead of schedule, meaning his arrival back at the White House is also likely to be about an hour ahead of schedule.

WH travel pool report 15 — back at Andrews

Air Force was back on the ground at Joint Base Andrews at 1739 following a 67-minute flight that, again, was smooth except for bumps at the start and the end.

Pool had no visitors from the forward of the plane.

WH travel pool report 16 — Biden says he has no plans to talk to Netanyahu right now

The president spoke with the pool ahead of the wing for about a minute, saying he had no plans to speak with Netanyahu about his red line comment, no plans to speak to the Knesset at this time, and there was no need for troops at the Polish border.

Need to check with those professional audio equipment for exact quotes.

The president came down the built-in staircase of Air Force 1, for the third time today greeted Col. Angela Ochoa, commander of the 89th Airlift Wing, and walked to his waiting SUV.

Handing off to my in-town colleagues for the rest.

WH travel pool report 17 -- Biden Q&As on tarmac

Here is a rough transcript of the session ahead of the wing upon landing just now:

Q: have you scheduled a meeting with Bibi Netanyahu?

"No."

Q: Do you plan to?

"We'll see what happens."

Q: Do you plan to take executive actions on the border?

Biden said he is counting on the passage of the bipartisan border bill, said, in response to Congress' inability to do so: "I'm helping them."

Q: Do you have plans to address the Israeli parliament?

"No, not at this moment."

Q: Would you support increasing US troops at the Polish border?

"There's no need for more troops at the Polish border."

Many thanks to NPR's Lexie Schapitl for the audio (your pooler's iphone recording was useless with the wind noise.)

Until next time.