Vice Presidential Pool Reports of February 1, 2023

VP print pool #1

Hi everyone, I'm filling in for the print pooler today for Vice President Harris' trip to Memphis for the funeral of Tyre Nichols.

VP print pool #2

Vice President Harris boarded AF2 at 10:54am ET. She waved at the pool, but did not take questions, including a shouted question on the future of policing.

VP print pool #3

AF2 started rolling at 11:02 am ET. The pool is on a separate plane and could not see the exact time the plane was wheels up.

On background from WH official:

The standard Air Force 2 was unavailable due to the short scheduling nature of this trip. Harris' schedule is delayed because of the inclement weather in both DC and Memphis.

VP print pool #4

The funeral is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. CST. The service will be live streamed. Here are links to view:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/THEBLVD1

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mississippiboulevardchrist8792/featured

VP print pool #5 - Arrival in Memphis

The pool traveling from Washington was unable to capture the VP's arrival at Memphis International Airport while still in the air on a second plane with staffers. The pool plane landed at 12:40 p.m. CST. Harris held at the airport for approximately 20 minutes awaiting our landing.

VP print pool #6 - Harris deplanes AF2

Vice President Harris emerged from AF2 at 12:54pm CST. She waved at the pool before entering her motorcade.

Greeters from the White House:

Mickell Lowrey, Chair of Shelby County, TN (D)

Jim Strickland, Mayor of Memphis, TN (D)

VP print pool #7 - Motorcade rolling

Motorcade rolling to Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church at 1:00 p.m. CST.

It is currently raining in Memphis, and temperatures are below freezing.

Attached are photos of the VP deplaning AF2 in Memphis.

[APP Note: The attached photos noted above were not contained in the report received by the APP.]

VP print pool #8 - Church arrival

The motorcade stopped at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church at 1:17 p.m. CST. Vice President Harris entered the church shortly after.

Harris is not on today's speaking program for the funeral service, per the VP's press secretary Kirsten Allen.

VP print pool #9 - Harris invited on stage

Vice President Harris was invited on stage to speak at the funeral of Tyre Nichols by Reverend Al Sharpton at 1:48pm CST. Will send quotes after her remarks end.

The pool is being held in a separate room outside the main sanctuary.

VP print pool #10 - Harris remarks at funeral

Vice President Harris demanded Congress pass the George Floyd Policing Act, noting she was a co-author of the original bill as a U.S. senator.

Below are key quotes from her remarks at the funeral of Tyre Nichols, and some color from audience reaction.

"We are here to celebrate the life of Tyre Nichols," Harris said in the opening of her brief remarks.

Speaking to the mother and stepfather of Nichols: "You have been extraordinary in terms of your strength, your courage and your grace. And, we mourn with you, and the people of our country mourn with you."

"Mothers around the world when their babies are born, pray to God when they hold that child, that that body and that life will be safe."

"Yet, we have a mother and a father who mourn the life of a young man who should be there today."

"This violent act was not in pursuit of public safety."

"One must ask: Was not it in the interest of keeping the public safe that Tyre Nichols would be with us here today?" Harris said to applause.

"Was he not also entitled to the right to be safe?"

On George Floyd Act: "As vice president of the United States, we demand that Congress pass the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act— Joe Biden will sign it. And, we should not delay, and we will not be denied. It is non-negotiable."

Harris citied a scripture at the end of her remarks from the Bible, Luke 1:79. "Let our memory of Tyre shine a light on the path toward peace and justice," she said after reading the scripture.

VP print pool #11 - Harris exits church

Vice President Harris exited from Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church at 3:18 p.m. CST, and entered the motorcade. She did not stop to talk to the pool.

VP print pool #12 - Harris boards AF2

Harris boarded AF2 at Memphis International Airport at 3:40 p.m. CST. She did not take questions from the pool, including a shouted question on the chances of passing a policing bill.

The pool is loading onto a separate plane with other White House staffers.

VP print pool #13 - Travelers

Traveling back to Joint Base Andrews on the plane with the pool:

- Keisha Lance Bottoms, Senior Advisor to the President for Public Engagement
- Mitch Landrieu, Senior Advisor & Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator
- Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)

VP print pool #14 - Background gaggle w/ WH official

A senior White House official spoke on background to poolers briefly while the plane was still on the ground in Memphis. Notable contents from the conversation:

On agenda for CBC meeting: "For the conversation with Congressional Black Caucus, the president is going to sit down and talk about what the options are? What are the legislative options? When the bill gets to the president's desk, he is willing to sign it, he wants to sign it, but Congress has to act."

On winning Republican support for police reform: "I'm always optimistic… This was the first time that I have seen, that many of us have seen, collective outrage. Usually there is a disconnect. There's often a disconnect between community and some law enforcement, whatever those things are that divide us. I've never seen collective outrage in the way that we have seen. And again, we have to remember a portion of this George Floyd bill has to do with body-worn cameras. So much of what we know about what happened that night, because those officers had on body-worn cameras. And, so I am always optimistic that we will do the right thing and as Tyre's mother and his family members have said, let not his death be in vain."

"What the President has continuously done throughout his career is he has worked in a bipartisan manner. This is something that's important to him."

"We need Congress to act, people have to remember there are three branches of government. The president can only do what the president is empowered to do from his branch of government. And, now we need Congress to act and in this instance, we need the support of the House and the Senate. And anything that we can do that will make a difference in policing in America, in training, in making sure that anything we can do that these horrific deaths don't continue to happen; then it's incumbent upon all of us and we need to call upon all of our elected officials to act."

On whether police reform will be raised in SOTU: "I would expect that there will be a number of pressing issues that are facing our country that will be raised in the State of the Union."

VP print pool #15 - Departure from Memphis

AF2 is en route back to Joint Base Andrews. The pool did not have a view of the exact time of wheels up.

The second plane carrying the pool and other WH staffers took off at 4:42 p.m. CST.

VP print pool #17 - Second plane lands

The second plane carrying Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Keisha Lance Bottoms, Mitch Landrieu, WH staffers and the pool landed at Joint Base Andrews at 7:14pm EST.

We were driving in a van back to the White House as of 7:25 p.m. EST.