White House in town pool #3 - More POTUS comments

The president spoke for 20 minutes.

Here’s one more quote from POTUS on last night’s election: “And they say that I wasn't on the ballot was the biggest factor. I don't know about that but I was honored that they said that.”

POTUS called for the filibuster to end: “If you don't terminate the filibuster, we won't pass any legislation.”

He railed against Democrats as part of his appeal: “If I thought that they weren't going to pass the filibuster, I wouldn't even bring it up. They're going to pass it within the first hour. … It's going to be a very, very bad situation, and it's done as soon as they attain power. … They'll most likely never attain power, because we will have passed every single thing that you can imagine that is good and all good for the country, and there'll be no reason, but if we don't do that, people say they're not doing much, and they're in power.”

He called for a voter ID law to be passed: “We should pass all the things that we want to make our election is secure and safe, because California is a disaster. Many of the states are disasters. … All we want is voter ID. You go to a grocery store, you have to give ID. You go to a gas station, you give ID. But for voting, they want no voter ID.”

He told the senators: “It’s time to have a really good talk.”

More POTUS: “So I have this long, beautiful and very boring speech I won't go out there. … I think it's very important, we have to get the country up. And the way we're going to do it this afternoon is to terminate the filibuster. And it's possibly you're not going to do that, and I'm going to go by your wishes. You're very smart people. We're good friends. But I think it's a tremendous mistake. It would be a tragic mistake. Actually, it's time, it's time. If I thought they weren't going to approve, I'd sort of be with you. ... I'd be neutral to with you, but knowing that they're going to pass it as soon as they get any semblance of control or pass the first thing, then it's like we have to do it first.”

Sec/State Rubio came into the room midway through POTUS’ remarks, poured himself a cup of coffee and took a seat at a table in the corner.

Pool exited at 8:44 am. POTUS did not respond to shouted questions on last night’s and the shutdown.

Emily Goodin

White House Correspondent

McClatchy DC/Miami Herald

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