In-Town Pool Reports of February 8, 2021

White House in town pool report #1: marine one landed and Biden q

Marine one landed at 9:39 am and Biden emerged and headed to the residence. He said "let the senate work that out" when asked by a reporter: should trump lose his political rights? Will send fuller quote ASAP.

White House pool report # 2 Biden headed to oval

?Pool spotted Biden Jogging into the oval at 945 am.

WH in town pool report #1a: full Biden quote

Here is Biden's full response to the question of whether Trump should lose his "political rights."

"He got an offer to come and testify, he decided not to. Let the senate work that out."

WH in town pool report #1c: on Marine one with Biden

The White House passes along the names of those traveling with Biden earlier on Marine One:
Steve Ricchetti
Yohannes Abraham
Stephen Goepfert

In town pool report #3: briefing underway

I sent a note with the two minute warning but it seems like it didn't go through. sorry about that. briefing began at 12:07 pm.

In town pool report #4: briefing over

The briefing ended at 12:50 p.m.

WH in town pool report #5: Lunch lid

A lunch lid was called at 1:09 p.m. until 2:15 p.m.

WH in town pool report #6: background on vaccination site tour

The White House passes along this background on the virtual vaccination site tour, which is streaming now on the White House's site. The pool is not attending the Biden/Harris side of this event in person.

Background on President Biden and Vice President Harris virtually touring the State Farm Stadium vaccination site:

The State of Arizona was one of the first states to reach out to the federal government to partner around vaccination sites. At the State's request, the Administration is deploying a full range of interagency resources to support the state in getting shots into arms. There are nearly 300 federal personnel deployed to the state. This includes about 100 FEMA staff providing administrative support to vaccination operations in Yavapai, Maricopa, Mohave, Coconino, and Pima counties. Just this past weekend, HHS deployed over 100 vaccinators to support vaccination operations. These vaccinators will increase the pace of vaccinations statewide. This is on top of about 100 federal medical personnel deployed to support the COVID response statewide. The Administration is fully reimbursing the State for its deployment of National Guard to help get people vaccinated – at zero cost to the state. Just yesterday, FEMA awarded $20M to the State of Arizona to support the COVID-19 response, including vaccination operations.

The site that the President is touring virtually today is located in the parking lot of State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona – home to Arizona Cardinals. It is a drive-thru vaccination center that runs 24/7, with traffic steady throughout the night. The site is the result of a multi-agency effort between the State, National Guard, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Arizona State University, and FEMA. At the state's request, FEMA sent approximately 25 staff to fill deep night shifts when the state had trouble finding personnel. We currently have 10 FEMA staff onsite serving as greeters, traffic managers, runners and administrative support.

This site is an example of a best practice that we are replicating nationwide. The around the clock operating hours allow people to visit at a time convenient to them. They have completed 100K+ vaccinations since opening on January 11th and at times, the site has exceeded 8K vaccinations a day. This is just one of the many ways the federal government is working with states to help meet their unique needs and get more vaccinations into arms more quickly.

White House in town pool report #7: Lid!

A travel/photo lid was called at 3:56 p.m.