Pool Reports of September 11, 2021

Travel pool #1: Rolling

?The pool loaded into the motorcade at 7:21. There's a big police presence around the president's hotel, with a few side streets closed off.

We were rolling toward the Sept. 11 memorial in Lower Manhattan at 7:49. We did not see POTUS.

Travel pool #2: Arrival at memorial

The motorcade traveled down FDR Drive and arrived at the Sept. 11 memorial at 8:08.

As we got closer, there were people lined up behind metal barricades to watch the motorcade approach. We didn't see POTUS.

There doesn't appear to be a single cloud over the city, and the sky is bright blue. Attendees at the memorial are sitting and standing in a grove of trees. You can hear the rushing of the water from the fountains that mark the footprints of the Twin Towers.

The program has not yet begun. According to the White House, POTUS and the First Lady are greeting with:

• President Bill Clinton
• Secretary Hillary Clinton
• President Barack Obama
• First Lady Michelle Obama
• Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Former Mayor of New York City and Chairman of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum
• Diana Taylor, Partner of Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Travel pool #3: POTUS entrance

?We saw POTUS and FLOTUS enter the memorial side by side at 8:35. They were preceded by Mike Bloomberg and his partner Diana Taylor, and they were followed by former President Obama and Michelle Obama, and then former President Clinton and Hillary Clinton. Phones are raised in the crowd around where they are.

The White House sends this list.

Additional government officials in attendance:

• Former President Barack Obama
• First Lady Michelle Obama
• Former President Bill Clinton
• Secretary Hillary Clinton
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA-12)
• Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY)
• Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)
• Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY-10)
• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8)
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14)
• Rep. Andy Kim (NJ-3)
• Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-12)
• Rep. Tom Suozzi (NY-3)
• New York Governor Kathy Hochul
• New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
• New York State Attorney General Letitia James
• New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli
• New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams
• FBI Director Christopher Wray
• United States Attorney General Merrick Garland
• Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
• Deputy United States Attorney General Lisa Monaco
• U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield
• New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson
• Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani
• Former New York Governor George Pataki
• Former Rep. Peter King (NY-2)
• Former New Jersey Governor Donald DiFrancesco
• Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams
• Rick Cotton, Executive Director, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• Kevin O'Toole, Chairman, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• Coast Guard Admiral Karl Schultz, Commandant of the United States Coast Guard

Travel pool #4: Memorial

?The memorial began at 8:40 with an honor guard representing the FDNY, NYPD and PAPD. Some officers in dress uniforms carried an American flag, followed by drummers and bagpipers. The Young People's Chorus of NYC sang the national anthem.

At 8:46, a bell was rung to mark the time the first plane hit the North Tower. The scene was nearly silent except for the sound of fountains. Some people held signs or wore shirts memorializing loved ones on 9/11. Many wore blue ribbons.

The speaking program and the reading of names has begun, and it's being carried live.

Travel pool #5: Leaving memorial

?The pool departed the memorial after the third moment of silence at 9:37, which marks when a plane hit the Pentagon. We didn't see POTUS.

We loaded into the motorcade, and we're rolling at 9:47.

We're expecting to take Ospreys to JFK, where we'll depart for Shanksville.

Travel pool #6: New York departure

?The pool lifted off from the heliport near Wall Street at 9:59. We touched down at JFK airport at 10:07.

We saw POTUS and FLOTUS board at 10:17. We're on the smaller AF1 and expect to be rolling shortly.

Travel pool #7: Pennsylvania arrival

?We touched down at a National Guard base in Johnstown, PA, at 11:27.

POTUS and FLOTUS stepped off the plane at 11:42 and walked toward Marine One.

We will be lifting to Shanksville.

Here's an interview conducted earlier today pby co-pooler Brian Bennett at the memorial in New York.

Retired flight attendant Ronald Gillis, 56, came to lower Manhattan on Saturday to remember his brother Rodney C. Gillis, a New York police sergeant who died trying to help evacuate people from Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001. "He made the decision to go," Gillis said about his brother deciding to leave his vehicle and head toward the attack zone after the first plane hit the North Tower. Rodney Gillis was in his early thirties when he died and left behind three children.
"He didn't turn away from it." "That's him, that's not surprising. Like I said, his quote would always be, 'Make a decision, you deal with it, you deal with the consequences.' That was his quote. 'Make a decision.' He made a decision. He knew he was coming down here. He knew he had to help people."

On coming to the memorial service to mark the day: "It helps with the pain and then sometimes it doesn't help with the pain. It will be opening the wound every year."

Travel pool #8: Shanksville arrival

?We touched down in a field at 11:55 and walked to vans nearby. We did not see POTUS. We were rolling toward the Shanksville memorial at 12:06.

Travel pool #9: Memorial arrival

?The motorcade drove through a rural area, passing homes and fields. The sky is a clear blue except for a few puffs of white clouds.

Eventually we turned onto a gravel road and arrived at 12:14.

POTUS and FLOTUS were greeted by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland upon arriving at the memorial.

Travel pool #10: Shanksville memorial

POTUS and FLOTUS walked out to the stone wall memorial at 12:27. He reached out to shake the hand of a young girl who was leaning over the barricade.

POTUS and FLOTUS stood in front of a wreath with white and red roses, and they bowed their heads.

Other participants at the wreath laying included:
• Gordon Felt, Brother of Edward Porter Felt and President of the Families of Flight 93 Association
• Park Ranger Robert Franz, National Park Service
• Calvin Wilson, Brother-In-Law of First Officer LeRoy W. Homer Jr., Pilot on Flight 93

POTUS and FLOTUS held hands as they walked the length of the wall, where names of victims are etched and more flowers have been laid. They continued past the wall and into a field, walking toward a boulder that marks where United 93 crashed.

Pool loaded back into the vans at 12:36 and began rolling at 12:39.

Travel pool #11: Holding

?We're actually not rolling, the vans were just repositioning. We're holding for now at the memorial site.

Travel pool #12: Memorial departure

?We were rolling at 1:01.

While we were holding, the White House says POTUS and FLOTUS were paying their respects to the families who lost loved ones on Flight 93.

Travel pool #13: Fire department

?We arrived at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department at 1:08. There were some cheers as POTUS stepped out of the motorcade.

A fire truck was parked out front with two snipers on top. A large white cross with the date 9/11/01 and an American flag hanging from the top stood to the side, with more American flags surrounding the grass around it.

Biden wore shirtsleeves, a mask and aviator glasses as he met with people in front of the firehouse. He took a selfie with a woman and shook hands with a young boy. There were dozens of people outside and inside.

All the garage doors were open, and folding tables and chairs were set up inside for people eating hamburgers and hot dogs.

Travel pool #14: Remarks and departure

?POTUS spoke to the pool for roughly 12 minutes. He spoke about the difficulty of memorials because they can bring back painful memories, and he talked about the need to find national unity. He praised former President Bush's speech in Shanksville earlier today. He said autocrats were doubting that democracy can succeed, and he wanted to prove them wrong. He criticized former President Trump, but not by name, for his statement on Robert E. Lee being able to win the war in Afghanistan. And he defended the withdrawal.

More quotes to come.

Then POTUS and FLOTUS held hands in front of the large cross, and then he posed for a photo in front of the firehouse. He kneeled for the picture and then held a gray t shirt with the American flag on it, saying "we honor… we serve." The number 93 was on the blue part of the flag. He put the shirt over his shoulder to take it with him.

We loaded into vans at 1:42.

Travel pool #14: Biden quotes, part 1
[APP Note: See comment below in Report #16 mentioning that this should be numbered Report #15.]

?We've arrived at departure field at 1:56. POTUS is taking photos with volunteers.

Here is most of his remarks from earlier at fire station. More to come.

"These memorials are really important. But they're also incredibly difficult for the people affected by them, because it brings back the moment they got the phone call, it brings back the instant they got the news, no matter how years go by."

Biden praised the United 93 passengers who fought the terrorists before crashing in Shanksville.

"It's one thing to say, I know I should step up, it's another thing to do it. That's genuine heroism."

Biden praised Bush's speech earlier today, and he segued into a discussion on national unity. He mentioned that he took photos with boys wearing Trump hats at the firehouse.

"Are we going to, in the next four, five, six, ten years, demonstrate that democracies can work, or not?"

Biden mentioned his recent conversation with Chinese President Xi and his meeting with Russian President Putin. He said autocrats think they're the only ones who can succeed.

"We actually can, in fact, lead by the example of our power again."

Biden spoke about economic plans, "showing some real respect" to the middle class.

"The rest of the world is going 'woah, how did they do that? I thought they didn't talk to each other.'"

Asked how national unity could be restored, Biden said honesty would help and there would be "no hiding the ball" from him.

He said the criticism and lower poll numbers haven't bothered him. "I'm a big boy. I've been doing this a long time."

Travel pool #16: Departure and more quotes

?The last pool report should have been 15, this is 16.?
?
The pool lifted by Osprey back to National Guard base, touching down at 2:11.

POTUS and FLOTUS walked abord Air Force One at 2:27 pm. Biden turned, gave a thumbs up and waved.taking off for JBA shortly.

Here's more of Biden's remarks at firehouse. Apologies for slow transcription — couldn't hear recording over sound of aircraft.

"A number of serious Republicans, in the past and a few who are still around, call me and tell me, what can I do to help? Because they get it too. They may not agree with everything I say, but this idea that, you know, 'what do you want to do with Biden, I want to box him.'"

At this point Biden crossed himself and said, "I should be so lucky."

Then he mentioned "the stuff that's coming out of Florida" and the statement that "if Robert E. Lee had been in Afghanistan, we would have won."

Biden expressed incredulity at the coarseness of the political dialogue.

"They think this makes sense for us to be in this kind of thing where you ride down the street and someone has a sign saying 'F so and so?'"

Biden was asked if there was a "new phase" now that the U.S. was marking a 9/11 anniversary without troops in Afghanistan.

Biden said it was a mistake to try uniting Afghanistan after killing bin Laden

"Could Al Qaeda come back? Yeah. But guess what, it's already back other places. What's the strategy? Every place where al Qaeda is, we're going to invade and have troops stay in? Cmon."

He defended the withdrawal.

"It's hard to explain to anybody, how else could you get out. For example, if we were in Tajikistan and pulled up a C-130 and said we're going to let, you know, anybody who was involved with being sympathetic to us to get on the plane, you'd have people hanging in the wheel well. Cmon."

Travel pool #17: Andrews arrival and departure

AF1 touched down at Andrews at 3:29.

POTUS and FLOTUS descended stairs at 3:35. They were greeted by

• Colonel Matthew Jones, Commander, 89th Airwing Staff
• Sergeant Victoria Martinez, Protocol Specialist, 89th Airwing

They boarded Marine One, which lifted off at 3:42. Handing off to in-town pool.

Thanks to co-pooler Brian Bennett for help with tracking movements and transcribing quotes. He provides this one from Biden's fire station remarks that I missed.

Biden said the U.S. was founded on an idea. "It's an idea, 'we hold these truths.' We never lived up to it but we never walked away from it, except these last previous four years."

Travel Pool #18 Arrival at Brandywine Creek State Park

?Good evening — I will be your pooler for the Delaware portion of the president's visit this weekend. Pool was moved to Delaware ahead of the president's visit.

Marine 1 landed on a parking lot at Brandywine Creek State Park — not DENG —at 5:24. The president disembarked minutes later and immediately walked to the waiting motorcade.

No word on why the the president landed here and not DENG as originally scheduled.

Motorcade is rolling at 5:30

Travel pool #19 arriving with the president

From a White House official on who arrived With the president and First Lady:

Arriving on Marine One with the President and the First Lady:

Anthony Bernal, Assistant to the President & Advisor to the First Lady

Joshua Geltzer, Deputy Assistant to the President & Deputy Homeland Security Advisor

Stephen Goepfert, Special Assistant to the President & Personal Aide to the President

Travel pool #20 arrival at residence

?The motorcade arrived at the president's residence at 5:40, after an uneventful ride through suburban Wilmington. Pool did not see the president or First Lady.

Quick correction: pool report #18 should have read DANG, not DENG, for the Delaware Air National Guard

Travel Report #21 Lid

We have a travel and photo lid at 5:58. Everyone have a good evening.

In-town pool report #1 -- Checking in

Greetings from the White House. I'll be your in-town pooler today for President Biden's Pentagon visit. We are running about 15 mins ahead of schedule and will soon be loading into vans.

As a reminder, here is the schedule for the rest of the day:

2:55 PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Shanksville, Pennsylvania en route Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Out-of-Town Travel Pool Coverage

3:20 PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Johnstown, Pennsylvania en route Joint Base Andrews
Pennsylvania Army Air National Guard Base, Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Open Press

4:15 PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Joint Base Andrews en route the Pentagon
Joint Base Andrews
Out-of-Town Travel Pool Coverage

4:30 PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at the Pentagon
The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia
In-Town Pool Coverage

4:50 PM THE PRESIDENT, THE FIRST LADY, THE VICE PRESIDENT, and THE SECOND GENTLEMAN attend a wreath laying ceremony
The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia
In-Town Pool Coverage

5:30 PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart the Pentagon en route Wilmington, Delaware
The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia
In-Town Pool Coverage

6:25 PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Supplemental Pool Coverage

In-town pool report #2 - POTUS Pentagon arrival

Marine One touched down outside the Pentagon at 3:51 pm.

POTUS and FLOTUS then motorcaded to the Pentagon memorial for the wreath laying ceremony, arriving at about 4 pm.

The VP and SG arrived before POTUS at 3:40 pm with VP's sister Maya Harris and brother in law Tony West.

POTUS and FLOTUS began walking towards the wreath at 4:07 pm

From the White House:

?In attendance for the wreath laying ceremony at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial:

• The President and the First Lady
• The Vice President and the Second Gentleman
• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
• General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

In-town pool report #3 - Ceremony

?POTUS and FLOTUS stepped towards the wreath at 4:09 pm before briefly stopping and returning to stand to face it. VP and SG did the same.

A Marine bugler played taps.

POTUS, FLOTUS, VP and SG again stepped towards the wreath at 4:10 pm and talked for about a minute.

At 4:11 pm they began walking towards the entrance plaque recognizing the victims of the Pentagon attack.

They stood for photographs after talking for several minutes amongst themselves, including Sec Def Austin.

POTUS began walking towards the Beast at 4:23 pm.

In-town pool report #4 - POTUS departure

?POTUS and FLOTUS motorcade rolling at 4:26 pm.

Handing off to supplemental pool.

In-town pool #5 - Marine One takeoff

?Marine One was wheels up at 4:34 pm en route to Delaware.

Now handing off to supplemental.