Vice Presidential Pool Reports of October 8, 2024

VP out of town pool report #1/ Motorcade rolling

Greetings from New York on a cool but sunny day. VPOTUS's motorcade departed the RON at 9.57am. She is due to appear on The View on ABC for the first of today's broadcast interviews.

VP out of town pool report #2/ Arrival at ABC

VPOTUS's motorcade passed Times Square, various Broadway theatres and Pier 76. Numerous people stood and took photos or videos on their phones. The motorcade reached the ABC studios in Hudson Square at 10.14am.

VP out of town pool report #3/ VPOTUS on The View

Wearing a grey jacket, VPOTUS walked on the set of The View at 11.04am, accompanied by the sound of Beyonce's 'Freedom'. The audience stood and cheered. VPOTUS smiled and greeted each co-host in turn.

The interview is being shown live on ABC. Unlike POTUS's appearance on The View two weeks ago, pool is not on set but watching on TV from a separate room.

VP out of town pool report #4/ Some highlights from The View so far

VPOTUS's appearance on The View has broken for commercials.

Asked if she would have done anything different from Joe Biden over the past three and a half years, VPOTUS replied: "There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of – and I've been part of most of the decisions that have had impact."

VPOTUS described Donald Trump's claim that FEMA is short of money because it was spent on undocumented immigrants as "the height of irresponsibility and callousness".

VPOTUS said of Trump: "He puts himself before the needs of others. I fear that he really lacks empathy at a very basic level."

VPOTUS said of Hurricane Milton: "It is predicted to be historic in terms of how serious and devastating it will be." She urged people to heed the warnings of local officials.

The interview is showing live on ABC.

VP out of town pool report #5/ More from The View

During the first commercial break, VPOTUS posed with the co-hosts for a group photo. Whoopi Goldberg went over to VPOTUS, whispered something and pointed to the audience. (Thanks to photographers who went into the studio for this info.)

The interview resumed and VPOTUS talked about her support from national security officials including Republicans. "We have to put country before party. We have to agree about the sanctity of the oath we take to defend the constitution of the United States."

She criticised Trump for instigating the January 6 insurrection and said for many people "that was a bridge too far".

VPOTUS added: "They're exhausted with the lies. They're exhausted with the selfishness. They're exhausted with the attempt to divide us as Americans and they're ready to turn the page."

VPOTUS defended the Biden Administration's record on immigration and border security. "Ultimately, if we want a real fix to this, Congress has to act."

She said Trump is not "solution oriented" and suggested: "Watch his rallies. He spends full time engaged in grievance about what has happened to him... What he does not talk about is you. He does not talk about what you need."

We are in another commercial break.

VP out of town pool report #6/ Sandwich generation plan

On The View, VPOTUS announced a plan to ease the burden on the 'sandwich generation' of Americans caring for children and ageing parents. The plan involves allowing Medicare to cover in-home health care. Funding would come from allowing Medicare to continue to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies. "It is a way to help people not just get by but get ahead."

VPOTUS added: "I plan on having a Republican in my cabinet... You asked me about differences between Joe Biden and me. That will be one of them."

The View played a clip of Maya Rudolph as VPOTUS on Saturday Night Live. VPOTUS laughed and said: "Maya Rudolph, she's so good."
The interview finished at 11.38am.

VP out of town pool report #7/ Motorcade rolling

VPOTUS's motorcade departed the ABC studios in Hudson Square at 11.59am. A cheer/ scream went up from young people gathered outside.

The next interview is with Howard Stern on SiriusXM.

VP out of town pool report #8/ Arrival at SiriusXM

VPOTUS's motorcade arrived at SiriusXM in midtown Manhattan at 12.15pm after an uneventful journey.

VP out of town pool report #9/ SiriusXM interview under way

VPOTUS's interview with Howard Stern on SiriusXM began at 1.08pm.

They started talking about Prince. VPOTUS said: "1999 I thought was spectacular. You can go back to his early days. Him on the guitar, there was nothing like it."

VPOTUS said she and husband Doug Emhoff have "very different musical tastes". She said Doug is into Depeche Mode whereas she grew up with hip-hop.
"But Prince is the one intersection where we both love."

VPOTUS said she never met Prince.

They talked about the stakes of the election. VPOTUS said: "I literally lose sleep, and have been, over what is at stake in this election."

She said Donald Trump wants to be a dictator, admires them and gets played by them.

The interview is being broadcast live on SiriusXM. Pool is sitting in a conference room and listening to the audio.

VP out of town pool report #10/ Howard Stern interview is ongoing

VPOTUS reacted to reports from Bob Woodward's new book that President Donald Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Vladimir Putin of Russia during the 2020 shortage.

She said: "People in America were struggling to get tests and this guy is sending them to Russia, to a murderous dictator for his personal use?

"That is just the most recent stark example of who Trump is, that he secretly sent Covid test kits for the personal use of Putin of Russia, an adversary to the United States, when he was talking about Americans should be putting bleach in their blood. Think about what this is."

VPOTUS continued to criticise Trump. "He says he's going to be a dictator on day one." She said dictators jail journalists and protesters. "He is dangerous and unfit to be president of the United States."

She said: "This election is about strength versus weakness. The weakness of someone who puts himself before the American people, who does not have the strength to stand for their needs and make sure we're a secure nation."

Stern asked about the presidential debate in Philadelphia. VPOTUS said: "There were a couple of moments at least in the debate where it was just surreal."

VPOTUS went on to discuss border security and what the bipartisan bill would have accomplished. Then Stern asked in depth about her past career as a prosecutor and the importance of public service.

VPOTUS said: "I have put a lot of people in jail. I have prosecuted everything from child sexual assault to homicides. And then, as attorney general, transnational criminal organisations."

She said Trump hand selected three members of the Supreme Court to take away the right of women to make decisions about their own body. "If Donald Trump were to get another term, most of the legal scholars think there are two more seats that are going to be up."

Stern asked VPOTUS whether she would feel safe if Trump wins or would leave the country. She replied: "Howard, I'm doing everything I can to make sure he does not win."

VP out of town pool report #11/ Howard Stern interview ends

VPOTUS's interview with Howard Stern finished just after 2pm.

Stern raised Trump's claims of election fraud and the January 6 insurrection. VPOTUS called Trump a "sore loser".

VPOTUS said she works out every morning and was asked about cereal. "I don't eat Raisin Bran every morning." She said she likes Special K and recalled that her mother made Special K cookies. VPOTUS said she misses her mother every day.

Stern asked her about being bused to school. "I love teachers, I really do. They do God's work. We don't pay them nearly enough."

Stern spoke of the pressure that VPOTUS is under and wondered if she could go to a therapist. VPOTUS replied: "This is my form of therapy right now, Howard." She went on to talk about her supportive group of friends. "Choose not to have mean people in your life."

VPOTUS said, "One of my passions is small businesses", and recalled her upbringing.

VPOTUS said: "My husband Doug is one of the strongest, most self-actualised people – men – I've known." She recalled meeting him on a blind date. "I feel very fortunate to have a husband who is just secure in his skin. He's not trying to be anything he's not."

Stern asked if there are people who will not vote for a woman. VPOTUS said: "Listen, I've been the first woman in almost every position I've had. I believe that men and women support women in leadership. And that's been my life experience and that's why I'm running for president."

VPOTUS talked about receiving the call from POTUS saying he would not seek reelection. "The first thing I asked, to be honest with you, was: are you sure?"

VPOTUS discussed her choice of Governor Tim Walz as running mate. "We look like we'd be very different. We have so much in common. Here's the thing, Howard: he reminds me of the people I grew up with."

Stern speculated that, if elected, VPOTUS would appoint former Congresswoman Liz Cheney to her cabinet. VPOTUS said: "I gotta win, Howard."

VPOTUS said she has met more than 150 world leaders. "America is so important to the rest of the world... We are a role model for what it means to be a democracy." She said Trump "belittles" members of the US military.

Stern asked about opponents mispronouncing VPOTUS's first name. She said: "It's the same tired playbook."

VP out of town pool report #12/ Motorcade rolling

VPOTUS's motorcade departed the midtown Manhattan building where SiriusXM is located at 2.20pm.

VP out of town pool report #13/ Back at RON

VPOTUS's motorcade arrived back at the RON at 2.25pm after a short journey.

VP out of town pool report #14/ Motorcade rolling

VPOTUS's motorcade departed the RON in midtown Manhattan at 4.54pm. Her next interview is on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS.

VP out of town pool report #15/ Arrival at Ed Sullivan Theater

VPOTUS's motorcade passed Radio City Music Hall and reached the Ed Sullivan Theater at 5pm. Again people took photos and videos along the way.

VP out of town pool report #16/ Interview with Stephen Colbert begins

VPOTUS's taped interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert began at 6.07pm.

Pool is in a holding room adjacent to the Ed Sullivan Theater and watching the interview on a live feed on a giant TV. It shows the familiar Late Show set: a brown desk and two blue chairs on a red carpeted podium against a backdrop depicting images of New York at night. There is a full house with audience members sitting on red seats.

The content of the interview is under embargo until the audience departs. Pool will send highlights then. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is on CBS at 11.35pm.

VP out of town pool report #17/ Interview with Stephen Colbert ends

VPOTUS's taped interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ended at 6.44pm.

The embargo will lift soon. Highlights to follow.

VP out of town pool report #18/ VPOTUS condemns Trump over Covid tests to Putin

VPOTUS departed the Ed Sullivan Theater at 7.14pm. Some highlights from VPOTUS's interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert tonight.

Colbert asked about the October 7 attack and Israel's response. VPOTUS said: "We must have a ceasefire and hostage deal as immediately as possible. This war has got to end. It has to end. We cannot lose some belief in the possibility of it. Because then, to your point, we throw up our hands instead of rolling up our sleeves. But it is complex. It is a conversation that requires probably more time than you and I have right now."

Colbert said we've heard about being close to a deal but what does close mean?
VPOTUS replied: "Close means that a lot of the details have been worked out but details remain. And so there has been some progress but it is meaningless unless a deal is actually reached, so I don't want to suggest to you that we should be applauded for getting close at times to a deal.

"The reality of it is: 1,200 people massacred. There are still hostages being held in Gaza. I met with the families of hostages, both who are alive and, as we learned recently, who have died. I have met with families of Palestinians who have been killed, innocent people who have been killed in Gaza.

"And there is pain – pain and suffering that is happening in that region of the world. And we must work and the United States must work and not lose hope and not throw up our hands around the role we must play in urging and seeking and building toward a resolution. And the first thing that's going to unlock that is we've got to get a deal done and we're not going to give up."

Colbert then asked about Donald Trump's promise to fix conflicts quickly and his close relationships with world leaders such as Xi, Kim and Orban.

VPOTUS described them as "dictators and authoritarians and people who have been well described as murderers".

Colbert said we just learned Trump had seven calls with Putin since he left office. VPOTUS said: "Yeah, so I heard about it today. I haven't read it. But look, I said even at the debate, Donald Trump – he openly admires dictators and authoritarians. He has said he wants to be a dictator on day one if he were elected again as president. He gets played by these guys. He admires so-called strongmen and he gets played because they flatter him or offer him favour.

"The commander-in-chief of the United States of America must stand strong and defend the principles that we hold dear. We should stand with our allies. We should strengthen the alliances that we have, such as Nato, which is the strongest military alliance the world has ever seen. We must stand with our friend Ukraine where Russia is attempting to change borders by force."

VPOTUS became angry as she went on: "And then you hear - if everything I've heard about Bob Woodward's book is right - Donald Trump secretly sent Covid test kits to Putin for his personal use. I ask everyone here and everyone who is watching: do you remember what those days were like? You remember how many people did not have tests and were trying to scramble to get them?

"You remember how rare it was to have and you remember people by the hundreds were dying every day? We would watch the number every day being reported of people who were dying. People who were in hospitals without their family where the only touch that they had was of a nurse that they had met because the family could not get there?

"And this man is giving Covid test kits to Vladimir Putin? Think about what this means on top of him sending love letters to Kim Jong Un. No, think about it. He thinks, well, that's his friend. What about the American people? They should be your first friend."

Other notable exchanges:

First Colbert asked about Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
VPOTUS urged people to listen to local officials and warned about misinformation. She criticised politicians who "tell lies" for political gain. "It's crude. Have you no empathy, man, for the suffering of other people? Have you have no sense of purpose if you purport to be a leader?"

Colbert said it's a short campaign and asked: does it feel short?
VPOTUS said: "It's definitely been a whirlwind." About 70 days. "There's a lot of catching up to do. My opponent, the former president, has been running since 2020... People are exhausted by that old tired playbook of Donald Trump's... Folks are ready to turn the page."

Colbert said VPOTUS gave one of the greatest debate performances he ever saw and asked what she was thinking in the famous picture where she rested her chin on her hand.
VPOTUS replied: "It's family TV, right? It starts with a W, there's a letter between it, then the last letter's F."

VPOTUS on tax: "We have to agree that teachers, firefighters and nurses should not be paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and corporations."

VPOTUS said she is not Joe Biden and she is not Donald Trump. "I love the American people and I believe in our country. I love that it is our character and nature to be an ambitious people." She referred to the "opportunity economy" and her mother having been a small business owner.

She spoke of her plan to build new houses so people can get their foot in the door for home ownership. "I come from the middle class. I'm never going to forget where I come from."

Colbert asked about the vice presidency and joked about its powers.
VPOTUS referred to a viral clip from an interview with a college student after the vice presidential debate (presumably this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FieYJi9nP-w) and urged Colbert to watch it.
VPOTUS said her gut told her that Tim Walz was the right choice. "He's the kind of people I grew up with... Hard working folks. Folks who are plain talking, care about family, care about community. That's who Tim Walz is. He's going to be a great vice president."

Colbert asked VPOTUS to have a beer and said she asked for Miller High Life. They both drank from cans of Miller High Life. Colbert asked VPOTUS about her favourite Bob Seger songs. She looked sceptical and asked: "Aretha or Eminem?" Moments later she also referred to the San Francisco 49ers.

Colbert asked what would you want your mom to know about your campaign?
VPOTUS said: "I miss her every day... She taught us to fight for what we believe in and she was very much about, if you see a problem, try to fix the problem... But she's with me every day."

Colbert asked if Trump lost the 2020 election.
VPOTUS referred to her rallies and said, "Quite a few people show up by the way", and listed Trump's various losses, describing him as a "loser". She then joked: "This is what happens when I drink beer."

VPOTUS said she was proud to have the support of many Republicans who say "we've got to put country before party". She said when she thinks about January 6, for a lot of folks "that was a bridge too far" and that has motivated many to see we have to turn the page. "Let's not go backwards."

ENDS

VP out of town pool report #19/ VPOTUS at RON

VPOTUS's motorcade arrived at the RON in midtown Manhattan at 7.20pm after a short and uneventful journey.

VP out of town pool report #20/ Lid

A lid was called at 7.26pm.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert featuring VPOTUS will be shown on CBS at 11.35pm.

VP out of town pool report #21/ More detail on VPOTUS drinking lager

Here's some more detail from a lighter moment in VPOTUS's interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Colbert said: "People are calling it the vibe election and all the vibes are all good. But elections, I think, are won on vibes because one of the old saws is they just want somebody they can have a beer with.

"So, would you like to have a beer with me so I can tell people what that's like? OK. Now, we asked ahead of time because we can't just be giving a drink to the vice president of the United States. You asked for Miller High Life. I'm just curious -

VPOTUS said: "OK, the last time I had beer was at a baseball game with Doug. Cheers."

They drank from the cans of Miller High Life. Colbert said: "There you go. It's cold. From the beautiful city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin."

There was cross-talk but it sounded like VPOTUS said: "Those champagne favours!"

Colbert went on: "So that covers Wisconsin. Let's talk Michigan. Let's appeal to the Michigan voters, OK? What are your favourite Bob Seger songs?"

He proceeded to reel off a list of Seger songs and VPOTUS did not appear enthusiastic. Finally, she said: "I'll go Aretha or Eminem. You got any?"

Later Colbert asked if Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.

VPOTUS said: "You know, I'm going to tell you what some of the people in my rallies - quite a few people show up, by the way - you know, when you lost millions of jobs, you lost manufacturing, you lost automotive plants, you lost the election. What does that make you? A loser. This is what somebody at my rallies said. I thought it was funny."

She laughed and Colbert remarked: "It's accurate. It's accurate."

VPOTUS laughed: "This is what happens when I drink beer!"

ENDS

VP out of town pool report #21b/ Clarifying what was said in cross-talk

Pool report #21 mentioned cross-talk about Miller High Life. VPOTUS actually said: "The champagne of beers."