Travel Pool Reports of April 17, 2021

Travel pool 1 - gathering

Good morning from Wilmington where the sun is shining and a cool breeze is blowing. Your travel pool is gathering for movement. No details yet from the White House on what the president is doing.

Travel pool report 2 - rolling

POTUS motorcade has left his Greenville residence and at 12:49 pm we are rolling. Destination not yet announced by White House.

Travel pool report 3 - golf club

POTUS motorcade arrived at the Wilmington Country Club just north of Greenville at 12:58 pm. Pool could not immediately see the president as we are now pausing in the car park.

The Country Club has a well known golf course. It's a game Biden has long played - though not since becoming president.

Pool is asking the White House for details on whom he's with and what they're up to.

The course visible by pool was busy with people playing and practicing putting. As this was not announced in advance the motorcade's appearance was evidently a surprise and we could see club members filming the event on cellphones.

Travel pool report 4 - Biden golfing partners

The White House informs that Biden's golf partners are: Ron Olivere, father in law of the late Beau Biden, and advisor Steve Ricchetti.

Pool is holding near the golf course in a well equipped café.

Travel pool report 5 - rolling & gaggle quotes

See quotes below

At 4:04 pm Biden's motorcade left the Wilmington Country Club. we are rolling to an as yet unannounced destination. Pool was able to see the president arrive from the golf course on a cart - part of a golf cart motorcade complete with Secret Service teams — and enter his waiting SUV.

He came over and talked v briefly to pool.

Asked about Alexei Navalny's reportedly worsening condition in prison, he said:

"It's totally, totally unfair, Totally inappropriate" .... (inaudible) "on the basis of having been poisoned and then hunger strike "

On the refugee cap issue, he said: "We're going to increase the number."

I will send fuller quotes in a bit.

Travel pool report 6 - POTUS residence and lid

At about 4:12 pm motorcade turned into the Biden residence and White House declared a lid.

Travel pool report 7 - more quotes

At the end of golf, the president initially came over to pool, smiling and quipping: "The course record is still intact."

He then took two questions, one on Navalny and one on the refugee cap.

Fuller quote on the latter:
"We're going to increase the number. The problem was that the refugee part was working on the crisis that ended up on the border with young people. We couldn't do two things at once. But now we are going to increase the number."

Note that the sentences were a little garbled and also muffled by the mask the president was wearing.

With thanks for assists from Jonathan Lemire and Tyler Pager.

Travel pool report 8 - cleaner Biden quote on Navalny

Having one more bash at the president's Navalny quote. This is cleaner but the mumbling/mask aspect and the syntax still leaves questions over whether there may be a word or two either missing or inaudible or both.

"It's totally, totally unfair, totally inappropriate (possibly "and" or possibly just a mumble) on the basis of having been poisoned and then on a hunger strike. Wrong." (May have been: "It's wrong.")