Pool Reports by Jada Yuan, The Washington Post
| Sent: | Reports: |
| December 1, 2022 10:45 |
FLOTUS pool #1 - gathering Bonjour à tous! I'll be your pooler today's spousal portion of the State Visit, and State Dinner arrivals, alongside Nikki Schwab of the Daily Mail. Pool gathered at 9:34am during the arrivals and our vans left campus at 9:42am. We are moving independently to get to the spousal site visit ahead of time and tour the whole route. The President and First Lady already met French President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Brigitte Macron outside the White House. Dr. Biden is wearing a monochromatic bright pink outfit -- pink coat, pink dress, pink heels. Mrs. Macron is wearing something similar, but above knee-length. Hunter green dress and belted patterned black and green coat with black heels. This is the first state visit of Biden's presidency. Macron was also the first state visit of the Trump presidency. And according to Carlos Elizondo, the White House social secretary, it's the first state visit in any modern presidency to occur during the holiday season. The social staff has planned Naomi Biden's wedding, the Christmas decorations, the Christmas tree lighting, this visit, and numerous receptions in the coming weeks all during this crunch period. Yesterday at the State Dinner preview, he told members of the press, "We're not tired. We're just full of caffeine." (See yesterday's FLOTUS pool reports for details of the State Dinner setup.) There's a giant red ribbon hanging in front of the White House for World AIDS day, and every window is decorated with a wreath. Most flag poles outside the White House have a cluster of three flags: U.S., France, and the District of Columbia. The EEOB is decorated on at least two sides with an American flag alongside a French flag. HERE'S THE DAILY GUIDANCE FROM FLOTUS'S OFFICE DAILY GUIDANCE FOR THE FIRST LADY FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2022 The President and the First Lady will host President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Brigitte Macron of France for a State Visit to the United States, which will include a state dinner. This will be the first State Visit of the Biden-Harris Administration. At 9:00 AM ET, the President and the First Lady will greet President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Brigitte Macron of France for the Official Arrival Ceremony. The Vice President and the Second Gentleman will attend. This event on the South Lawn will be open press. At 10:30 AM ET, the First Lady will host Mrs. Macron at Planet Word, an interactive museum in Washington, D.C. dedicated to how words and language connect us to each other and the world around us. During their visit, the First Lady and Mrs. Macron will be joined by local public-school students enrolled in a French immersion educational program. The First Lady and Mrs. Macron will tour the museum and participate in a bilingual poetry reading by the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States Ada Limón, appointed by the Librarian of Congress, and former National Student Poet Maya Salameh. The visit to Planet Word will be covered by a U.S. and French press pool. At 7:00 PM ET, the President and the First Lady will greet President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Brigitte Macron of France on arrival for the State Dinner. This event at the North Portico will be covered by the in-house pool. At 7:30 PM ET, the President and the First Lady will participate in a photo opportunity with President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Brigitte Macron of France at the Grand Staircase on the occasion of the State Dinner. This event at the Grand Staircase will be covered by the in-house pool. At 8:50 PM ET, the President and the First Lady will host President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Brigitte Macron of France for a State Dinner. The Vice President and the Second Gentleman will attend. This event on the South Lawn will be covered by the in-house pool. AND HERE'S THE PRESIDENT'S SCHEDULE EST 7:10 AM In-Town Pool Call Time 9:00 AM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY will greet President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Brigitte Macron of France for the Official Arrival Ceremony; THE VICE PRESIDENT and THE SECOND GENTLEMAN attend 11:45 AM THE PRESIDENT hosts a joint press conference with President Emmanuel Macron of France 7:00 PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY greet President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Brigitte Macron of France on arrival for the State Dinner 7:30 PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY participate in a photo opportunity with President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Brigitte Macron of France at the Grand Staircase on the occasion of the State Dinner 8:50 PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY host President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Brigitte Macron of France for a State Dinner; THE VICE PRESIDENT and THE SECOND GENTLEMAN attend |
| December 1, 2022 10:53 |
FLOTUS pool #2 - Planet Word pre-tour and background After a very short drive, pool arrived at Planet Word, "the museum where language comes to life," according to signs outside, at 9:52am and did a preview of the setups. The museum is caddy corner from The Washington Post office. Just inside the entrance, in an outside courtyard, is a little glass doored box shaped like a house and filled with books. In the courtyard is a sculpture of a tree hung with maybe 500 glass bells hung on strings. This seems to be the "Speaking Willow" sculpture that plays recordings in different languages as visitors walk beneath. This is where the greeting will take place. Also in the courtyard is a sculpture of a kneeling person made up of stainless-steel symbols from nine different writing systems: Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil, Chinese and Japanese -- "Silver Adagio, 2020" by Jaume Plensa of Spain -- according to the sign. Colorful banners read "Inspire" "Surprise" "Amaze," etc... We finished our tour around 10:00 and have been holding inside. At 10:14 we could hear what sounded like A LOT of children going up the stairs. The other two setups will be in The Schwartzman Library, which is a really gorgeous room filled floor to ceiling with red and yellow books grouped by color. The Secret Service showed us an interactive projected animation of "A Wrinkle in Time." Next setup is a poetry reading in front of a white, sculptural "word wall." Finally, they'll go into a room with a giant blue and white light up globe. According to the Museum's website: The Presidents and their spouses had a private dinner last night at Fiola Mare, a fancy seafood restaurant on the D.C. waterfront. Refer to last night's POTUS pool reports. President Macron and President Biden (as well as Mrs. Macron and Dr. Biden) have met several times since POTUS took office. The two presidents last saw each other at the G20 summit in Bali earlier this month. BACKGROUND FROM THE OFFICE OF THE FIRST LADY: The First Lady previously met with Mrs. Macron of France in October 2021 during the G20 Leaders' Summit program in Rome. The First Lady hosted Mrs. Macron for a bilateral engagement to continue to strengthen our relationship with one of the United States' oldest allies. Both the First Lady and Mrs. Macron also participated in the program for spouses of G20 partners. During the visit, Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron will tour the museum and participate in a bilingual poetry reading by the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States Ada Limón, who was appointed by the Librarian of Congress, and former National Student Poet Maya Salameh.
Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron will be greeted by Ann Friedman, Founder and CEO of Planet Word, alongside Karen Bryant, principal of Silver Spring International Middle School, and three students. This greet will take place under an art sculpture called the 'Speaking Willow' that has 500 speakers that look like branches and play recordings in different languages as visitors walk beneath.
Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron will see the library's display of The Little Prince, a book by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery. They will move to the Reading Table, where two students will show Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron the interactive sound and imagery when a book is placed on the table. The students will demonstrate The Reading Table with A Wrinkle in Time, a book the students read in class.
Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron will join a group of the students to listen to a bilingual poetry reading by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón and former National Student Poet Maya Salameh. The poets will jointly read Maya's original poem 'Mardi' (Tuesday) and Ada's poem 'The Conditional'. The reading will take place in front of Planet Word's Word Wall, which features 1000 words across a 20 ft by 40 ft floor-to-ceiling display. Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron will deliver brief remarks at the conclusion of the poetry reading Background on Planet Word |
| December 1, 2022 13:42 |
FLOTUS pool #3 - Planet Word visit Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron arrived to Planet Word at 11am and went inside at 11:04am. Greeting them are Ann Friedman, a retired first grade reading teacher and Founder and CEO of Planet Word, as well as Karen Bryant, principal of Silver Spring International Middle School and three students from that school. Dr. Biden warmly greeted Friedman and gave Bryant, who's also wearing a bright pink coat, a big hug. "Hi, I'm Jill Biden," she said to a student. She also commented on the blue dye in a female student's hair and gestured to her own hair. It is 39 degrees Fahrenheit or 3.89 degrees Celsius. According to FLOTUS press secretary, Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron were having a private tea in the Red Room at the White House before arrival. Dr. Biden gently put her hand on the small of Mrs. Macron's back as she ushered her through the door. ---- Next, we moved upstairs into The Schwarzman Library, which has mirrored ceilings and red and yellow books. They were accompanied by Patricia Étienne, wife of the French ambassador to the United States. "The mirrored ceiling gives the illusion of this grand space," said Friedman. Friedman showed them a display on "The Little Prince." It was a dark glass box in the bookshelf that lit up with a model of the moon (like the cover of the book) and started reading a passage from the book. "So, we have nine of these dioramas. It's the most translated book in the world besides the Bible," Friedman said of The Little Prince. "Yes, very much," said Mrs. Macron. "I'll have to re-read it," said Dr. Biden. Then they walked over to a Reading Table, where three students were sitting. This is where "books come to life," said Friedman. They turned on a display for "A Wrinkle in Time" that included light up projections and a reading of the book. When the reading got to a part where the narrator says, "It never occurred to me that women weren't scientists," Mrs. Macron made an expression of awe and surprise. Throughout the visit, she was rather quiet and let Dr. Biden take the lead in answering questions. She later mentioned being nervous about her English. "This is amazing!" said Dr. Biden. "Did the press see this, how beautiful this is? I mean, it's incredible." Dr. Biden spoke with the students. "So, tell us your names." "I'm Sabina." Other names were Flaviana and Luca. (not positive on spelling) "Enchante," said Flaviana. "So, how long have all you been taking French?" Dr. Biden asked. The students tried speaking French with Mrs. Macron. "Comment allez vous," Mrs. Macron asked. "I took French for six years!" said Dr. Biden. "But I don't remember a lot of it. I'm taking Spanish now." "Tu parles français?" Mrs. Macron asked a student. "You think in French or in English?" Mrs. Macron asked, in English. "I think you know that you've learned a language when you start to dream in it. Do you dream in French?" asked Dr. Biden. (Your pooler could not hear the students' responses.) "Thank you for being her and showing us this," said Dr. Biden. A reporter asked her what it means to host this State Visit with France. Dr. Biden what does it mean to host the first state visit with France today?
Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron will see the library's display of The Little Prince, a book by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery. They will move to the Reading Table, where two students will show Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron the interactive sound and imagery when a book is placed on the table. The students will demonstrate The Reading Table with A Wrinkle in Time, a book the students read in class. MORE TO COME |
| December 1, 2022 14:25 |
Update to FLOTUS pool #3 - Planet World library The people who met with FLOTUS in the library were... Lucas |
| December 1, 2022 14:27 |
FLOTUS pool #4 - Planet Word visit - part 2 (Complete) At 11:16am we moved into the poetry reading in front of a talking "word wall." Made of a thousands of three dimensional words. (1 percent of the words in the English language.) On normal visiting days, Friedman said, you'd be talking to the wall and the wall will talk back to you. The room is called "Where Words Come From." There are around 29 students who said they were from 6th to 8th grade, from Silver Spring International Middle School -- a French immersion school -- gathered on benches. Words on the wall include "yes" "chow" "candy" "punch" "internet" etc. Friedman gave an introduction: "I just wanted to say that before I created Planet Word, I was a teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools." "Yay!" said Dr. Biden, clapping. "So, I was going on field trips with my students and now it's like full circle here you are coming on a field trip to Planet Word," said Friedman. "The most amazing thing is that the three of us, Madame Macron. Dr. Biden and myself, we are all former or present-day teachers. We know the importance of education and words and language," said Friedman. "We're so lucky that they had time for her to come to Planet Word at the start of a whirlwind visit. And then Dr. Biden is just amazing. You are a teacher. You're still teaching even while being a First Lady of the United States," said Friedman. She then introduced U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón and former National Student Poet Maya Salameh, who were each reading a poem in both English and French. Maya read first, doing the poem in French. Then Ada read it in English. It's called "Tuesday" or "Mardi." Said Maya: "This poem was brought to me, my father is Lebanese and being Lebanese means we speak 'Frarab English,' which is French, Arabic and English. Growing up mixing languages with the people I love kind of led me to this. Yeah, I'm really excited to be with you guys. I went to French immersion school as well." The students seemed excited about that. Then Ada read her poem, which she said Maya had translated into French. During her intro, Ada said, "I'm sure you're feeling lucky today, does it feel like a lucky day?" "Yeah!" said the students. "It feels like a lucky day to me, too," said Ada. "It's a lucky day for us, too," said Dr. Biden, and grabbed Mrs. Macron's hand and held it for a while. "This is a poem when I feel like not every day is lucky," Ada continued. "And sometimes you have to remind yourself to be grateful, right? And you have to hold those moments, and so this is a poem I wrote about being grateful on days when it's maybe a little harder." Mrs. Macron listened closely to the French portions and nodded her head. Then Dr. Biden took the microphone and the two first ladies went to the front of the room. She said she loved that Ada wrote about gratitude and asked if she'd written it during the pandemic. Ada said she'd written it a little before the pandemic. But how fitting is that we went through the pandemic. And now we really do feel grateful, I think or at least that's how I feel every single day . Because you think, 'My goodness, you know, over a million Americans died from the pandemic.' And we have to feel grateful, or gratitude, I think, every day." She asked how many students wrote poetry. A third of them raised their hands. "That's amazing," she said. She asked how many write in journals every day. About as many or less raised their hands. "Oh, I love this. So, I'm an English teacher. So, I do have my own students journal every week. And one of the prompts that I did recently was, 'If a meteor was coming toward the Earth, what is the last song you want to hear and why?'" said Dr. Biden. One female student's hand shot into the air. "Okay, you already know yours. That's amazing! Wow! What would you want to hear?" said Dr. Biden. The student said Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson. Another said "anything by Beyoncé." Another said "a song called 'Sad' by XXX." "Okay, we don't know that," said Dr. Biden, laughing. Another said, "I Will Always Love You," by Whitney Houston. Mrs. Macron seemed to like that choice. She smiled and laughed. "Oh, I love that song," said Dr. Biden. "Yes! We know that one." Dr. Biden continued: "Well, it's so great to be here. I'm so glad that you came, and you met the poets. And as you know, I mean to meet our 2016 Student Poet. So, like, you could be the student poet of the United States. I mean, how cool would that be? Actually, you know, Amanda Gorman was a student poet, and she spoke at our inauguration. So, you know, it's just so great. That, really, students like poetry. I mean, that just speaks to my heart. So, I want to thank Ann, too, because, Ann, you told me of this vision several years ago, and now look at what you've done. I mean, this is just amazing." Friedman thanked them for "gracing us." --- Then Dr. Biden turned it over to the students. "Do the kids have any questions for us? Not the press, the kids," she said, laughing. There was a second's pause before most hands in the room shot up. "Come on guys! You aren't students if you're this quiet," said Dr. Biden in the pause. First student, male, asked what inspired her to stay teaching as she became first lady. "Well, that's a good question," said Dr. Biden. "I felt that you know, teaching is my passion. And I teach English, and I love it. And I said to my husband, 'I don't want to give up teaching.' And he said, 'Oh, I don't know. Do you think you can do both?' And I said, 'I don't know what I'm going to try.' And so, I teach now at Northern Virginia Community College. I'm there two days a week. And I still love it and every day I feel for teachers ---are you the teachers of these children? Oh, how nice to meet you. How nice to meet our colleagues because, you know, Bridgette's a teacher, too. So, you know, I still love it. I feel like every day is an adventure. You know, it's every day is different. And I just feel inspired to go to work every day. So, thank you for that question." She looked around the room. "No hard questions! Nothing about math, okay?" Next student asked if growing up, she thought she would be where she is today. "Never, never, ever in a million years," said Dr. Biden. "And I think every day I wake up, and I never take it for granted. And then I think, 'Oh my god, look at where I am.' And really, it's just like such an honor. And if somebody would have told me, you know, even, I don't know, 10 years ago that we would be in the White House and be where we are. You know, I think I never would have believed that." "But you must have some questions for Brigitte," she said. "No, I prefer you!" said Mrs. Macron, and everyone laughed. Another student asked if Dr. Biden's students treat her differently when they know she's first lady. "You know, funny enough. It's like the first day they have to go through security," she said. "They're sort of like, 'Oh my gosh.' So, we say you know, we're not looking for anything but weapons, so they check their book bags and everything. But then, you know, after like a week or two, they don't even remember that I'm first lady. It's just like, you know, I'm their English teacher. And that's what I love about it, that's how they treat me, that I'm in their English teacher." Then Mrs. Macron took the microphone. "I was gonna stop, Brigitte!" said Dr. Biden. She took out a piece of paper. "I'm going to speak in English. You will help me?" Mrs. Macron asked the students. "You speak French? You help me. When you don't understand, you translate." "This is very difficult for me," said Mrs. Macron. (Her English is beautiful.) She thanked the poets "thank you for being ladies and for being poets." "It really resonated with me," said Mrs. Macron. "Poetry is a universal language." She told a story of a beggar on the street who'd written "blind" on a paper and no one would give him money. But when a poet wrote his sign for him, everyone gave him money. She asked the students to figure out why that was. She told the students to enjoy this "unique museum in the world." Then she turned to Dr. Biden. "And Jill. Oh, dear Jill. I have to read because I am too afraid," said Mrs. Macron. "Oh okay," said Dr. Biden. Mrs. Macron continued: "Thank you so much for planning such a visit and I'm really glad that we are able to share this together because there is a sense that we are the greatest friends. And I know we both share a lifelong commitment to education. This really means that we are friends. We are friends. We are friends. Sorry for my English." "She did a great job, didn't she?" said Dr. Biden. Everyone clapped. Mrs. Macron then asked the students to ask questions in French. A translator came up next to Dr. Biden and whispered in her ear. A student asked what it's like to be first lady. Said Mrs. Macron: "We are not first lady in our minds. We are women. I don't know what it is to be first lady. We stay what we are. Exactly. And what we are is teachers. We are teaching." "When we met, we instantly knew that we'd like each other. I mean, we just liked one another. We clicked," said Dr. Biden. Most of the time, students asked questions in French and Mrs. Macron asked in French and Dr. Biden's translator translator. "Otherwise, I am in jeans and a T-shirt. It's my uniform." "She looks beautiful," said Dr. Biden. The last student asked what kind of teacher she is. "When I was teaching children I was teaching French, Latin and theater," said Mrs. Macron, through an interpreter. "And now I'm teaching to adults who are looking for jobs, and teaching them a little bit of general culture." Some 7 students still had their hands up for questions as we exited.
Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron will join a group of the students to listen to a bilingual poetry reading by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón and former National Student Poet Maya Salameh. The poets will jointly read Maya's original poem 'Mardi' (Tuesday) and Ada's poem 'The Conditional'.The reading will take place in front of Planet Word's Word Wall, which features 1000 words across a 20 ft by 40 ft floor-to-ceiling display.Dr. Biden and Mrs. Macron will deliver brief remarks at the conclusion of the poetry reading —— The final stop at 11:50am was in a room with a big blue and white light up globe. There are at least 100 students gathered. This is where they were doing a group photo. "So nice to see you again!" Dr. Biden. "Hello!" "Hi!" said Biden. "Thank you for coming and thanks for saying hello," said Biden as she exited, waving to the kids. Mrs. Macron was bending down to say hi to some kids sitting on the ground as pool was pulled out. We got into the cars at 11:59am. Arrived back at the WH at 12:05. There are like 3 times the normal number of people in the briefing room and nowhere to sit! Vive la France! This ends Dr. Biden's public schedule until the dinner. Mrs. Macron has some events on her own this afternoon. Please check her schedule. ------ More background gathered by your pooler: According to the website, Plant Word was founded by Ann B. Friedman, who had just retired from teaching first-grade reading when she got the idea. It's inspired by the Museum of Mathematics in New York City, which uses hands-on activities to make math fun. It's meant to inspire the 32 million U.S. adults who can't read and the 34 percent of fourth graders who couldn't read at a basic level on a national test in 2019. The Franklin School -- the historic landmark where the museum is housed -- was originally opened in 1869 and completely rehabbed from 2018 to 2020. It's 50,000 square feet and five stories tall, with and red brick with white stone trim outside. It was designed by architect Adolf Cluss to be a flagship of eight modern urban public school buildings at the time and offered free education to as many as 900 White boys and girls per year, because D.C. schools were segregated at the time. It was a homeless shelter in the early 2000s, and was also the site of Alexander Graham Bell's first wireless communication in 1880, where he used a beam of light to transmit a voice message using his newly invented Photophone. Bell's laboratory, where he worked on pioneering what would eventually evolve into fiber-optic communication, was nearby. |
| December 1, 2022 14:26 |
FLOTUS pool #5 - poems Here are the poems that were read at Planet Word, as provided by FLOTUS's office MARDI by Maya Salameh, 2016 National Student Poet TUESDAY by Maya Salameh (Translated) THE CONDITIONAL by Ada Limón, Poet Laureate of the United States LE CONDITIONNEL by Ada Limón (Translated) |
| December 1, 2022 18:03 |
FLOTUS pool #6 - two extra bits from spousal visit this morning) A little bit of string I missed during this morning's spousal visit... re-watched the video. When a student asked Mrs. Macron about her style and her shoes, she said through a translator that her designer is "another man in my life" and "as soon as I step off the plane, I think about him." When Mrs. Macron said, "We are friends" to Dr. Biden, she grabbed her hand. "We are friends," Dr. Biden said, agreeing. And Mrs. Macron repeated it, "We are friends." They continued to hold hands. |
Pool Reports below by Nikki Schwab, Dailiy Mail
| Sent: | Reports: |
| December 1, 2022 19:21 |
Booksellers Pool Report No. 1 - early guests and partial list Good evening from the White House - I'm co-pooling the state dinner arrivals tonight alongside WaPo's Jada Yuan. C-SPAN link here: The White House informs us the guest list is coming around 6 p.m., so for early arrivals we were flying a bit blind. Gov. John Bell Edwards and his wife were the first to arrive. We were just handed a paper copy of the guest list - Colbert, Mika and Joe, Robin Roberts, Jennifer Garner, Ariana DeBose, Violet Affleck, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kevin McCarthy, Nancy Pelosi, Anna Wintour, Bazmark Luhrmann stuck out thus far. Hunter, Ashley and Valerie on the list as well. More TK |
| December 1, 2022 19:21 |
Booksellers Pool Report No. 2 - Bottoms/DeBose/JLD quotes and color "I think it's going to be a great night in Georgia," said former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms when asked about the runoff. She said she was impressed by the early turnout numbers, but didn't know if Biden would campaign for Warnock before December 6. "I think the president will go wherever he's wanted and needed," she said. DNC Chair Jaime Harrison wouldn't bite on a question about the Michigan primary leapfrogging the Iowa caucuses in 2024. Ariana DeBose said she is just here as a guest of Henry Munoz, who owns Funny or Die. "I'm here with Henry Munoz, and I couldn't be more excited," she said. "Yes, it's very exciting," said Julia Louis-Dreyfus when asked if she'd attended a state dinner before. She didn't bite when asked if it felt like "Veep." Sen. Susan Collins said "I'm sure there will be others," when a reporter noted she was the first Republican of the night. She wouldn't answer a question on what Biden and the GOP can work together on. Colbert walked by with his wife and just laughed as a bunch of us tried to yell questions. The Buttigiegs walked in together and gave one-word answers when asked what it felt like to be here at the dinner tonight. Gene Sperling said he was just doing history with his daughter and was "Very reminded of who financed our revolution so that counts for something," when asked why France got the first state dinner. John Podesta said on climate talks: "Pretty good exchange of views as they reflected in the press conference." Announcer mispronounced Mika Brzezinski's first name, which created a laugh, but she and Joe Scarborough didn't stop to chat with press. More TK |
| December 1, 2022 19:17 |
Booksellers Pool Report No. 3 - McCarthy/Wintour/Batiste and more House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy listed a number of issue areas he believed he could work on with Democrats. "The economy, making us energy independent, I think securing our borders, stopping fentanyl. Holding government accountable. They haven't had much of that. And I think the country, this last election was a check and balance." He was asked what it would be like dining with Hunter Biden, who Rs want to investigate. "Well, I'm at dinner with my mom so we're going to have a great time," McCarty answered. "It was very good," Tim Cook said on his meeting with Elon Musk. He was with former EPA's Lisa Jackson. He was followed by Laurene Powell Jobs, the window of Steve Jobs. "Welcome to Delaware," said Sen. Tom Carper when he walked by. Secretary Mayorkas ignored a question about what will happen after Title 42 ends. Brian Deese walked in with his daughter, so far the youngest guest. Sen. Chris Coons talked to reporters about the electric car talks and some of Biden's comments today on Ukraine. Can provide longer quotes if people want. "Well what girl doesn't want to be in Vogue for her wedding," Anna Wintour said when asked how Vogue got the Naomi Biden cover. Jennifer Garner and daughter Violet, in bright red heels, walked by and didn't answer questions. Violet put her mask back on when she got through the photo line. "My best friend from college," said Ashley Biden when asked who her date was tonight. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who brought his daughter, said he thought the Georgia Senate race was going well. "People are seeing who he is. They like who he is," he said of Sen Warnock. He also demonstrated that he knew some French phrases. Rep. Steve Scalise made similar comments to McCarthy about how Ds and Rs could work together. "It's beautiful. I called my family and my wife," Jon Batiste said when asked about being the performer tonight. His wife, Suleika Jaouad, who has been fighting cancer said, "This is my first time out in a year." Their nephew and larger family was with them. More TK. |
| December 1, 2022 19:27 |
Booksellers Pool Report No. 4 - dress confirmation "It's going to be fire," Batiste also told pool of his performance tonight. "Let me check," Christian Louboutin said smiling when asked how many people were wearing his shoes tonight. Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim, co-designers of Oscar de la Renta, confirmed to WaPo's Robin Givhan that they designed first lady Jill Biden's dress tonight as they walked through booksellers. More TK |
| December 1, 2022 19:39 |
Booksellers Pool Report No. 5 - Pelosi/Leahy "Never enough, they're always special to me," said Sen. Patrick Leahy when asked how many state dinners he's attended. "Great. And happy. And relieved," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when asked how she felt about her successors. Daughter Alexandra then commented, "free at last," with a smile on her face. Things are winding down here but I'll send out a final report once we're out of booksellers. |
| December 1, 2022 20:01 |
Booksellers Pool Report No. 6 - stragglers/gates closed Rep. Gregory Meeks and his plus-one walked through at 7:45 p.m. They were the final guests to walk through with gates closing at 7:59 p.m. Odds and Ends: Hunter Biden and his wife didn't walk through Booksellers. Valerie Biden is in Brandon Maxwell. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester chatted with pool for awhile - no news - but she brought her niece as her date. A huge thanks to co-pooler Jada Yuan for all her help tonight - that's it from me! |
| December 1, 2022 21:29 |
Booksellers Pool Report No. 7 - Sen. Coons quotes, as promised Here's the best I could get quote-wise from reporters' Q&A with Sen Chris Coons at the booksellers arrivals: Thoughts on Biden saying he would be open to talking to Putin if Putin signaled he'd be ready to end the war in Ukraine: (Coons first said he didn't watch the press conference) "What I've heard from our president over and over and over is nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. And President Zelensky has made clear on what terms he'd negotiate an end to the war. Which is restoration of territorial sovereignty, security guarantees and an end to Russian invasion and occupation." He added that he couldn't imagine Biden negotiating different terms. On the role France can play: "We had a very constructive, positive conversation with President Macron, a group of us hosted by Speaker Pelosi, chair and ranking of Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Relations. It's clear that we have a unity of purpose, solidary of intention with regards to Russia/Ukraine. We talked about some of the consequences of energy dependence on Russia and the importance of continuing to provide robust arms and humanitarian support. And I think it was overall very constructive." On the French and their issues with the Inflation Reduction Act: "First by listening and respecting them." "I think we're going to have to explore avenues that are possible. I don't have a specific either regulatory or statuary [inaudible] right now." Some sort of exemption? "That will be worth exploring, exactly how it would be structured is something I don't have an answer to yet, but I'm eager to work." He's on the C-SPAN feed at 1:03:21 too - >https://www.c-span.org/video/?524565-1/white-house-state-dinner-arrivals< Good night! |
Jill Biden, First Lady Pool Reports of December 1, 2022 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/358982