Q: A photo of the Florida “situation room” showed many administration officials meeting to discuss the U.S. airstrike on Syrian bases. Did all of those officials fly to Florida on Air Force One?
—Edward Kelly, Hoschton
A: The group of advisers was in Florida as part of President Donald Trump's official meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The missile strikes on the Syrian airbase coincided with the meetings with the Chinese president.
At least seven of the senior advisers pictured with Trump in the “situation room” at the Mar-a-Lago resort were on the president’s plane, according to media reports.
Among those confirmed on board Air Force One, via news reports and Twitter, for the Xi meetings were adviser Jared Kushner, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, strategist Steve Bannon and senior adviser Stephen Miller.
The other advisers photographed include Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton.
Q: In addition to the coils of plastic material that burned in the I-85 collapse, I’ve heard that a number of HERO trucks were parked under the bridge, and burned. If true, how many were lost?
—Ed Parkinson, Atlanta
A: The HERO trucks and an office are under a different overpass bridge. None were damaged in the I-85 fire.
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column; Keith Still and AJC reporter Dan Klepal contributed. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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