02Dec03-E&P-Pool Report on Bush's Baghdad Trip
DECEMBER 01, 2003
Pool Report on Bush's Baghdad Trip
'E&P' Has the Transcript
NEW YORK -- When President Bush took a top-secret flight to Baghdad on Thanksgiving Day, only a handful of journalists were invited. Mike Allen of The Washington Post was chosen as pool reporter.
While Allen and others on the trip have written about the experience, they have focused on what happened on the ground in Baghdad, not on the flight that took them there. E&P has obtained a copy of Allen's complete and lengthy pool report and here we present, slightly edited, some of the highlights of the pre-Baghdad trip, complete with reports on in-flight movies, cuisine, Air Force One magazine racks, onboard sleeping habits, the President's fatherly manner, and what journalists do when handed a "ballistic vest."
4:40 p.m. Eastern (3:40 p.m. Texan) Wednesday: Your pooler was standing on the lawn in front of the Crawford filing center, talking on his cell phone, when Steve Atkiss, 26, Deputy Director of Presidential Advance, beckoned for him to climb into his mammoth white rented Dodge pickup. He drove your pooler a few blocks to a concealed parking lot and told him to step out, that someone wanted to talk to him.
Communications Director Dan Bartlett was there, along with Deputy Press Secretary Claire Buchan. Bartlett smiled mischievously at the surprise meeting. "I have news," he said. "The President is going to Baghdad." He said this writer would be the newspaper pooler, and said we would be stopping in Washington to refuel and pick up a few other journalists. He said the staff had only discussed the trip on secure lines and that they hoped no word of it would get out until the President was on the ground or even had left. Like most other members of the pool, this writer was forbidden to tell his employer or family what was up. Your pooler climbed back in the truck and Atkiss said that at 5:30 Texas time, he was to be in the parking lot of the Baylor field where we play softball.
6:30 p.m. Eastern (5:30 p.m. Texan): Arriving at the parking lot, several of the photogs still thought it was an elaborate practical joke.
6:45 p.m. Eastern (5:45 p.m. Texan): A Bloomberg reporter, four still photographers, your pooler and White House photographer Tina Hager piled into Atkiss's truck and a photographer's car and pulled around to the back of the Marriott Residence Inn, where we went to look for one other photog who had been unreachable, and luckily was located in time. He had been asleep, behind two closed doors, so he hadn't heard when Atkiss came knocking earlier. The photog's cell phone was in his car, but he was wakened by his pager, about the time Atkiss beat on the door again. The photog, gently accusing Atkiss of an elaborate joke had five minutes to get ready. ... With no security, Atkiss led the way to TSTC Airport in Waco, enduring rush-hour traffic, an experience rare in the bubble.
7:15 p.m. Eastern (6:15 p.m. Texan): The press boarded Air Force One through the customary rear stairs. It was odd to be on the plane with little White House staff around and fewer Air Force One staff. The window shades were all pulled down. Mr. Hagin came back to greet us and asked us to take the batteries out of our cell phones, so the movement could not be tracked, and asked us not to turn them on in D.C. Some of the reporters had been told separately that they would be handed new phones when they hit the ground in Baghdad. A photographer said to one of his colleagues, "Do you believe it NOW?"
7:35 p.m. Eastern (6:35 p.m. Texan): Steve Atkiss told us we would be returning to Waco around 5 a.m. Texas time on Friday. The journalists kibitzed about whether any President had flown out of the country unannounced, since perhaps FDR going to Yalta. Attendants passed out mini-pillows that said USAF on them, with the Presidential seal in blue on the white case, along with head sets and plastic-wrapped, navy-blue blankets that said "Air Force One" in embroidered script.
8:27 p.m. (7:27 p.m. Texan): Air Force One was airborne. Journalists peeked out the shades and saw that the plane had on none of the running lights that are customarily visible, including the red or green ones on the wings. The movie "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" had begun playing in the press cabin.
8:45 p.m.: The plane seemed to be going unusually fast, and please note below that the average speed was given to us as 665 mph. The door opened to the Secret Service cabin. The attendants began taking food trays up to the front of the plane, and asked the journalists if they wanted to eat. The trays had liners that said, "Welcome Aboard Air Force One." The tray contained a little glass pepper shaker and matching salt shaker; a crimson cloth napkin with a paper napkin ring with the Presidential seal in gold ... a china plate with two pieces of fried chicken, a scoop of potato salad, a small corn cob; a roll; a china plate with apple pie; and a glass, embossed with the Presidential seal, of lemonade. It is often noted that Air Force One is one of the few planes where you get a real knife. The movie "Open Range" played in the Secret Service cabin.
9:15 p.m.: In a customary gesture on Air Force One flights, an attendant passed the press cabin one copy of a card, printed in-flight, detailing the trip. On one side of the white card, in blue, is the Presidential seal and the words "Welcome Aboard Air Force One." On the other side, in black, it said: "November 26, 2003. Our Destination Is: Andrews AFB, MD. Expected Arrival Time Is: 10:35 p.m. We Will Fly Over: Texarkana, TX Charleston, WV."
9:21 p.m.: Richard Keil of Bloomberg News leaned across the aisle, shoved aside his I-Pod headset and grinned as he said: "The President of the United States is AWOL, and we're with him. The ultimate road trip."
10:08 p.m.: We could feel ourselves starting to descend. We were told that at Andrews, we would be switching to the other Air Force One, which was fueled and catered and ready to go.
10:31 p.m.: Touched down.
10:35 p.m.: Stopped taxiing. The front door of the press cabin was closed, perhaps so we could not see some of the gear or personnel descending. Shortly thereafter, we stepped off the plane and were inside the super-secret Air Force One hangar at Andrews, with the other Air Force One at an angle abreast of the one we had flown in on. ... Air Force One rugs were at the bottom of the stairs.
10:45 p.m.: We walked the short distance between the planes in the noisy, brilliantly lit hangar and saw the President walking up the stairs that descend out of the belly of Air Force One, followed by Secretary Card, Dr. Rice and other aides. Some of the staff was in jeans. The President, wearing a work coat and baseball cap, paused at the top of the stairs when he spotted the reporters. The sound in the hangar was so loud that he couldn't be heard, but he held his thumb and pinkie apart, and raised them to his ear, in the symbol of someone using a phone, and mouthed, "No calls, got it?" He emphasized the point by crossing his arms back and forth in front of him. He made the "cut" sign to his throat and mouthed again, "No calls." The President's manner was that of a stern father reprimanding his children, but in good humor.
10:50 p.m.: When the seven journalists from the first flight walked into the cabin, they saw the six who were joining in Washington. Everyone was surprised by the cast of characters -- we all had gotten a slightly different version of who was to be along. When the plane took off, 13 of the 14 seats in the press cabin were filled ... The journalists who boarded in Washington had been told at various times, going back to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, when Terence Hunt of the AP was told by a top White House official. Jim Angle, the Fox correspondent, found out around 11 a.m. Wednesday. Those journalists were told to meet at 8:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express across from the main gate of Andrews Air Force Base. They were picked up in a black, unmarked van like those used to ferry the pool to Camp David. ...They walked up the back steps as usual, getting on a little after 9 p.m.
10:55 p.m.: Dan Bartlett stopped back with a few details. "Nobody on the ground knows, but a handful of people," he said ... He said it would be "a quick landing, a dark landing," and said the plane will not be lit up like it typically is. " The phones are down, the comms are down," he said ... to try to preserve the stealth mission. Steve Atkiss told the journalists that he didn't want to alarm them, but they would be fitted for "ballistic vests."
11:06 p.m.: Takeoff. The ride right after takeoff was rough, choppy. On Air Force One, little magazine racks are stocked with current issues with "Air Force One" bindings around them. In addition to the usuals like Time and Newsweek, the offerings include Bassmaster.
By 11:19 p.m.: The President was asleep.
11:30: Secretary Card, wearing sweat clothes and running shoes, poked his head into the press cabin, where everyone was jabbering. "Sleep! Sleep! Sleep!" he kidded. Asked about the number of flying hours, he said, "You'll have plenty of time to sleep."
12:01 a.m.: Thursday -- Happy Thanksgiving. A flight attendant offered cake. There were few takers. The movie "Open Range" was playing as some journalists dozed or prepared to.
12:15 a.m.: Lights darkened in press cabin. The Service cabin was also dark.
7:55 a.m.: After Bartlett briefing, breakfast served -- cheese omelet, two Texas-sized sausages, little cup of oats, plain yogurt, blueberry muffin and orange juice.
8:28 a.m.: Reporters try on camouflage, Velcro-front "ballistic vests." Keil, adjusting his, asked: "Anyone have a tailor?" Much of the staff changed into camouflage tops and bottoms, for security and to blend in and not spoil the pictures.
9:09 a.m. Washington time (5:09 p.m. Destination): Cabin lights are turned out and all the shades remain down.
9:22 a.m. Washington time: We were told eight minutes out and could feel the descent. Shut down laptops. Cabin is dark except for light of clocks and light from agents' cabin. About half the journalists were already wearing their vests, which are Point Blank Body Armor.
9:31 a.m. Washington time (5:32 p.m. local): Touched down in swift abrupt landing, but not the emergency spiral that had been prepared for. Press walked down dark stairs onto Tarmac.
10:50 a.m.: I had taken off my body armor to type, then saw a soldier I wanted to interview. I came back and my vest is gone. The laptop is still there.
11:56 a.m. Washington time : We reboarded [for trip home] on a dark stretch of runway. A soldier or agent with a huge gun stood at the foot of the stairs as press IDs were checked.
11:59 a.m.: Dan Bartlett stuck his head into the press cabin and said he believes the secret held. He said we would be allowed to file when we got above 10,000 feet.
pool report filed by Mike Allen, The Washington Post
Source: Editor & Publisher Online
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