Pool Report: Bush Narrowly Escapes a Pounding
Bush stopped off in New Orleans to help pretend to rebuild crap (though we do think it'd be more effective if they just paid for professionals) -- you pooler was there.
Bush put on a carpenters apron and talked to a few workers in front of a Dewalt table saw. He would later add gloves to working attire. He shook a lot of hands and helped carry the beams that will soon support the roof. He called on your pooler to join the volunteers - I declined. He made his way to the first floor and grabbed a hammer to pound a few nails. He was pounding in the brackets that help fortify the frame. Nagin, no stranger to the camera, started pounding along side bush. Nagin made a few jokes about people he would like to pound and the two talked briefly about Nagin's left-handed hammering. "I am a lefty all the way," Nagin said. Bush, of course, is a righty.
No details on who, exactly, Nagin wanted to "pound," but we imagine things got suddenly very tense. No mention of Air Force One's gas milage, either -- you're slipping, guys.
Your pool reporter was noted Fox News critic Jim VandeHei. Full report after the jump.
Pool Report #1
Scott gaggled on AF1 - read your transcript. He came back later and
said Bush would do interview with Brian Williams after his two New
Orleans stops, which is taking place as your pooler writes. Several Bush
aides in tow: Townsend, Powell, hubbard, Bartlett and company. We flew,
landed, boarded helo and landed in the devastation known as the ninth
ward of new orleans. For those you have been here since Katrina,
conditions have not improved much. Bush's limo ride to his first stop of
the day offered an upclose look at the obliteration. Levees are being
rebuilt and or fortified, but a sea of houses are badly damaged, boarded
up from top to bottom and awaiting rehabilitation. The streets are often
lifeless. There were piles of trash and badly broken rails on an
overpass, and row of what looked like brand new homes (before katrina)
shuttered and vacant. A few small groups of african americans waived at
the motorcade - otherwise it looked like a ghost town. Bush made his
first stop on Pauline Street, parking but William Frantz School, its
doors locked with chains and empty. Bush visited the home of Ethel
William at 2036-38 Pauline. The single level small house was devastated
by the storm. A pile of wood, debris and chairs, as high as six feet at
its apex, littered the street out front. A slight orange mark at least
four feet high stood as a stark reminder of the flood that destroyed
this neighborhood. But the house was also a symbol of the area's slow
rebirth. Thanks to Operation Helping Hand, a volunteer program operated
by Catholic Charities, is in phase one of the reconstruction effort:
gutting all of the water-stained houses. Bush, Mayor Nagin, Gov Blanco
and Rep. Jefferson toured the house with ms. William. More than a dozen
volunteers were inside. Afterward, bush came out, wrapped his arm around
williams (nagin, jefferson, blanco positioned themselves around them)
and called on americans to join the volunteer effort. Ms williams
promises to one day reward bush with a home cooked meal. From there we
drove about five blocks to what was once an empty field but not now the
site of "muscian village" a habitat for humanity effort to build housing
in what one local described as a once violent area of the city. The plan
is to build 280 housing units, which are one story and built several
feet off the ground to provide some cushion in case a flood hits again.
The lot had been vacant for 15 years. Bush put on a carpenters apron and
talked to a few workers in front of a Dewalt table saw. He would later
add gloves to working attire. He shook a lot of hands and helped carry
the beams that will soon support the roof. He called on your pooler to
join the volunteers - I declined. He made his way to the first floor and
grabbed a hammer to pound a few nails. He was pounding in the brackets
that help fortify the frame. Nagin, no stranger to the camera, started
pounding along side bush. Nagin made a few jokes about people he would
like to pound and the two talked briefly about nagin's left-handed
hammering. "I ama lefty all the way," nagin said. Bush, of course, is a
righty. We will leave as soon as the brian williams exclusive concludes.
That's all folks. Vandehei
Jim VandeHei