Pool Reports of May 18, 2022

In-Town Pool Report #1: Checking In

Good afternoon. I'll be your pooler today. No changes to the schedule as of now.

Your pooler was COVID tested, and we are gathering at the stakeout location and heading to JBA shortly, before POTUS. Supplemental pool will be covering POTUS departure back at the White House (at 1:15pm).

Copying the schedule below:

EDT

10:15 AM THE PRESIDENT receives the President's Daily Brief
Closed Press

11:50 AM In-Town Pool Call Time
Stakeout Location

1:00 PM Supplemental Pool Call Time

1:15 PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart the White House en route Joint Base Andrews
South Lawn
Open Press and Pooled for TV (Gather 1:05 PM — Palm Room Doors)

1:25 PM THE PRESIDENT arrives at Joint Base Andrews
Joint Base Andrews
In-Town Travel Pool

1:45 PM THE PRESIDENT receives a briefing from his senior leadership team on interagency efforts to prepare for and respond to hurricanes this season
Joint Base Andrews
In-Town Travel Pool

2:50 PM THE PRESIDENT departs Joint Base Andrews en route the White House
Joint Base Andrews
In-Town Travel Pool

3:00 PM THE PRESIDENT arrives at the White House
South Lawn
Open Press and Pooled for TV (Gather 2:50 PM — Palm Room Doors)

Briefing Schedule

10:45 AM Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and public health officials

1:30 PM Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan

In-Town Pool Report #2: POTUS JBA Arrival

Pool left the White House at 12:06pm and arrived at JBA a little after 12:40pm (and subsequently drove around JBA a bit, as there appeared to be some confusion on movements).

M1 touched down at JBA around 1:30 (landing was blocked by another plane — pool is holding under wing of plane that FLOTUS will be taking). M1 moved forward into pool's view at 1:35pm.

The motorcade drove up at 1:36pm and POTUS and FLOTUS, both masked, stepped out of M1 at 1:37pm. They took their masks off once outside.

POTUS walked FLOTUS to her plane, gave her a hug and watched as she boarded. He blew her a kiss when she reached the top of the stairs and did not come over to speak to pool, instead turning away and walking towards the vehicle.

Pool is quickly loading back into the vans, which joined the motorcade, as of 1:40pm.

In-Town Pool Report #3: Briefing Background

Pool arrived at the hanger at 1:43pm. We did not see POTUS exit his vehicle (he entered the hanger from a different area).

POTUS walked in at 1:48pm, chatting with two individuals, for the tour. Inside the hanger are various aircrafts as well as two FEMA vehicles.

Background from the White House:

The President will receive a briefing from the senior leadership team about the 2022 Atlantic hurricane outlook, and efforts the administration has taken to ensure the equitable delivery of disaster recovery programs.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) manages three specially designed and equipped aircraft that play an integral role in hurricane forecasting. This fleet includes a P-3, C-130, and G-IV jet that can fly into and above hurricanes to capture data, immediately analyze it, and push it to meteorologists on the ground to support real-time forecasting during active hurricanes. Data collected during hurricanes by these aircraft help forecasters make more accurate predictions.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) maintains a robust Search and Rescue capability to help those in distress. USCG uses cutters, aircraft, and boats to carry out search and rescue missions in the aftermath of hurricanes. The HH-60 Jayhawks Helicopter is one of the USCG's primary rescue helicopters and is certified for operation in all-weather and at night.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maintains six Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) detachments that provide mobile telecommunications, life support, logistics, operational support, and power generation during disasters to support the on-site management of disaster response activities. MERS also plays a vital role in supporting the establishment of mobile disaster recovery centers and the communications capabilities necessary for disaster survivor assistance (DSA) teams to bring assistance to survivors in rural and often hard to reach communities. DSA teams, in combination with MERS are the first step in getting survivors, who otherwise may not have access or means to register for assistance on their own, connected to Federal resources.

Each year, the Small Business Association (SBA) provides billions of dollars in low-interest, direct federal disaster loans to help homeowners, renters, businesses, and nonprofits to repair or replace disaster damaged property. SBA disaster loans are among the first federal disaster assistance programs on the ground immediately following a disaster declaration. SBA leverages our vast network of regional and district offices, as well as resource partners such as Small Business Development Centers, SCORE, Women's Business Centers, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, and Community Navigators. Access to affordable assistance to fully repair homes and businesses is critical to speed recovery in areas hit by disasters. SBA is working closely with FEMA and HUD to ensure equitable recovery and improve overall customer experience for disaster survivors. As providers of federal disaster assistance, we have a duty to ease the burden on disaster survivors to ensure they can recover quickly and to strengthen the economy.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is making a significant investment in recovery and resilience through the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery or CDBG-DR program. CDBG-DR – with over $86 billion in active grants – is arguably the largest disaster recovery and resilience program focused on the needs of low- and moderate-income communities. In response to the President's focus on climate, equity, and support for underserved communities, HUD updated the CDBG-DR program to further focus on the needs of underserved communities and resilience to climate change. Specifically, HUD is directly incorporating mitigation as a core component of regular disaster recovery, instead of treating it as a distinct activity. Additionally, their focus on equity and underserved populations in recovery and resilience is unprecedented. They are requiring grantees to spend 70 percent of recovery funds on activities that benefit people with low and moderate incomes. Most immediately, this will impact the $5 billion recently released to state and local governments suffering from major disasters in 2020 and 2021. They support permanent authorization of the CDBG-DR program to increase certainty in the federal response and speed up the delivery of assistance. This year, for the first time ever, the President's budget called on Congress to permanently authorize the CDBG-DR program.

In-Town Pool Report #4: POTUS Briefing Underway

POTUS chatted, out of earshot of your pooler, in front of an Air Force aircraft with two men who appear to be Air Force uniforms.

Pool moved alongside POTUS as he continued his tour of the hanger. POTUS moved on to a second aircraft and chatted with two more men (his back was to the pool for this discussion — names of those participating in the tour below).

Pool was briefly allowed to get closer as POTUS toured but that was quickly reversed, and we were asked to back up a bit.

POTUS at one point was handed an item (a patch? Your pooler will try to verify) and he returned the gift with (again, will try to confirm) challenge coins.

As the tour continued, pool was instructed to move towards the designated briefing area and away from POTUS (there's a table set up at one corner of the hanger for the briefing). Those participating in the briefing were already seated when pool arrived.

POTUS came over to the briefing area at 2:01pm.

"I was looking for a ride!" He joked before sitting down at the head of the table.

POTUS remarks are being live streamed at the White House website, so your pooler will not send a transcript along. POTUS is speaking now (we didn't get a warning).

*FYI, as you've probably gathered by now, your pooler isn't at the White House and therefore won't be noting when the press briefing begins/ends.

From White House:

Participating in the tour with the President:

Participating in the first tour stop:
Captain Chris Kerns
Captain Nikki Hathaway
Lieutenant Colonel Erik Olson
Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Dehart

Participating in the second tour stop:
Lieutenant Commander Megan Peters
Aviation Survival Technician Third Class Ryan Neugebauer

In-Town Pool Report #5: POTUS Remark On Finland/Sweden

Biden made one remark to the press after the pool spray, on Finland's and Sweden's NATO bid.

"I'm gonna say one thing. I'm gonna be - I got a call months ago from the President of Finland, wanted to come and see me, I saw him, he told me what he was thinking about. And I got a call that both the leader of Finland and Sweden are coming to see me on Thursday. I think we're gonna be okay."

Follow up Q: Can you convince Turkey?

"I'm not going to Turkey, but I think we're gonna be okay."

Pool was ushered out at 2:08pm. Please double check quotes against transcript. Pool is now holding in the vans while the briefing continues.

In-Town Pool Report #6: Briefing Participants

Passing along this additional information from White House. Pool is still holding in the vans, just outside of the hanger:

Seated at the table while the President delivers remarks on the Administration's Priorities for Equitable Emergency Preparedness:

Marcia Fudge, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Isabella Casillas Guzman, Administrator of the Small Business Administration
Liz Sherwood-Randall, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
Caitlin Durkovich, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Resilience and Response
Dr. Richard (Rick) Spinrad, Administrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Kenneth Graham, Director of the National Hurricane Center
Deanne Criswell, Administrator of FEMA
Admiral Linda L. Fagan, Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard

In-Town Pool Report #7: POTUS Departs JBA

Vans began moving and met back up with the motorcade at 2:52pm. Your pooler caught a glimpse of POTUS exiting the hanger and getting into his vehicle at 2:55pm.

Motorcade began its short drive towards M1 a few minutes later, pulling up at 2:58pm.

POTUS exited his vehicle at 2:59pm and quickly boarded M1. Pool hopped back into vans immediately afterwards and drove a short distance away from M1.

M1 took off at 3:06pm.

Pool is heading back to the White House now. POTUS arrival will be covered by the supplemental pool.

In-Town Pool Report #8: Lid

Pool arrived back at the White House at 4pm, after sitting through a solid amount of traffic. We have a travel/photo lid as of 4pm.

Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday!

Supplemental pool #1 potus departure

Pool gathered at 1:05 pm for POTUS's departure on Marine One for Joint Base Andrews. At 1:19 pm POTUS and the First Lady came out of the White House. They took no questions from the press as they boarded Marine One. The helicopter took off at 1:24 pm.

Supplemental pool report #2

The White House passes along a list of who accompanied POTUS and FLOTUS on Marine One to JBA:

Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Anthony Bernal, Assistant to the President & Advisor to the First Lady
Liz Sherwood-Randall, Assistant to the President & Homeland Security Advisor & Deputy National Security Advisor
Stephen Goepfert, Special Assistant to the President & Personal Aide to the President

Supplemental pool report #3

Marine One touched down at the White House at 3:16 pm ET. President Biden deplaned and walked to the Oval Office. POTUS did not respond to shouted questions from the press as he walked to the Oval.