Pool Reports of August 5, 2020

In-town pool report 1 - quiet morning

Good morning from the White House, where it's been quiet. Pool is covid tested, and on the lookout for any updates to the schedule. So far, still just the 3 pm meeting in the Oval w/Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.

In-town pool report 2 - lunch lid

Lunch lid till 1:30p

In-town pool report 3 - POTUS presser added/pool awaiting Oval meeting

POTUS is now having presser in briefing room at 5:30p, per latest guidance.

Pool is gathered outside Oval, awaiting meeting between POTUS and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. I will provide color and highlights, but I suggest grabbing direct quotes from TV stream, which will air soon after meeting ends.

In-town pool report 4 - Oval w/Gov Ducey

Pool was escorted into Oval Office at 3:16 pm.

Potus and Gov Ducey seated side by side in wing chairs.
Potus said "he was always asking for a lot and that's the way a governor should be."

Ducey: COVID hit us later. ... had to disperse large crowds. "There's a real path forward and a common sense approach"

Schools will be handled safely

We saw positivity as high as 21.... have a downward trajectory

All the businesses, you're gonna wear a mask if you go in there

Dr Birx: praises AZ's performance... we proposed 5 common sense pieces, have taken that model across the south. It's a way to secret hospitalizations and mortality. ... very proud is the governor

Ducey: u said it would be equivalent of stay at home order if we wear masks and stay at home

Introduces aide Gretchen Conver.

Conver: says partnership with Washington is as good as it could be. Talks of remdesivir

Ducey: talks about native kids

Potus: proud is you

Birx: stay the course

Potus asks if questionS

Reporter Q mail in voting?

Potus - in many places it's a disaster. Says Maloney elec should be done again

Absentee voting, great. But mail in indiscriminately, you can't have that.

It's a catastrophe waiting to happen.

Potus. We are very proud of Gov

Ducey- we will do it right (mail in voting) 70 percent of citizens vote by mail. We have a system that works and can eve trusted... this is no time to experiment.

Our state has been a model for providing choice and options for voters.

Potus: in Nevada, no verification of signature. ... right there, it's no good, it's defective

If NV wanted to do it well, they don't have time.

Postal service not up to the task.

Pool escorted out at 3:28

In-town pool report 5 - fuller quotes

Fuller quotes from Oval meeting, Gov. Doug Ducey and POTUS, w/Dr. Birx to POTUS's left, seated on couch:

Topics: COVID situation in AZ, vote-by-mail in AZ, NV, FL, Carolyn Maloney primary, Ducey comments on vote-by-mail in AZ.

Correction on name of Ducey aide who sat to his right, on a couch: Gretchen Conger.

Please check against transcript:

DUCEY, on covid: We had a very difficult June, we've had a much better July.

We've got masks in over 90 percent of our state now. And then the simple things like physical distancing, washing your hands, staying home if you're sick, and we did take some further steps. We were in the unhappy, but responsible position of dispersing large crowds. So, bars and nightclubs and gyms all closed temporarily, but upon putting those steps out there. We've seen improvement, every week, week over week for four weeks.

We're going to keep our guard up, we're going to stay vigilant, but there's a real path forward, and a common sense approach that we can apply in Arizona, not only around the saving lives, but also safely and successfully getting our kids back to school at the appropriate time.

POTUS: Your percentage down is incredible.

DUCEY: We saw our positivity get as high as 21. Now, upon reopening -- and we were part of the White House "slow the spread" for four weeks. We extended it for two more weeks, we had our positivity as low as 4%. Just yesterday. It was 10%, the week before it was 11, so it's on a downward trajectory, and I think with the steps that we're having the good decisions that Arizonans are making, the face masks and physical distancing, and the fact that people are embracing it. And I also want to say our private sector folks have been terrific. All of the businesses, if you want to participate in any good or service in Arizona, you're going to wear a mask before you go in there.

BIRX: Yeah, I said they just really did a great job putting these pieces together and really creating a path forward. ...

We've taken [the Arizona] model all the way across the south, and up into Tennessee and Kentucky and Ohio and Indiana and we'll be going to six states in the heartland next week.

Very proud of the governor. He was willing to be the first example of how to move forward together.

DUCEY: No celebration, no victory lap. We're going to stay the course and stay vigilant and keep our guard up, but we have a path forward in Arizona.

REPORTER Q FOR POTUS: Is vote by mail as safe in Arizona as it is, as you say, in Florida?

Well, I haven't discussed it with the governor. I can tell you in Florida they've done a very good job with it. IN Nevada IT would be a disaster in New York, it's been a disaster, in many other places it's been a total catastrophe. You know what's going on in New York with the Carolyn Maloney - I think they have to have a new election. YOU have no idea. Fraud, all sorts of, many ballots.

Paterson, New Jersey, I guess it's 25% or 20% of the vote is taken, you can't have that. So, it's, it's okay, absentee voting. Right. But this mail in voting where they mail indiscriminately millions and millions of ballots to people, you're never going to know who won the election, you can't have that. And, Nevada is a big state. Important state. It's a very political state, and the governor happens to be a Democrat, and I don't believe the post office can be set up. They were given no notice, I mean you're talking about millions of votes. Now it'll be a, it's, it's a catastrophe waiting to happen.

Re Maloney race:

Again, all you have to do is look at the vote that took place on a simple congressional district in an area that should be able to do it very easily in Manhattan, it's a total. It's a total, what's happened, it's a nightmare. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. Look at Paterson, New Jersey and look at other locations. We can't have that. You'll never know who the winner is. But the winner is going to be me.

See you at 5:30 [press conference].

Q for GOV DUCEY: Are you proud of your vote by mail system in AZ?

DUCEY: In Arizona, we're going to do it right, it will be free and fair. it will be difficult, if not impossible to cheat and it will be easy to vote 78% of the citizens already vote by mail in Arizona, but we've been doing this since 1992. So over the course of decades, we've established a system that works, and can be trusted. We're 90 days before the election. in Arizona, early ballots are going to be mailed in 60 days. This is no time to experiment.

q. are you sharing best practices with POTUS?

Well our state has been a model for this type of voting for providing options and choice to our citizens. We're not going to disenfranchise anyone. we've actually allocated an additional $9 million to make certain that election day voters can go safely in proper sanitized places that are well staffed on election day. we want to make sure that everyone that wants to vote can vote, and they will in Arizona.

POTUS: And don't forget, if you look at what they're doing in Nevada: no signature, you take a look at the signature. And there's no verification of signatures. I don't know if you do that but it gets no verification of signatures so they don't even know who's going to sign this. They have literally a clause that you don't have to verify the signature, that they don't have to do it.

So right there. It's no good, it's defective. two votes in an envelope, in a single envelope. this is a thing that will be a disaster like never before. So we'll see what the court has to say about it. Arizona has been doing this for a long time and it's been refined.

Even if Nevada wanted to do it well, they wouldn't have enough time. I'm sure the post office doesn't have enough time. millions of ballots all of a sudden coming out of nowhere, you know voting starts in a very short period of time.

So, in Florida they've done a good job. in Arizona they've done a good job, but they've been doing this thing and refining it for years. This is something that's winning but think of this: there's no verification of the signature. well who's going to sign it? They don't even verify who's going to sign it. So it's, I'm sure the courts will treat it very fairly, let's see what happens. Thank you. All right.

[APP Note: Report #6 does not exist or was not received by the APP.]

In-town pool report 7 - two-minute warning

Two-minute warning at 5:44 pm for POTUS press conference in Brady briefing room.

In town pool report 8 - POTUS presser begins

POTUS walked into the briefing room at 5:46p. Press conference is available live on TV and online.

[APP Note: Report #9 does not exist or was not received by the APP.]

In town pool report 10 - travel/photo lid

Travel/photo lid called at 6:24 pm.

Have a great evening!