Pool Reports of May 24, 2021

In-town pool report 1: Good morning

Good morning on an overcast and humid (but temperate) day in Washington, D.C.

Your pooler encountered no cicadas either audibly or visually on her way in this morning, but did encounter a protest in favor of Honduran Temporary Protected Status making its way up 17th Street with both of those senses. Incidentally, the administration made a little news on TPS over the weekend and today, but not for Honduras. I tweeted a picture of the protest, albeit not a terribly good one, @talkopan.

There have been no changes to the schedule as far as the pool knows. I will send a two-minute warning for the upcoming briefing when we get one.

In-town pool report 2: Two min. warning for briefing

2 min to get to your devices

In-town pool report 3: Briefing begins

Psaki joined us at 12:04 p.m., and we’re underway.

In-town pool report 4: Briefing concludes

Briefing concluded at 1:00 p.m.

We’re heading straight to gather for the motorcade over to FEMA.

In-town pool report 5: Rolling

Pool loaded into the vans at 1:10 p.m. We are rolling for the briefing at FEMA (scheduled to start at 1:30 pm) as of 1:31 pm.

Pool did not see the president enter the motorcade, but did walk past the Beast outside the EEOB on our way, parked across a handicap space. Can tweet a pic.

In-town pool report 6: Arrived at FEMA

Pool completed the short ride down Pennsylvania Ave and along 4th to FEMA HQ at 1:36 pm. Uneventful ride. No eyes on POTUS going in.
It is drizzling now, and slightly chilly. We’re holding outside for now.

In-town pool report 7: FEMA

Pool walked through a large room filled with FEMA staff at rows of computers with screens around the room displaying POTUS. We went into a smaller conference room with Biden at the head of the table. Attendees below via White House.

In opening remarks Biden said he will "Insist on nothing less than readiness for all these challenges" as we head into another emergency weather season.

Announcing $1B available to states, communities, tribes, etc

"We have to be ready, we have to be ready, when disaster strikes"

"It's not about red states and blue states it's about having people's backs"

"We've learned a few lessons from last year as well"

Ongoing remarks.

Participants in the briefing on the Atlantic Hurricane Outlook and preparedness efforts:

Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security
Ron Klain, Chief of Staff
Gina McCarthy, National Climate Advisor
Liz Sherwood-Randall, Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor
Don Graves, Deputy Secretary of Commerce
Bill Nelson, Administrator of NASA
Deanne Criswell, Administrator of FEMA
Ben Friedman, Acting Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Kenneth Graham, Director for the National Hurricane Center
Caitlin Durkovich, National Security Council Senior Director for Resilience and Response
MaryAnn Tierney, Acting Deputy Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
DeUndre Eberhart, Special Assistant, Department of Commerce
Colt Hagmaier, Counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security
James Morrow, Program Coordination Officer, NOAA National Weather Service
Matthew Rosencrans, NOAA Climate Test Bed Director

In town pool report 7a: holding at FEMA

Remarks ended shortly after I hit send on my last report and pool was ushered out without any questions. Here is an otter (mic was not on at the beginning so may be hard to hear at first) https://otter.ai/u/NVuSkSf0SziXQoSXjyt7it92z9o

We are holding in a conference room upstairs. Will tweet a couple pictures of the scene below and transcribe a couple more quotes, but there was no real news.

In town pool report 7b: quotes and next steps

Biden will be talking to employees after this, we're told.

From his remarks before (sorry for the sound of my typing in the recording). As always check against transcript:

Biden said FEMA stepped up on vaccinations and winter storms and he praised someone specifically.

"My administration is going to bring every resource to bear, every resource to bear, every time to help American people, Americans, weather emergencies. And we're going to spare no expense, no effort to keep Americans safe and respond to crises when they arise, and they certainly will. Now is the time to get ready for the busiest time of the year for disasters in America. Hurricane season in the south and east, and the fire season out west."

"I will insist on nothing less than readiness for all of these challenges. We're gonna make sure the men and women of FEMA, and our other key agencies have everything they need."

(Announces $1B in funds)

"That's gonna double the funding available from last year, and it's going to help communities, including those too often overlooked, and it's going to invest in resilience and better protect themselves to serve other climate events they're going to be facing."

Says last year was most named storms on record and expect another severe season, "perhaps in God willing, not as bad as 2020, but still quite bad. We all know that these storms are coming and we're going to be prepared, we have to be ready."

"And so it's about, not about red states and blue states, you all know that, it's about having people's backs at the toughest moments that they face, ready with food water and shelter, and more."

Biden said of FEMA: "As my mother would say, doing God's work."

"Today's briefing is a critical reminder, we don't have a moment to lose in preparing for 2021."

In town pool report 8: FEMA employees and vans

At 2:42 pm Biden came out to the main room full of employees to talk with staff. He greeted them and shook hands. Pool was able to observe for a few minutes. TV had the best positioning, so their mics might have picked more up.

Not much was audible, but we heard "thank you," and "busy year". "Where's my desk?" He joked with one.

As he started to address employees at the mic, pool was ushered out. We could hear bits of his comments as we were herded back to the vans. This is rough notes, I will check my recording after this.

"It's not hyperbole to suggest you save people's lives, you save people's property, and you're saving their (existence) … I've asked you to do an awful lot since I became President."

"You all don't get paid that much," he said to laughter. I didn't get to hear the end of that joke.

We are back in the vans.

In town pool report 9: rolling

At 2:56 we’re rolling back to the WH. No eyes on potus getting in the motorcade.

In-town pool report 10: back at WH

At 3:01 pm we pulled back into the White House. Once again, we did not see Biden re-enter the White House.

The ride was uneventful. Despite some rain and drizzle, there were some onlookers taking pictures and video. What appeared to be a park ranger was standing in Freedom Plaza next to Pershing Park saluting as the motorcade passed.

Quotes still coming.

In-town pool report 11: Lid

The White House called a travel/photo lid at 3:06 pm.

The signing ceremony with Alaska lawmakers is closed to the press.

Quotes to come as an addendum to report 8. Otherwise, have a great day, everyone!

In-town pool report 8a: Quotes

More from the employee greeting at FEMA:

The White House says Biden was escorted by David Bibo, FEMA Acting Associate Administrator for Response and Recovery.

I'll tweet another picture (all of those pictures could be emailed upon request, if needed for whatever reason).

Quotes from his remarks (subjectively, it seemed like the President was surprised by the pool being ushered out right as he started speaking, which caused him to pause for a moment.)

"Hey everybody. Y'all got to hear, y'all got to hear the briefing I got. The main thing I wanted do was come by and thank you. And it's not hyperbole to suggest you save people's lives, you save their property, and you save their sanity. You know, I really mean it. And what's happening now is, as we talked about a little bit, speaking with the director, is that, you know I've asked you to do an awful lot since I became president. I've asked you to help everything from making sure we beat the pandemic (inaudible) … to dealing with (inaudible)… and everything in between. So I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you, and I really mean it."

Then it becomes hard to hear over the wranglers, he made the joke about them not getting paid much to laughter, and we were escorted out of the room.