Pool Reports of October 7, 2021

In town print pool report #1 (no questions)

12:07pm: Biden exited the West Wing alone and walked to Marine One. He kept his distance from the press and did not answer shouted questions.

12:12pm: Marine One lift off.

In town print pool report #2

Traveling on Marine One with the President:
Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Yohannes Abraham, Deputy Assistant to the President, Chief of Staff & Executive Secretary, NSC
Karine Jean-Pierre, Deputy Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy Press Secretary
Ashley Williams, Special Assistant to the President & Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations
Stephen Goepfert, Special Assistant to the President & Personal Aide to the President

In town print pool report #3 (No questions)

Marine One touched down on the South Lawn at 7:05 pm.

The president emerged wearing a black mask and walked into the White House. He did not stop or respond to shouted out questions.

In town print pool report #4 (Travel/photo lid)

A travel/photo lid was called at 7:15 p.m.

Travel pool report #1 - JBA arrival/departure

Greetings from JBA. I’ll be your print pooler today for POTUS’s trip to the Chicago area.

M1 touched down at JBA at 1220.

POTUS did not respond to shouted Qs. Boarded AF1 at 1225.

AF1 rolling for ORD at 1229.

Greeting the President at Joint Base Andrews:

• Col. Matthew Jones, Commander, 89thAirlift Wing

Traveling with the President to Chicago, Illinois:

• Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
• Yohannes Abraham, Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary for the National Security Council
• Karine Jean-Pierre, Deputy Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy Press Secretary
• Vinay Reddy, Deputy Assistant to the President & Director of Speechwriting
• Emmy Ruiz, Deputy Assistant to the President & Director of Political Strategy & Outreach
• Travis Dredd, Special Assistant to the President and Trip Director
• Stephen Goepfert, Special Assistant to the President & Personal Aide to the President
• Meghan Hays, Special Assistant to the President & Director of Message Planning
• Alicia Molt-West Special Assistant to the President & House Legislative Affairs Liaison
• Ashley Williams, Special Assistant to the President & Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations

WH principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is slated to gaggle en route. Audio is expected to be piped into the WH YouTube page.

Here’s some background the WH distributed on the purpose of the trip:

From a White House official:

Today, the White House released a new report [whitehouse.gov] on how vaccination requirements are helping to drive up vaccination rates, put people back to work, and strengthen the economy. This extensive analysis looks at existing vaccination requirements in health care systems, educational institutions, businesses, and the public sector and demonstrates with data that vaccination requirements work and will accelerate our path out of the pandemic.

The report was released ahead of the President’s visit to Chicago today, where he will meet with public and private sector leaders who have implemented vaccination requirements, including Governor Pritzker, Mayor Lightfoot, and United CEO Scott Kirby. The President will visit a construction site in Elk Grove Village being built by Clayco, one of the largest construction companies in the Midwest. At the event, Clayco will announce their strong support of the President’s plan to require vaccinations or weekly testing, and importantly, they will implement a system of vaccinations or testing to all of their employees, in line with the President’s requirements.

The President’s message will be clear: Vaccination requirements work. Vaccination requirements get more people vaccinated, helping to end the pandemic and strengthen the economy. That’s why he’s leading on implementing vaccination requirements for 100 million workers—two-thirds of all workers in the U.S. And that’s why we’re seeing growing momentum for vaccination requirements across sectors and across the country.

The report can be viewed at http://whitehouse.gov/VaccinationRequirementsReport [whitehouse.gov].

And here’s the trip schedule, per WH:

CDT

1:00 PM THE PRESIDENT arrives in Chicago, Illinois
O'Hare International Airport
Open Press

2:10 PM THE PRESIDENT visits a Clayco construction site
Elk Grove Village, Illinois
Out-of-Town Travel Pool

2:45 PM THE PRESIDENT delivers remarks on the importance of COVID-19 vaccine requirements
Elk Grove Village, Illinois
Out-of-Town Travel Pool

4:15 PM THE PRESIDENT departs Chicago, Illinois en route Joint Base Andrews
O'Hare International Airport
Open Press

Travel pool report #2: ORD arrival/departure

AF1 wheels down at ORD 1258 CT. Note the time zone change. POTUS deplaned 107. Overcast skies. (AF1 was wheels up from JBA at 1235 ET.)

Some news: POTUS, when asked "do you support the short-term debt ceiling deal," crossed his fingers.

Asked if he would sign it, POTUS responded but it was hard to hear his response. It sounded like we have to make sure there is a deal. (but please check video/transcript to be sure.)

Upon arrival, POTUS was greeted by the following, with whom he spoke to for several minutes on the tarmac, including one-on-one w Lightfoot.

• J.B. Pritzker, Governor of Illinois
• Mike Quigley, U.S. Congressman (IL-05)
• Raja Krishnamoorthi, U.S. Congressman (IL-08)
• Lori Lightfoot, Mayor of Chicago

Karine Jean-Pierre gaggled in-flight. She covered debt ceiling (deal is "positive step"; no commitment yet on signing it), the prospect of vaccine mandates for commercial flights ("no options are off the table") meeting with Manchin, Texas abortion ruling and energy issues. Full audio here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LvDQ3MoUJG8

Motorcade rolling at 115 pm CT.

Pool report #2a: POTUS quote on debt ceiling deal

Upon closer review and consultations with fellow poolers, POTUS appeared to say, "we gotta see if the deal is done. I'm not sure of that yet." Video and audio below:

	CSPAN ??@cspan?? .??@JDiamond1??: "Do you support the short-term debt ceiling deal?" President Biden: "We gotta see if the deal is done. I'm not sure of that yet." pic.twitter.com/ojEIxS270i   10/7/21, 1:41 PM

Travel pool report #3: arrival at construction site

?Motorcade arrived at 139 pm at a Clayco construction site in Elk Grove Village, Ill.
Sizeable protest nearby as motorcade rolled past. Lots of pro-Trump, anti-Biden signs. One said "Fuck Biden." Another said Trump won. Also a lot of anti-abortion signs.
One sign said "Mandates are 4 Greed and power."

Lots of people on the side of the road not hostile to Biden taking pictures as we rolled by. Pool making way in now. No eyes on POTUS.

Travel pool report #4: photo line

Per WH, POTUS is now participating in a photo line with:

• Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-02)
• Rep. Bobby Rush (IL-01)
• Rep. Danny Davis (IL-07)
• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
• Rep. Bill Foster (IL-11)
• Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10)
• Rep. Sean Casten (IL-06)
• Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL-14)
• Rep. Marie Newman (IL-03)
• Illinois Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton
• Illinois State Senate President Don Harmon (SD-39)
• Illinois State Senator Laura Murphy (SD-28)
• Illinois State Representative Martin Moylan (HD-55)
• Elk Grove Mayor Craig Johnson

Pool is currently holding at indoor site where POTUS will later speak. Here’s what the room looks like:

Travel pool report #5: POTUS tours construction site

Pool was briefly was led into the facility being built to observe POTUS getting a tour of it. (Details below on those who joined him, per WH. I also took a couple photos and posted at bottom.) Pool was moved out after about 10 mins.

During the second tour stop, POTUS greeted workers with handshakes and touted his federal vaccine mandate. "It's beginning to make a profound change," he said. He mentioned United Airlines. With some sadness in his voice, he said, "700,000 people dead in the United States."

During the first tour stop, POTUS greeted workers with arm bumps and asked questions about the work, like, "Tell me what you're doing here?" and how much will this be built out?" "It's union?" He was told the facility will be done early next year.

Info on who POTUS met with here, per WH:

Before the start of the tour at the Clayco Construction Site, where in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, POTUS greeted with:

• Governor J.B. Pritzker
• Otto Nichols, Clayco Executive Vice President and Shareholder
• Anuraj Jhajj, Microsoft Senior Director
• Ryan McGuire, Clayco Executive Vice President
• Shawn Clark, President of CRG, Clayco

Joining the President and Governor Pritzker during the tour of the Data Center at the Clayco Construction Site:

• Otto Nichols, Clayco Executive Vice President and Shareholder (tour guide)
• Anuraj Jhajj, Microsoft Senior Director

More on tours from WH:

Tour Stop 1 – Hot Air Container (HACs) and Power Distribution Unit (PDUs) installation

• Sally Kolin and Peter Servatius, Senior Project Managers at Clayco Construction, will give the President an overview of the installation, and how the HACs keep data servers from overheating.

Tour Stop 2 – Server Racks Installation

• Project Executive Madhu Sreenivas and Project Manager Ben Hummel will give the President an overview on server racks and how they are installed under the HACs.

###

Photos below of first tour stop follow by second tour stop:

Pool report #6: POTUS starts speaking

POTUS started speaking at 256 pm Central Time.

Remarks being steamed live here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ooDOk-dsS5U

Intro speakers touted vaccines and the Microsoft project here. Speaking program, per WH:

• Governor J.B. Pritzker
• Mayor Lori Lightfoot
• Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08)
• Jerry Wenzel, Clayco Senior Operations Manager
• The President

Travel pool report #7: POTUS speech concludes

POTUS speech concluded at 419 Central Time. POTUS spoke against backdrops that said "Vacccines.gov" and "Build Back Better." A large red CLAYCO sign hung above and behind them.

His remarks were streamed live. Here are some quotes: (As always, please check against the transcript and video for accuracy)

"We're headed in the right direction if we don't -- if we keep our eye on the ball here. We still have a long way to go."

"The unvaccinated also put our economy at risk because people are reluctant to go out."

"Because they're worried they're going to get sick. I've tried everything in my power to get people vaccinated."

"While I didn't race to do it right away, that's why I've had to move toward requirements that everyone get vaccinated, where I had the authority to do that. That wasn't my first instinct."

"More people are getting vaccinated. More lives are being saved. Let's be clear: When you see headlines and reports of mass firings and hundreds of people losing their jobs, look at the bigger story."

"This I always get a kick out of: Fox News. Fox News requires vaccinations for all their employees." Biden said with an overt whipser. Some in the crowd laughed clapped. "Gimme a break, Fox News," Biden added.

"We've made real progress across the board."

"Today: I'm calling on more employers to act. My message is require your employees to get vaccinated."

"For folks who haven't gotten vaccinated, get it done."

"We have a plan. We have the tools. ... We just have to finish the job."

POTUS repeatedly touted labor in his speech.

Travel pool report #8: POTUS photo line

POTUS "is participating in a political photo line with DNC supporters," according to the WH. Pool is now loaded into vans and holding.

One apparent anti-Biden protester could be heard (but not seen) speaking over a loudspeaker somewhere nearby as the pool walked out. "We're all waving at you to let you know how much you suck," said the voice.

Travel pool report #9: ORD arrival/departure

?Motorcade left the construction site at 342 pm CT. Protesters were still outside when we rolled out.

We arrived planeside at ORD at 402 CT.

POTUS boarded at 403 pm. Pool was still disembarking from vans as he climbed steps.

AF1 rolling for JBA at 411 pm CT.

Travel Pool 10 — news on debt ceiling

From WH spox Karine Jean-Pierre:

"The President looks forward to signing legislation to raise the debt limit when it is passed by Congress."

Travel pool report #11: JBA arrival/departure

AF1 wheels down at JBA at 640 pm ET.

During the flight, WH principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre came back to the press cabin to speak to the pool off the record.

POTUS walked to M1 after deplaning. M1 was wheels up for the WH at 655 pm ET.

Greeting the President upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews, per the WH:

Col. Matthew Jones, Commander, 89th Airlift Wing

Returning with the President to the White House on Marine One:

Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Yohannes Abraham, Deputy Assistant to the President & Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary for the NSC
Karine Jean-Pierre, Deputy Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy Press Secretary
Ashley Williams, Special Assistant to the President & Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations
Stephen Goepfert, Special Assistant to the President & Personal Aide to the President

Handing off to in-town pool from here.

Many thanks to my co-poolers today — especially Chris Megerian of the LAT — for all their help on my first travel pool shift on AF1! Have a great evening, everyone.