*From:* "Baker, Peter" <xxx@nytimes.com>
*Date:* March 13, 2018 at 1:53:48 PM PDT
*Subject:* *Out of Town Pool Report #5*

Out-of-Town Pool Report #5

San Diego

March 13, 2018

POTUS spent about an hour at the border and his motorcade left the area about 1:15 p.m. local time en route back to the Brown Field airport, where he arrived about 10 minutes later. The White House sent a list of greeters and some details about the eight prototypes he saw (see below).

As motorcade arrived back at the airport, a small cluster of Trump supporters cheered. Keep Calm and Build the Wall, read one sign.

POTUS and his party then took off on Marine helicopters at 1:30 p.m. bound for Miramar, where he landed at 1:50 p.m. for his speech to military service members.

Earlier at the border, James OLoughlin, the project manager, wearing a suit but no tie, explained to POTUS what he was seeing and showed him further information in a three-ring binder. Rodney Scott, the chief border patrol agent for the San Diego sector, dressed in green uniform, also explained the situation on the ground and showed him a poster with before-and-after pictures depicting what the border looked like when the current fence and sheet metal barriers were not there.

The wall prototypes were lined up one after the other, towering over the president and his delegation. POTUS said he wants to make sure any wall has a see-through feature. It looked to your pool that two of the eight had slats that would allow people on both sides to see through. About eight border patrol officers on horseback watched nearby. Across the border, Mexican agents watched from a guard house.

POTUS said the wall was necessary to guard America and he pointed to the success of the fences and sheet metal barriers that are already here but, he said, need to be replaced with a stronger and more impenetrable wall. If you didnt have walls over here, you wouldnt have a country, you wouldnt have a country, he said. He called on Congress to cut grants to sanctuary jurisdictions. Asked if he would veto any omnibus spending bill that did not do so, he said, "We're going to see."

He also said that I have a great relationship with the president of Mexico, a great guy, and that were trying to work things out.

He added: We need safety. We need security at the border. Were getting it like we've never had it before. But we want to make it perfecto.

Quotes are based on notes since tape was impossible to hear above helicopter noise. Will send fuller quotes after checking tape. Please check transcript if it comes out first.

In addition to John Kelly and Stephen Miller, POTUS was joined by Secretary Nielsen of DHS, Mick Mulvaney of OMB and CFPB, Rep. Duncan Hunter and his father, former Rep. Duncan Hunter.

Back at Miramar, Rep. Darrell Issa was spotted waiting for POTUS.

From the White House:

The President was briefed on the ongoing assessment of eight border wall prototypes, with a focus on how the features and attributes of each impedes illegal crossings. Each assessment includes input from Border Patrol agents and an engineering analysis. Customs and a Border Patrol (CBP's) Land Systems Operational Test Authority, the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC), special operations units from the Department of Defense, industry partners, and other federal agencies participated in the assessmentof each prototype.

The following companies were selected to construct prototypes:

* Caddell Construction Co. (DE), LLC,Montgomery, Alabama
* Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., DBA Fisher Industries, Tempe, Arizona
* Texas Sterling Construction Co. Houston, Texas
* W. G. Yates & Sons Construction Company,Philadelphia, Mississippi
* Caddell Construction Co., (DE), LLC,Montgomery, Alabama
* KWR Construction, Inc., Sierra Vista, Arizona
* ELTA North America Inc., Annapolis Junction, Maryland
* W. G. Yates & Sons Construction Company,Philadelphia, Mississippi.

The following officials participated in the Presidents briefing:

* Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, United States Secretary of HomelandSecurity

* Kevin K. McAleenan, Acting Commissioner, United StatesCustoms and Border Protection

* Carla Provost, Acting Chief, United States Border Patrol

* Rodney Scott, Chief Patrol Agent, San Diego Sector, UnitedStates Border Patrol

* James OLoughlin, Project Manager, United States BorderPatrol Asset Management Office

Peter Baker

NY Times

202-xxx-xxxx

xxx@nytimes.com


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