Pool Reports of September 24, 2024

Travel pool report #1 - Rolling

Good morning, I'll be your pooler on this busy Tuesday in NYC.

At 10:00 AM the motorcade is rolling and we are now on our way to the United Nations Headquarters, where the president will give his farewell address to the General Assembly.

Your pool has not laid eyes on POTUS.

Travel pool report #2 - UN headquarters

The motorcade came to a stop at 10:05 after a very short and uneventful ride.

A note that the President's remarks will stream at all the usual places.

Your pooler will share all relevant color.

Travel pool #3 - Remarks at UNGA start

POTUS made his entrance at 10:12 AM and started speaking shortly after.

Travel pool #4 - POTUS wraps

POTUS concluded his remarks at 10:36.

Your pooler, who was positioned on a balcony overlooking the room, heard a few laughs when the President joked about his age at the top of his speech.

His call to support Ukraine drew applause from some delegations, as did comments on Gaza and Lebanon.

There was more applause when POTUS, having explained his decision not to seek a second term, told the General Assembly that some things are "more important than staying in power".

The pool is now holding.

Travel pool report 5 - Details on arrival at UN headquarters and US delegation

Sharing this from the WH

Greeting the President on arrival to the United Nations Headquarters:

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Beatrix Kania, United Nations Chief of Protocol
Amina Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary General

The President is delivering remarks before the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Speaking Program
Philémon Yang, President of the United Nations General Assembly & Introducer
The President

U.S. Delegation
Secretary Antony Blinken, Department of State
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
Ned Price, Deputy to the Representative to the United Nations
Michele Sison, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations
Josh Black, Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs, National Security Council
Dorothy Shea, Deputy Representative of the United States to the United Nations Ambassador

Travel pool report #6 - Guterres spray

At 11:43 your pool was brought into a room where POTUS and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres were already seated, with a US and a UN flag behind them and their two delegations also present.

The two leaders did not make statements.

They did not answer shouted questions about Lebanon and the pool was ushered out after approx one minute.

We are now back in our hold.

Travel pool report #6 - Intercontinental Barclay

The motorcade left the UN HQ at 12:53 and at 12:58 it reached the Intercontinental Barclay, where the President is expected to deliver remarks at the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.

Travel pool report #7 - POTUS briefed on storm Helene

Sharing this

Attributable to White House Spokesperson Jeremy Edwards:

President Biden has been briefed on Tropical Storm Helene, and the Biden-Harris Administration is in touch with officials from states in the path of the storm. Federal resources and personnel are prepositioned, including generators, food, and water, along with search and rescue and power restoration teams. At the direction of the President, FEMA has also deployed teams to Florida and Alabama to embed with local emergency response personnel to support their efforts, as needed.

We urge residents in the path of the storm to stay vigilant, visit ready.gov for tips on how to stay safe, and heed the warnings of local officials, especially those instructed to evacuate.

Travel pool report #8 - POTUS speaks at Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats

POTUS started speaking at 1:57 pm in a conference room at the Intercontinental Barclay after an introduction by Secretary Blinken.

The President's remarks are streaming on the WH website.

The lectern is set up on a stage with the logo of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats in the background.

Your pooler estimates that approx 120 people are in attendance.

Sharing this note from the WH

The President is delivering remarks at the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.

Leaders Speaking Order
Secretary Antony Blinken, Department of State
The President
Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy
Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium
Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic
Note: Closing remarks will be delivered by Liz Sherwood-Randall, Assistant to the President & Homeland Security Advisor & Deputy National Security Advisor

Travel pool report #9 - Remarks over

The President concluded his remarks at the Intercontinental Barclay at 2:04 pm by urging countries to "come together" to fight drug trafficking. He then left the room.

The Italian PM Giorgia Meloni took the stage after him.

Travel pool report #10 - POTUS still in the room

Correction to my previous report: after his remarks POTUS did not leave the conference room.

He is now seated in the front row listening to the rest of the speaking program.

Travel pool report #11 - Holding

At 2:19 pm the pool was led out of the conference room and we are now holding at the Intercontinental.

POTUS left the event at approx 2:17 pm.

Travel pool report #12 - SAO on synthetic drugs

Your pool got a background briefing with a senior administration official, following up on the President's remarks about synthetic drugs.

Herewith a few rough quotes.

On China

"The Chinese are actually committing to regulation of certain chemicals so that they do not end up in the homeland as part of these lethal drugs, and we continue to work with them to identify additional chemical precursors that we're concerned about."

"And what I'm satisfied by is that we now have a process in place to work constructively with them, to identify the issues we're concerned about and to have a dialog about them."

Will China and US discuss fentanyl in November at the APEC summit?

"I would be very optimistic that we will have this on the agenda, because it's such an important topic that President Xi and President Biden agreed to work on and where we have some results and also some new requests that we have to make as the narco traffickers adapt their techniques, and we also have to adapt what we're doing together"

What will happen to this global effort after the US presidential election?

"One of the reasons today you saw us rally a number of leaders to make commitments nationally and collectively, is that, as with any international effort, we want to make sure that we have others who are invested in moving it forward with us."

"And if, for some reason, a future administration decides that that's not its priority, although it would be tragic if that were the case, given the consequences of fentanyl in the homeland, we anticipate that others will carry the flag, and that's part of what collective action is about."

Travel pool report #13 - Rolling

At 4:07 pm the motorcade is moving.

Your pool caught a glimpse of POTUS when the Beast drove past our van.

Next event on today's schedule is the president's speech at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, which takes place at The Plaza Hotel.

Travel pool report #14 - The Plaza

The motorcade reached its destination at 4:11 pm. Your pool did not see POTUS exit his car and is now holding at The Plaza.

Travel pool report #15 - Photoline ahead of climate speech

Per the WH

The President and former Mayor of New York City Mike Bloomberg are participating in a photoline:

The Right Honorable David Lammy, Foreign Secretary, United Kingdom
Mark Carney, Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, United Nations
His Excellency Majid Al Suwaidi, Director-General, COP28
Ajay Banga, President, World Bank Group
Nadia Calvino, President, European Investment Bank
Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund

Travel pool report #16 - Climate remarks

The program started with Jane Fonda taking the stage at 4:58 pm in an opulent reception room at The Plaza.

Michael Bloomberg spoke after her and introduced POTUS who was greeted with cheers and a standing ovation.

He started his remarks at 5:09 pm.

The president's speech is streaming at whitehouse.gov/live

Travel pool report #17 - Speech over

The President wrapped at 5:26 pm and got another standing ovation.

He very briefly came back to the microphone to tell the anecdote about his grandmother asking him to « spread the faith ».

POTUS was still on stage when your pool was ushered out.

We are now holding.

Travel pool report #18 - Motorcading

At 6:29 pm the motorcade is rolling to our next destination.

Travel pool #19 - OTR stop

We came to a stop at 6:39 pm on Madison Avenue.

We did not see the President exit his car and your pooler has asked for more information.

At some point a bus cut through the motorcade ahead of our van and we temporarily stopped to let it pass, but we then caught up again.

More tk

Pool report #20 - Dinner

Per the WH

The President is having dinner with the First Lady and their granddaughter, Finnegan.

Travel pool report #21 - Leaving restaurant

At 8:16 pm the President and the First Lady exited Sistina, an Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side.

Eagle eyed co pooler Emily Goodin (Daily Mail) also spotted their granddaughter Finnegan.

The pool shouted questions as POTUS and FLOTUS were walking to their car.

When asked about his dinner the President said it was "delicious" but he did not answer questions about the Middle East.

Motorcade now rolling.

Travel pool report #22 - RON

At 8:28 pm the motorcade was back at the RON.

Travel pool report 23 - Lid

And at 8:34 PM we have a lid.

Have a good evening!