Vice Presidential Pool Reports of April 29, 2024

VP Travel Pool Report #1: JBA/OTR

Vice President Kamala Harris arrived at JBA at 10:40 am in M2. She walked from the helo to AF2 without stopping for questions. She did, however, pose for a photo with one of her greeters in front of the plane before boarding. She's a wearing a blush pansuit and tan stilettos today.

She also came back to the press area of the plane to speak off the record with travelers for about 8 minutes before taking off.

Wheels up imminently for Atlanta, the first stop on her economic tour. VP's office sent around background on her visit earlier.

VP Travel Pool Report #3: departing airport

VP deplaned at 12:36 pm from AF2. She was greeted on the ground by Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams, who is also the chair of the Georgia Democratic Party. They spoke for several minutes out of our earshot. The VP waved at the pool as she entered her vehicle.

Motorcade is currently on the way to her first stop of the day.

VP Pool Report #4: unannounced stop/RICE center

VP Harris made an unannounced stop at the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), which she toured with President and CEO James Bailey.

He thanked her for coming to the center.

"I want to learn from you," she told him of her visit.

They walked away for the tour and came back to meet with a group of entrepreneurs. Sens. Warnock and Ossoff are here, too, along with Rep. Williams. Names were not provided for the participants, but the WH shared background on the stop below.

Harris delivered short remarks at the top of this part of the building tour.

She said wanted to start here because the center is an example of the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Harris asked and took questions from the group from about 25 minutes.

Bailey told her that they lift up their own businesses here, down to the soap in the bathrooms.

Harris noted the business owners are benefiting from the Capital Readiness Program (more on that below.)

She said "this is about scaling up also what already exists" for entrepreneurs but also what they have been denied access to.

One participant said lack of access to broadband internet has also been an issue.

(Broadband is an issue that VP Harris has focused on during her time in the administration.)

Harris asked if she could get an "Amen" from the group in response to the point.

She got a hardy AMEN from the attendees, a couple dozen of whom had gathered for the informal, standing Q and A with the vice president.

One attendee, who identified herself as Charmaine Gibbs-West, owns a beauty company and said her company provides the soap that is used in the bathrooms that Bailey referenced earlier.

She said she sells her brand at Whole Foods and center helps her to sell her products commercially.

Bailey says it's not a unique story: we spend more with Black businesses than most Fortune 500 companies, he said.

And the businesses that participate buy from one another, someone else chimed in to say.

Another said they are breaking the cycle of the "good old boy networks" to help speak the wealth around more evenly.

Harris highlighted some of the work the Biden administration is doing to increase access to capital in the Black community.

A man said he began as an educator and his company is working with major businesses to work to capture sound and distribute it through the Internet. He cited the Build Back Better initiative as something that helped him.

Warnock jumped in to talk about investments made during this administration to HBCUs.

Bailey said the center is also working with the local HBCUs (motorcade passed by Moorhouse and Clark Atlanta, which are part of the Atlanta University Center Consortium, on the way to the center) to support innovation.

Harris received a question about an SBA program for innovators.

"The fact that you are asking this question, tells me we have a lot more work to do," she told the questioner.

She said she would be talking more about that program at the next stop.

Harris entered the facility at 1:00 pm. She ended the event with a group photo at roughly 1:35 pm. Pool was led out as they wrapped. The motorcade was on the move at 1:40 pm.

Working to get more info on the OTR, including the names of the participants and their businesses. This is the background from a White House official that we have for now:

While in Atlanta to kick off her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour, the Vice President made a surprise visit at the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), a nonprofit "business generator" created to support Black entrepreneurs in Atlanta. While there, Vice President Harris met with business owners who benefited from working directly with the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, which is a Capital Readiness Program (CRP) grant winner. CRP is funded by the Biden-Harris Administration's American Rescue Plan. Vice President Harris announced the winners of the CRP in August 2023.

VP Pool Report #5: College Park GA

The VP arrived to her College Park event at 2:00 PM. She did not immediately take the stage; after a lull when she arrived, several speakers took the stage to deliver remarks, including Sen. Raphael Warnock and Rep. Nikema Williams. There’s another lull in programming now as we await the VP, who is scheduled to speak at 2:45pm.

Event will be livestreamed on the White House website and the event is open press. Will send relevant color.

Please find program participants who spoke to the VP during the OTR below as sent by the White House:

DeVon Dixon
Dr. James Warner
Stephaney Bolden
James Bryant
Nancy Flake Johnson
Charmaine Gibbs-West
Alicia Williams
James Bailey

VP Travel Pool Report #6: remarks livestreaming now

VP Harris took the stage for the moderated conversation at 3:20 pm. It’s livestreaming on the White House website.

VP Pool Report #7: leaving Atlanta

AF2 was wheels up at 3:38 pm en route back to Washington.

VP immediately left for the airport at the conclusion of her moderated conversation. She boarded AF2 with a wave and without taking questions.

VP Pool Report #8: wheels down

AF2 touched back down at JBA at 6:02 pm EDT. No visitors this time to the back of the press cabin.

Also, my earlier report should have said that AF2 left Atlanta at 4:38 pm (not 3:38 pm as stated). Nothing else of note to share since the end of the moderated conversation in Atlanta.

VP Travel Pool Report #9: M2/no news

VP stepped off AF2 at 6:12 pm. She waved at press as she reached the bottom of the steps and immediately turned to board M2.

You can find a gallery of photos from her trip here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/9gmq73al3l36yna1ya93q/AJwMiQ6G8QtYliY5avsEDrM?rlkey=z1pkr7ovqlkaaa6rtsgehqgu8&dl=0