Vice Presidential Pool Reports of November 2, 2023

VP Supplemental Pool #1– Checking in from London

Good Morning from London, where Vice President Harris will represent the U.S. at the U.K.'s Global Summit on AI Safety today.

Your pool — which is down by 2 after members tested positive for Covid this morning — is en route to Bletchley Park, the historic estate located about 50 miles outside of London, where the summit will take place.

The VP will travel to Bletchley later this morning.

Below is a today's schedule, per the daily guidance:

At 10:50 am GMT, the Vice President will travel from Winfield House Landing Zone en route to Furzton Lake Landing Zone. This departure will be closed press.

At 11:40 am GMT, the Vice President will arrive at Furzton Lake Landing Zone. This arrival will be closed press.

At 11:55 am GMT, the Vice President will greet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom at the Global Summit on AI Safety. This greet at Bletchley Park will be open to pre-credentialed media.

At 12:00 pm GMT, the Vice President will participate in a family photo with participants of the Global Summit on AI Safety. This photo at Bletchley Park will be open to pre-credentialed media.

At 12:30 pm GMT, the Vice President will participate in the first session of the Global Summit on AI Safety, with other foreign leaders. This session at Bletchley Park will have pool spray at the top.

At 1:30 pm GMT, the Vice President will participate in the second session of the Global Summit on AI Safety, with other foreign leaders, business executives and civil society representatives. This session at Bletchley Park will be closed press.

At 5:10 pm GMT, the Vice President will travel from Furzton Lake Landing Zone en route to London Stansted Airport. This departure will be pooled press.

At 5:35 pm GMT, the Vice President will arrive at London Stansted Airport. This arrival will be pooled press.

At 6:10 pm GMT, the Vice President and Second Gentleman will depart London, United Kingdom en route to Minneapolis International Airport. This departure will be pooled press.

At 10:05 pm CDT, the Vice President and Second Gentleman will arrive at Minneapolis International Airport for a re-fueling stop. This arrival will be closed press.

At 11:35 pm CDT, the Vice President and Second Gentleman will depart Minneapolis International Airport en route to Los Angeles International Airport. This departure will be closed press.

VP Supplemental Pool #2– Arrival at AI Summit

The VP's motorcade rolled up the driveway of the Victorian-style mansion at Bletchley Park at 11:54 am. shortly after the rain let up.

She was the last of the leaders to arrive and was greeted by the British Prime MinisterRishi Sunak, who met leaders at the door of the mansion for arrival photos.

As the VP walked up to the house, she answered one shouted question.

Asked if the summit will make a difference, the VP responded: "I do. I do. We're working together."

The VP did not respond to a follow-upquestion about whether AI would "exterminate us."

About 15 mins later, she participated in a family photo —she was placed front an center— with 22 other summit attendees.

Here are some names of those who participated in the family photo.

World leaders: (who participated in arrival photos, and family photo)

President Ursula von der Leyen, European Union
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italy
Secretary General Antonio Guterres, United Nations
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, Germany
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Australia

Tech leaders in family photo: (a more comprehensive list TKTK).

Nick Clegg, Meta

Reid Hoffman, Partner Greylock and Co-founder of Inflection AI

James Manyika, Google

Sam Alman, Open AI

She moved on to a plenary session that only one pooler was allowed to attend, and thanks to CNN's team we were able to capture the VP walk in speaking with President Ursula von der Leyen,of the European Union.

She sat to the right of Prime Minister Sunak at a circular table with about a half-dozen other leaders. He gave remarks, including praise for the U.S.'s A.I. initiatives, but the VP did not speak. The rest of the plenary session is closed press.

VP Supplemental Pool #3-- Details on VP's A.I. Summit Participation

Sending along details about the VP office's participation in the plenary sessions

We have also learned, on background, that leaders from Japan, Korea, and Singapore have joined the plenary virtually:

In his remarks, Prime Minister Sunak thanked Fumio Kishida, prime minister of Japan, and South Korean President Yoon Suk.

On Background from a White House official:

• On Thursday, November 2nd, following her major speech Wednesday outlining the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision for the future of AI, Vice President Kamala Harris will participate in the Global Summit on AI Safety alongside fellow leaders, heads of AI companies, and civil society representatives.
• At today’s summit, the Vice President will describe this moment as transformational and will call on all participants to heed our shared moral, ethical, and societal duty to advance AI that works in the public interest.
• Vice President Harris will participate in two sessions.
• During the first session, the Vice President will emphasize that we must manage the full spectrum of AI risks—threats to individuals, communities, institutions, and democracy. She will also highlight the Biden-Harris Administration’s bold action to advance this vision, including steps to establish standards and tools to distinguish between authentic government-produced digital content and AI-generated or manipulated content, prevent those with power over the opportunity and well-being of others, including lenders, medical professions, and landlords, from using discriminatory AI algorithms, and create a new United States AI Safety Institute. She will call on fellow leaders to take coordinated actions in each of these areas.
• During the second session, Vice President Harris will lay out the moral, ethical, and societal duty governments, companies, and civil society have to ensure everyone is able to access the benefits of AI and ensure AI advances in a way that protects all people from its harms. She will address companies, stressing that the private sector’s decisions have the potential to impact all of society and will emphasize the responsibility of companies to prioritize the wellbeing of customers, the security of communities, and the stability of democracies over profit. The Vice President will also highlight the importance of including civil society in the work of AI governance, noting that there can be no conversation about the future of AI that sidelines the voices of workers, civil and human rights advocates, researchers, and members of affected communities. She will point to U.S.’ leadership on these issues, including the G7 International AI Code of Conduct and the U.S. AI Safety Institute. She will call on leaders, companies, and civil society to work together to advance AI that works in the public interest.

VP Supplemental Pool #4-- Harris/Guterres discuss Gaza at A.I. Summit

Your pool was informed, on background by a White House official, that Vice President Harris met with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the A.I. Summit at Bletchley Park., where they discussed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

A meeting with Guterres was a "priority," for the Vice President as she prepared to attend this week's summit.

During the conversation, they discussed increasing the flow of aid to humanitarian assistance into Gaza, but how to keep working together to step up the delivery of food, medicine, and water to Gaza and make sure it's getting to people.

They did not discuss the recent Israeli strike on a Gaza refugee camp.

They also spoke about continued support for the Ukraine-Russia war, and international support for Haiti.

The conversation lasted about 20 minutes between plenary sessions.

A formal readout will be coming soon.

VP Supplemental Pool #5--VP Gaggle/ Departure from A.I. Summit

Vice President Harris gaggled for about 20 minutes with the pool after attending A.I. summit sessions, and we ran to the motorcade immediately afterward.

The motorcade started rolling at 4:57 p.m. to London-Stansted.

Here are some highlights:

AI Summit

The VP said that the summit was "a very productive couple of days" and thanked the Prime Minister Sunak, who she said "has shown great leadership" in bringing all of the leaders together.

She said that there "was a lot of appreciation for the role that the United States has played" in spearheading A.I. safeguards that have been announced.

She said that she left the summit believing that her message of assessing the "full spectrum" of risks associated with AI was well-received, and the U.S. had been particularly impactful in ensuring that civil society groups have a seat at the table.

Israel/Gaza questions

In response to a question of whether the U.S. should condition aid to Israel to get them to prioritize civilian harm reduction, the VP said: "We are going to continue to stand with Israel's right to defend itself."

She also urged to "never forget what happened on October 7," describing 1,400 innocent people were killed slaughtered, including "young people who were simply attending a concert.
"We are not going to create any conditions on the support that we are giving Israel to defend itself."

In response to a question of the Biden administration's response to the Israel strike on the refugee camp, she called the images she's seen "heartbreaking," especially "the injury and death" to children.

She added that she had a friend who lost several family members in Gaza.

"There is no word that I can offer you that justifies any other feeling in terms of the loss of that life. It's tragic."

When asked if the refugee camp was a legitimate military target, and whether it was acceptable, the VP responded,"We are not telling Israel how to conduct this war."

In response to a question of why the U.S. doesn't support a ceasefire, noting that Sen. Dick Durbin did today, amid the rising death toll, particularly of children VP reiterated the pain that the images and deaths have caused, and reiterated the administrations support for humanitarian pauses.

VP responded strongly to a question about fear that Palestinians won't be able to return to Gaza after the war ends.

"Let me be unequivocally clear: people who have been forced out, have a right to return home and there should be no forced displacement, no forced migration. And that is it."

Israel-Ukraine/ Congress funding question:
VP said that the administration is not negotiating decoupling funding for Israel and Ukraine, which Speaker Johnson has proposed, and that if such a bill comes to the president he will still veto it.

"Our proposal is that there be aid given to both places to Israel and to Ukraine, and we are standing by that."

"But let's also be clear that these folks who want to be considered as leaders-- in the midst of global crises of proportion we have not seen in a very long time--are playing political games with people."

She also mentioned as an aside that what's being proposed would increase the deficit.

When asked if the admin fears blowback if the spending bills get held up by veto. "We're gonna do the right thing. Period."

VP Supplemental Pool #6-- Otter of VP's Gaggle

There's been a lot of interest in the VP's gaggle, so I'm sharing the Otter link here.

We're close to the airport and will lose access to the internet soon, so I didn't want to leave folks hanging.

Hope it's helpful!

VP Supplemental Pool #7-- Wheels up from London

The VP's motorcade arrived at London Stansted at 6:49 p.m.

She got out of her SUV, where the SGOTUS was waiting with an umbrella. She kissed him, they ditched the umbrella and walked the stairs to AF2 in the pouring rain and fierce (and very cold) wind.

They turned and gave big smiles and waves before boarding at 6:54 p.m.

We are wheels up at 7:18 p.m.

VP Supplemental Pool #8-- Wheels down in Minneapolis

AF2 landed in Minneapolis at 11:08 p.m. local time.

At the beginning of the roughly 8 1/2 hour flight your poolers were invited up to a front cabin and had a 20 minute, off-the-record conversation with the VP.

The VP’s National Security advisor Phil Gordon came back to the press cabin and had an off-the-record gaggle during the flight.

Your pool left AF2, and is holding on a support plane that will head back to JBA.

The VP and SGOTUS will continue on to LA on AF2.

VP Supplemental Pool #9--VP wheels up to LA

The VP was wheels up from Minneapolis International to LAX at 12:25 a.m. That’s it from me!