*From:* Jonathan Easley [mailto:xxx@thehill.com]
*Sent:* Monday, March 12, 2018 12:54 PM
*Subject:* White House pool report 2
At 1231 pm, the 2017 Astros entered the East Room and the crowd exploded in cheers. A few more spotteds - Gary Cohn, Rick Perry, Kellyanne Conway, Reps. Kevin Brady and Jodey Arrington. Kellyanne chatted up Cruz's young daughters before the event got underway.
POTUS:
"What a team...our yankees were as tough as anybody but you guys were just a little tougher." He called Game 7 of the world series one of the most memorable ever and said manager AJ Hinch did a great job of "skippering." He called it a team effort for "the ages." He warned the team against "complacency" in 2018 and singled out World Series MVP George Spinger, AL MVP Jose Altuve. "Helluva team," POTUS said. Potus also singled out pitchers charlie morton, dallas keuchel, justin verlander and brad peacock. Potus called verlander a friend, says they have golfed together and that he has a monster drive.
Potus closed by calling friday "one of the best" eonomic days, "we are not letting the world take advantage of us anymore." He shook verlander's hand as he left.
Astros owner Jim Crane called it "a great honor" for the team to be here. "We are committed to try to do it again." Motto for 2018 is "never settle."
Manager AJ Hinch thanks potus, pledges to represent baseball and the country well.
The president also praised members of the Cajun Navy for their response to Hurricane Harvey - a handful are here and walked in with Perry.
POTUS pledged to stand by puerto rico and the gulf states that were ravaged by hurricanes.
Public Pool is an automated feed of White House press pool reports. For live updates, follow @WHPublicPool on Twitter.