Pool Reports by Brian Bennett, Time Magazine
| Sent: | Reports: |
| January 19, 2021 12:20 |
Transition pool report #1 - checking in Greetings from a partly cloudy day in Wilmington. Temperatures are in the mid-40s. Pool has been tested for COVID, gathered and is staged a location near President Elect Joe Biden's residence for the usual security sweep. Biden plans to leave Wilmington and travel to Washington today, the day before his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States. Biden and VIce President Elect Harris are scheduled to speak this afternoon at the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial in honor of lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 400,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, according to the CDC. |
| January 19, 2021 13:22 |
Transition pool report #2 - heading to departure event The pool joined President Elect Biden's motorcade near his residence at 1:20 pm. We are en route to the New Castle Airport escorted by about two dozen Delaware state troopers on motorcycles. Biden is scheduled to give remarks around 1:30 pm at a send off event hosted at the Major Joseph R. "Beau" Biden, III National Guard Reserve Center at the airport. After his remarks, Biden will board a plane bound for Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, D.C. |
| January 19, 2021 13:31 |
Transition pool report #3 - arrival at airport Biden's motorcade arrived at the national guard reserve center at New Castle Airport at 1:29 pm. Biden will speak to a group of people gathered outside to see him off before his short flight to JBA. More details are below: From the Office of President - elect Biden: Todays send off event is taking place at Major Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III National Guard /Reserve Center. Pre Program: Delaware National Guard Joint Color Guard presents the colors. Governor John Carney will introduce President -elect Biden. |
| January 19, 2021 14:02 |
Transition pool report #4 - remarks at national guard center Several dozen people assembled outside the national guard center to bid Biden farewell. A large Amercian flag was draped in the buidling and a large Delaware Flag was part of the stage backdrop. Several Biden grandchildren sat in the front row as well as Hunter Biden and Jill Biden. Sen Coons, Rep Blunt Rochester and others where there. Biden came out to speak at 1:50 pm. "This is kind of emotional," Biden said as we wiped a tear from his eye. "It's deeply personal that our journey to Washington starts here," he said, talking about the national guard building named after his som Beau. Said that 12 years ago Obama, a Black man, greeted him on the train platform before he became his Vice President, and now he departs to "meet a Black woman of South Asian descent" to become President and Vice President. "When I die Delaware will be written on my heart." Biden finished speaking at 1:58 pm and Jill Biden joined him on a stage and a rabbi began a benediction. |
| January 19, 2021 14:46 |
Transition pool report #5 - boarding plane Biden's motorcade arrived at New Castle Airport at 2:16 pm after a short drive from the national guard center. The sky had cleared and was dull blue with a bright sun. The wind was blowing and it felt quite frigid despite being 50 degrees. Biden stepped out of the black SUV with Jill Biden at 2:18 pm. A reporter shouted to Biden, asking what he thought of the US reaching 400 COVID deaths, but it was unclear if he could hear over the jet engine noise. Biden and Jill spoke with two greeters in uniform at the bottom of the steps for a couple minutes. Biden walked up the steps of the chartered white and grey passenger jet at 2:20 pm. He and Jill turned and waved. Several military troops in uniform stood near a hangar to see him depart. With the farewell event conducted at the national guard center on the other side of the airport, there was little pomp at the moment Biden boarded a plane in his home state on his journey to be inaugurated as president. Biden's plane is now holding on the jet way. Press have boarded a separate jet plane and are waiting to depart. I'll attach a couple photos. Location of send off ceremony at the national guard center Joe Biden and Jill Biden boarding the charter jet |
| January 19, 2021 15:14 |
Transition pool report #6 - wheels up The press plane was wheels up from New Castle Airport at 3:13 pm. The President Elect's plane should have departed around the same time. Next stop JBA. From the Biden transition team: The President-elect is flying on a Boeing BBJ and was greeted (while boarding at New Castle Airport) by DE adjutant General Berry and his wife also a General, Karen Berry. And Joint Base Andrews the President -elect will be greeted by Colonel Stephen P. Snelson, Commander, 89th Airlift Wing and his wife Catherine Snelson. |
| January 19, 2021 16:35 |
Transition pool report #7 - landed at JBA President Elect Biden's white and grey Boeing charter plane landed at JBA at 3:57 pm. (Tail number N834BZ.) It taxied past a plane parked on the tarmac here with the iconic sky blue paint job of Air Force One. Biden walked off the plane at 4:23 pm with Jill Biden, several grandchildren and family members, as well as Hunter Biden holding Hunter's baby son Beau. Biden chatted with a few people on the tarmac before getting into a black SUV. The motorcade is now heading to the National Mall where Biden plans to visit a memorial to COVID deaths at the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. |
| January 19, 2021 17:13 |
Transition pool report #8 - COVID memorial arrival Several families came out to wave to Biden's motorcade as it drove through Anacostia before crossing the river on the way to the National Mall. Biden's first stop in Washington is a memorial for lives lost in the pandemic set up by the inaugural committee around the reflecting pool of the Lincoln Memorial. To get there, the motorcade rolled through the largely deserted tidal basin past the Jefferson Memorial. Roads that would otherwise be busy near 5 pm were empty, tall fences blocked off large sections of the Mall and the grass in front if the Washington Monument, and were guarded by National Guard and police. Biden arrived at the Lincoln Memorial at 4:55 pm. Rows of white rectangular monoliths line the north and south sides of the reflecting pool and will likely be lit up as the sun goes down. Pool is now holding on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. A sunset has cast tangerine glow on the Washington monument, offset by a pink sky behind it. From the transition team: Nationwide COVID-19 Memorial The Presidential Inaugural Committee will hold a nationwide COVID-19 memorial to honor the nearly 400,000 lives lost in the United States to this pandemic, which will include illuminating 400 lights around the reflection pool of the Lincoln Memorial. This is the first-ever lighting around the reflecting pool of the Lincoln Memorial. Hundreds of towns, cities, tribes, landmarks, and communities all across the country have committed to joining the tribute in a national moment of unity at 5:30 PM. Iconic buildings like the Empire State Building in New York, NY to the Space Needle in Seattle, WA will be illuminated, and other places across America will participate, including Wilmington, DE; Oakland, CA; Miami, FL; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Dearborn, MI; Las Vegas, NV; Philadelphia, PA; Scanton, PA; Charleston, SC; Houston, TX; tribal lands throughout the nation; and many more. The COVID-19 memorial will be President-elect Biden's first stop after arriving in Washington, D.C and he will be joined by Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President-elect Harris, and Douglas Emhoff. This is the first-ever lighting around the reflecting pool of the Lincoln Memorial. They will also be joined by:
PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES Yolanda Adams triumphantly carries the torch for contemporary gospel and inspirational music. With 13 releases Yolanda has earned a multitude of accolades including four Grammy Awards and selling nearly 10 million albums worldwide. Not only is Yolanda a phenomenal vocalist, but she is also an author, record company executive, fashion designer, mother, and the host on her award-winning nationally syndicated radio show "The Yolanda Adams Morning Show." Adams grew up in Houston, Texas. After graduating from Texas Southern University, she began a career as a schoolteacher and part-time model in Houston. Yolanda first began to garner attention for her singing in 1982. She released her breakthrough album "Mountain High… Valley Low" in 1999. Lori Marie Key, RN is a 29-year old nurse who worked in her hospital's COVID-19 unit. She gained prominence in April after a video was circulated over the internet of her singing Amazing Grace during a shift change at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia, MI, part of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, which is a member of national health system Trinity Health. Lori Marie Key appeared on Good Morning America, and she was named Nurse of the Week by "Daily Nurse." Cardinal Wilton Gregory is the seventh Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington and the first African American Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Gregory grew up in Chicago where he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 9, 1973, and three years after his ordination began graduate studies at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute (Sant' Anselmo) in Rome. There, he earned his doctorate in sacred liturgy in 1980. Cardinal Gregory has served in many leading roles in the Catholic Church including as President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) from 2001 – 2004. During his tenure in office, the crisis of sex abuse by Catholic clergy escalated; and under his leadership, the bishops implemented the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People." The Charter also includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability, and prevention of future acts of abuse. |
| January 19, 2021 17:58 |
Transition pool report #9 - brief remarks at COVID memorial, Blair House, lid Just after 5:30 pm, Biden spoke in front of the reflecting pool where a memorial to those lost to COVID was set up. "To heal, we must remember. It's hard sometimes to remember, but that's how we heal. It's important to do that as a nation," he said.9 The columns along the pool lit up at 5:32 pm. After listening to a solo rendition of "Allelujah", Biden and Jill Biden and Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff stood in silent reflection. The motorcade then made the quick trip up 17th Street to Blair House where Biden is staying the night. Pool did not see Biden enter Blair House. A lid has been called at 5:50 pm. A few additional notes from the day: When Biden landed at JBA earlier he was greeted by Colonel Stephen P. Snelson, Commander, 89th Airlift Wing and his wife Catherine Snelson, and chatted with them briefly. He also chatted with: Per Biden transition team, Biden family/spouses/significant others on Biden's plane from Wilmington to JBA: Ashley Biden |
Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President-elect Pool Reports of January 19, 2021 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/375917