Inside the brand new White House Situation Room: Cutting-edge tech, mahogany and that new car smell
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The Columbia University Board of Trustees released a statement Wednesday saying they strongly support President Minouche Shafik, who has faced calls for her resignation amid intense pressure to rein in days-long protests. The university "supports free speech through open dialogue that is respectful and constructive," the officials said. Graffiti described as “hateful” has been painted on campus, the officials said. Work and classes will remain remote, and officials are considering keeping the campus closed for longer. Student reactions to calls for the college president's resignation have been mixed, Karam said. At one point during the demonstrations, tensions escalated as protesters refused to relocate and remove their tents and other prohibited items, a university official said.
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Computer monitors and servers that seemed modern in 2006 — the year before the iPhone was announced — had become old and creaky. The signal-blocking technology was in need of modernizing in the era of high-tech sparring with China and Russia. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy determined that future presidents would need a dedicated crisis management center and ordered the construction of a secure communications site.
2007 renovations
ABC News was told the president first saw the new space on Tuesday night and thought it was "fantastic." This remodel changes the capabilities of the main room to fix that. The main meeting room has been designated the "Kennedy" room (with a plaque on the wall), a nod to President John F. Kennedy who is credited with creating the first Situation Room after the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
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But once you walk through, it does, in fact, look like the movies. The area is known as the Situation Room, and over the past year, it has been overhauled and upgraded with more than $50 million in improvements to security and capabilities, and is ready to reopen for operations. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. Gustafson said staff members have to be ready to prepare rooms for classified briefings on a moment’s notice, and Biden has been known to pop in to meetings unexpectedly, particularly as Russia was invading Ukraine. There aren’t many photos of the Situation Room, but one of the most famous is the image of Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Biden and others watching the bin Laden operation. The renovated duty watch station inside the Situation Room features capabilities of the “highest” standard available, according to White House Situation Room Director Marc Gustafson.
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Former President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other officials watch the operation that killed Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room on May 1, 2011. Workers dug five feet underground to make more room and install cutting-edge technology allowing White House officials to bring together intelligence from different agencies with the push of a few buttons. The complex is staffed around the clock by military and civilian personnel who monitor breaking developments worldwide. Wood paneling lines the walls of the newly renovated Situation Room.
Inside the brand new White House Situation Room: Cutting-edge tech, mahogany and that new car smell - The Associated Press
Inside the brand new White House Situation Room: Cutting-edge tech, mahogany and that new car smell.
Posted: Fri, 08 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The duty watch station, called the “watch floor,” also got a facelift with more space for desks. Officers from every branch of the military, senior intelligence analysts, technicians, video operators and State Department aides have seats on the watch floor. They work in shifts to monitor global and national intelligence and occasionally cable news. The day begins with the watch team's preparation of the Morning Book.
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Throughout the day, we've been reporting on a Russian attack on the city of Odesa in Ukraine, which has killed at least four people. Other buildings on the campus in Arcata are at risk of being occupied, and protesters “have shown a willingness” to lock themselves in facilities and steal equipment, the officials said. House Speaker Mike Johnson called Wednesday for the resignation of the university’s president if she can't "bring order to this chaos." The university closed its campus Wednesday evening as LAPD began arresting demonstrators.
Earlier, he reported that at least two people had been killed in the attack (see 17.46 post). Regional governor Oleg Kiper said he was aware of 17 injured people, of whom at least two are in a "serious condition". Separately, Odesa mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov said at least 20 people were hurt. He said a further 28 people have been injured, including two children aged five and 16. Three women and a man have died, bringing the total number of people killed to four, according to regional governor Oleg Kiper. Three sanctions monitors travelled to Ukraine earlier thismonth to inspect the debris - and found no evidence that themissile was made by Russia.
The White House Situation Room — a space of great mystique and even greater secrecy — just got a $50-million facelift. This award-winning 21st century educational experience is aligned with national and state standards for high school. Gustafson said visitors previously remarked that the room didn’t reflect Hollywood’s grand imagining of the space. “Folks, the newly renovated White House Situation Room is up and running,” Biden said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “My thanks to everyone who worked on this incredible facility.
Modernized and expanded in 2007, this 5,000-square-foot complex of rooms is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to monitor national and international intelligence information. It also allows the President to communicate securely with American military commanders and foreign heads of state around the world. It now features mahogany wood paneling alongside flat-screen monitors that can securely connect to any video feed or intelligence source the president and his team might need.
A 2-foot (0.6-meter) seal is positioned at the president’s end of the room, larger than the old seal. Literally everything was torn out from the conference room, the command center called the "watch floor" that supports it, and smaller rooms around them. The renovation extended five feet underneath the space, said Marc Gustafson, senior director for the White House Situation Room.
And its first top-to-bottom renovation since 2007 wrapped up last month. The purpose of the Situation Room is to provide current intelligence and crisis support to the NSC staff, the national security advisor, and the president. The Room is a round-the-clock meeting-place for sensitive information flowing to and from the White House. The JFK room has a long wooden table with six leather chairs on each side and one at the head for the president.
After eight years of construction, President John Adams and his wife Abigail moved into the still-unfinished residence. During the War of 1812, the British set fire to the President’s House, and James Hoban was appointed to rebuild it. James Monroe moved into the building in 1817, and during his administration, the South Portico was constructed.
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