In-Town Pool Reports of February 11, 2021

In Town Pool Report #1 - Good morning!

Hello from a snowy day at the White House!

Your pooler has been checked in and tested for COVID. At the testing center, your pooler asked the medical unit personnel if they had any spare vaccines as we would gladly take one. They did not.

Packed schedule today starting with the Oval Office meeting with POTUS, VPOTUS, Secretary Pete (via Zoom) and senators on infrastructure. That's set for 10.

As of this writing, the Marine is not in front of the West Wing.

In town pool Report #2 - Gathering For Oval

The White House asked the pool to gather for the Oval Office meeting at 10:22 am.

We are heading in.

In Town Pool Report #3 - Biden says "Some minds may be changed" on impeachment

Pool went into the Oval at about 10:23 and left after about five minutes. Near the end reporters asked Biden and the senators if they saw the new videos in the Senate trial as staff tried to shoo us out.

Biden said he "didn't watch any of the hearing live" but saw news coverage.

"My guess is some minds may be changed," Biden said.

When he first addressed the question about the footage, Biden said this:

"I'm focused on my job ... to deal with the promises I made. And we all know we have to move on," Biden said.

He said he didn't watch live and caught later news broadcasts because he was "going straight through last night until a little after nine."

We were ushered out at about 10:29. More details coming ASAP.

In Town Pool #4: China is "going to eat our lunch" on infrastructure

The pool came into the Oval Office at 10:23 am.

At the tail end of his remarks, Biden addressed his meeting with Xi Jinping and competition between the U.S. and China.

"Last night, I was in the phone for two straight hours with Xi Jinping," Biden said.

"We don't get moving, they're going to eat our lunch."

More on that at the tail end of this email.

A small fire was crackling as President Biden and Vice President Harris sat on chairs in front of Sen. Tom Carper and the other lawmakers.

"I found these guys wandering around," Biden quipped.

DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is in quarantine, was streaming in on a large flatscreen set up behind the couches.

Biden noted Carper's public works committee "is central to everything that's going to happen." He also stressed his belief that infrasructure should be non partisan.

"I've been around long enough ... that infrastructure wasn't a Republican or a Democratic issue," he said.

Buden cited "a number of things out there that the American people are looking for us to step up" including "a lot of bridges in West Virginia" and "a lot of dangerous spots on Route 9 in terms of Cancer Alley."

"There's a lot we have to do," Biden said.

Biden and Carper briefly reminisced about a particularly troublesome bridge in Delaware.

Biden then turned to China and made his comments about the call with Xi and the Chinese eating "our lunch." He cited their "major new initiatives" on rail. Biden said the Chinese are "working very hard to" produce cars with new technology.

Vice President Harris didn't speak during the spray.

Staff ushered the reporters out with brusque shouts of "thank you" even after Biden began to address the questions on the impeachment trial, which came from many of the reporters.

Your pooler asked staff for any background materials on the meeting including a full list of participants. As of now, we have not received a response.

In Town Pool #4a - Infrastructure meeting details

The White House passed along the following information about President Biden's meeting in the Oval Office:

Reportable upon entry into the Oval Office:

Participants in meeting with bipartisan Senators:

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (by phone)
Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee
Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee
Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK), former Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, current Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee
Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chair of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee

In Town Pool Report #5 - Meeting Over

At 11:33 am, White House staff announced over the loudspeakers that "the meeting with the senators has ended."

In Town Pool Report #6 - Lunch Lid

At 11:45 am, the White House announced a lunch lid until 12:20 pm.

In town Pool Report #7 - two minute warning

The White House announced a two minute warning for the press briefing at 12:40pm.

In town Pool Report #8 - Motorcade

At about 2:31 pm the pool began loading into the motorcade for the president's trip to the National Institutes of Health.

In Town Pool Report #9 - Rolling To NIH

The motorcade began rolling from the South Lawn at about 3:19 pm.

Your pooler did not see President Biden get on board. We are en route to the National Institutes of Health.

In Town Pool Report #10 - At NIH

The motorcade arrived at the National Institutes of Health at about 3:47 pm.

Your pooler did not see President Biden disembark.

The drive here took us past the tent encampment by the E Street expressway, conspicuous grafitti that said "MONEY IS FAKE," the wooded shores of the Potomac in Virginia, and a pair of Maryland State Troopers who got out of their cars to salute the passing president.

There is a light dusting of snow here at the NIH campus where some personnel in lab coats and other bystanders stood outside to film the passing motorcade.

In Town Pool Report #11 - "We're going to be telling him a story."

The pool has been brought into a room filled with medical supplies. The president is due to arrive momentarily.

Dr. Barney Graham is here with his deputy, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett. They are standing next to models of the COVID 19 virus and its receptor spikes on a small stand.

Graham told the pool this is "his lab" and said it is the "Viral Pathogenisis Laboratory."

"We're going to be telling him a story," Graham said of Biden.

Your pooler let the doctors know that the whole pool is "ready to go" if they have any spare vaccines on hand.

"You wouldn't believe how many times I hear that," Corbett said.

She seemed to think we were kidding. Your pooler was not kidding.

As they awaited Biden, Corbett said to Graham, "You've met quite a few presidents in your career."

"Yes," Graham said before sharing a story of Vice President Cheney that your pooler couldn't quite make out.

In Town Pool Report #12 Biden comments on vaccines and transition issues

President Biden arrived in the lab at 3:59 pm. He was accompanied by Dr. Anthony Fauci, who introduced him to the doctors. Both were clad in masks and lab coats. Jeff Zients accompanied Biden and stood behind them.

Biden spoke with the doctors some time and made several comments on the state of the vaccine rollout and his frustration with the quality of information they received from the prior administration.

Dr. Graham began by displaying the coronavirus model to the president and explaining the role of the "spike proteins."

Your pooler was probably wrong to call them receptors before. Apologies.

Dr. Graham is explaining that you can "make a much better vaccine" by knowing the shape of the protein. He said they refined this knowledge over ten years.

Dr. Corbett spoke next and said that this prior knowledge helped them make a vaccine "really quickly" and over a single weekend.

"Over the weekend?" Biden asked.

"You know something about working weekends right?" she replied.

"Not like that," Biden said.

Biden asked when the team began working with Moderna. Graham said they collaborated "during the Zika outbreak" and made an agreement to formally collaborate on vaccines for coronaviruses in 2017.

Corbett then explained that the vaccine was tested on mice and that she was "one of the first" people to open a vial of the vaccine. She is now showing Biden plates they used to test the mouse blood for antibodies.

"I'd like to think I'm responding to a second pandemic with all of the variants," Corbett said.

Graham said he believed the current vaccine "may eventually lose efficacy" on variants.

"But I think we're OK for now," Graham said.

Graham noted we cannot stop variants "unless we can keep people from soreading the virus."

Dr. Fauci piped in.

"Every time the virus enters a new person it has a chance to adapt," Fauci said.

Because of this, Fauci said Biden's goal for vaccines in 100 days is "really inportant."

"We've been pushing it really hard," Biden said.

Biden asked Zients about supply and then said he expected the country would have 400 million doses on hand by June, which is enough for 200 million people."

"That's the best way to stop mutations," Fauci said.

"I realize that," said Biden.

Biden then began discussing what he "didn't realize."

"It's one thing to have the vaccine, it's another thing to have vaccinators," Biden said, strongly emphasizing that last word.

Biden described this as a "gigantic" logistical challenge.

"We've been in office now for three years," Biden began, before catching himself. "Three weeks."

"It just feels like three years," Fauci quipped.

Biden said presidential transitions are "really important."

"We didn't have any access," Biden said, adding, "We ... were led to believe there was a lot more vaccines than there was."

Biden noted people have asked him why we can't get "more" vaccines.

"Wheb will we have enough vaccines to get to 300 million plus people? ... We're going to be in a position where it's not going to be by the end of the summer," Biden said.

Biden said "every department's jumping in" and helping with the effort. He specifically cited the Department of Defense.

At 4:10 pm, staff began trying to usher press out as Biden spoke with the doctors. Reporters kept asking questions. One was about the new variants. Biden turned to Fauci.

Fauci said he believes the UK variant will be "dominant by the end of March." But he noted "the vaccines that we have now" work well against it.

Fauci described the South African variant as "a little bit more problematic" and noted the vaccine "doesnt completely eliminate" risk from that variant.

Your pooler asked Biden if he was "upset" by the state of the vaccine rollout when he arrived.

"I'm not," Biden said, gesturing towards the doctors. "These folks have been absolutely amazing. What I was upset with is not having all of the facts that were available to the last outfit."

Biden said the Trump administration left his team with the "distinct impression" that "it was a distribution problem."

"But that wasn't the main problem," he said.

Biden said there was a "giant logistical issue" with vaccine supply that he found out "between the time we were elected and the time somebody recognized we were elected."

Staff actually managed to usher the pool out at 4:14 pm as Biden continued to speak in the lab. We were rushed out to the motorcade and got back on board two minutes later. The pool rolled to a second site on the NIH campus. We rushed out again at about 4:31 pm.

In Town Pool Report #13 - Two minute warning

Your pooler is currently seated in the Natcher Auditorium at NIH awaiting remarks from POTUS. We received a two minute warning ar about 4:37 pm.

The rows of seats are mostly empty with white sheets of paper marking eligible spots to ensure social distancing.

The White House also passed along the following details from Biden's appearance in the lab:

Participants at the lab demonstration include Dr. Fauci; Dr. Collins; Barney S. Graham, MD, PhD Deputy Director, Vaccine Research Center, NIAID, NIH; Chief, Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory, Kizzmekia S. Corbett, Ph.D. Research Fellow and Team Lead for Coronavirus Research within the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory and Jeffrey Zients, White House COVID Coordinator

In Town Pool Report #14 - Speech

President Biden took the stage at about 4:42 pm.

He began with notable comments on his own mask usage.

This is being aired live so please refer to broadcasts for quotes.

Biden was accompanied by Dr. Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins.

In Town Pool Report #15- Moving Out

President Biden finished speaking at about 5:01 pm. The pool is making our way back to the motorcade.

In Town Pool Report #15 [APP: Note: #16]- Rolling

The motorcade pulled out from the NIH campus at about 5:10 pm. We are en route back to the White House.

In Town Pool Report #17- Back at WH

The motorcade rolled onto the South Lawn at about 5:35 pm.

Your pooler did not see the president disembark.

In Town Pool Report #18 - Travel Photo Lid

The White House called a travel photo lid at at 5:36pm.

Good night my friends! Be good to one another.

Special Midnight In Town Pool Report #19 - Meeting

Your pooler returned home, promptly crashed, and woke up to one more note to send. Good night!

The White House asked us to pass along the following update on tomorrow's schedule (which is now today's):
The governors and mayors joining the President and the Vice President tomorrow to discuss the vital need to pass the American Rescue Plan:
Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York (D)
Governor Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas (R)
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico (D)
Governor Larry Hogan, Maryland (R)
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta, GA (D)
Mayor Latoya Cantrell, New Orleans, LA (D)
Mayor Mike Duggan, Detroit, MI (D)
Mayor Francis Suarez, Miami, FL (R)
Mayor Jeff Williams, Arlington, TX (R)