White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of one of the most powerful clubs in America.

Mark Halperin and John Heilemann Sign Deal with Penguin Press for Game Changer 3

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Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

On Thursday, Penguin Press revealed that political journalists and analysts John Heilemann and Mark Halperin will write a third installment of their “Game Change” series.  HBO has also purchased the book for a mini-series, with Jay Roach signing up to direct and produced by Tom Hanks.

Speaking about the book’s focus, Heilemann said “We’ll be looking at all the big unanswered questions of the race, some of them obvious, some of them are less obvious.  But of course we’re interested in breaking news.”

Some interesting areas of focus include WikiLeaks, potential Russian collaboration, FBI Director James Comey’s actions, and more.

“Despite all the coverage, we don’t know the answers to those questions,” Heilemann said in an interview.  “We think there’s still an awful lot to write about here.”

Penguin Press has scheduled the book for publication in early 2018.

TMZ’s Harvey Levin Meets President Trump in Oval Office

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President Donald Trump met with TMZ founder Harvey Levin in the Oval Office last week for about an hour. The meeting was not on the president’s public schedule.

This was not the first meeting between the president and the head of TMZ. Last fall, Levin interviewed Trump for the special “Objectified: Donald Trump,” which aired on Fox News. White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks emailed reporters suggesting this meeting was along the same vein.

“The show was a huge success, and the two were discussing future opportunities,” Hicks stated.

Levin’s stop at the White House included a tour of the presidential residence, including a visit of the Lincoln Bedroom.

President Trump’s Address to Congress Draws Over 40 Million Viewers

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Photo courtesy likedavid / Pixabay.

According to data provided by Nielsen, President Donald Trump’s initial address to a joint session of Congress reached approximately 43 million television viewers.

Networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox aired the address live, as did cable news channels including CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.

Comparatively, President George W. Bush’s first address to Congress in 2001 was watched by approximately 39 million viewers, while President Barack Obama’s initial Congressional speech in 2009 averaged approximately 52 million.

More people watched this week’s joint address than President Trump’s inauguration speech, which drew an average of 30.6 million viewers. The inauguration speech was conducted at noon on a Friday, while his address to the joint session was conducted during prime time on Tuesday evening.

The channel C-SPAN is not included in Nielsen measurements, nor does the firm measure viewers that streamed the speech online.

New Veep Teaser Shows Julia Louis-Dreyfus “Spreading Democracy Like Patient Zero”

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In a newly released trailer for the smash hit Veep, former President Selina Meyer – played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus – plots her second act after being ousted from the Oval Office, travelling the globe and “spreading democracy like Patient Zero.”

Season Six of the award winning HBO comedy brings many of Meyer’s staff members along for the ride – characters Mike McLintock (Matt Walsh), Gary Walsh (Tony Hale) and Richart T. Splett (Sam Richardson) all make appearances in the trailer as well.

Veep returns to HBO on April 16.  Set your calendars for another amazing season!

Stephen Colbert Offers to Host White House Correspondents’ Dinner

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Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

Over the weekend, Late Night host Stephen Colbert said he would be interested in hosting this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April.

“I’d love to do it,” Colbert said at an 80’s dance party fundraiser for the Montclair Film Festival. “I mean, when else are you going to stand next to the President and make jokes?”

Colbert was the host of the Dinner in 2006, where he roasted then-President George W. Bush. “Everyone who wasn’t in that room loved [the speech],” he reminisced.

The late-night talk show host also discussed how difficult it has been to keep up with current events as host of Late Night since the Inauguration.

“The speed at which the news changes with President Trump is extraordinary,” Colbert said. “We tape the show at 5:30 p.m., but sometimes we have to change the show at 5 p.m. — after rehearsal, when everything is done — we are writing a whole new first act based around something that he has said or done in the last half hour. The balls are coming over the plate so fast with him and I think that’s intentional. [The Trump administration] want[s] their actions to be almost un-discussable. They want to swamp the real media.”

Jeff Mason of Reuters, in his role as the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, oversees choosing the entertainer. He said recently he has no timeframe currently on when someone will be announced.

Samantha Bee to Host Trump Roast Same Night as White House Correspondents Dinner

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The Willard Hotel. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Samantha Bee, host of TBS “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee,” is planning an roast of President Donald Trump in Washington April 29th titled “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”

Scheduled to be held at the Willard Hotel, Ms. Bee and her colleagues stated her event is not designed to compete with the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner, to be held the same evening.

“We’re not trying to supersede it.  We just want to be there in case something happens – or doesn’t happen – and ensure that we get to properly roast the president,” Bee said in a telephone interview with the New York Times.

The television host and comedienne said she and her producers got the idea for their event after November’s election.  “We were talking out loud about whether we thought the White House Correspondents’ dinner would change during a Trump presidency, or if it would even exist.  And then we thought: Why don’t we just do one, just to do it in the way that we would want it done if we were hosting it?”

Although the White House Correspondents Association has not yet announced the entertainment for April’s dinner, Bee said she did not expect to be asked.  “My assumption is that that invitation is not coming, and I don’t blame them for that at all,” she said.

Bee’s roast will likely be broadcast on TBS, although she said the details were still under negotiation.  Attending guests also were still being worked out.  “We have binders full of people, but we don’t have any specifics to offer yet,” Ms. Bee said.

Proceeds from “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner” will be donated to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

UPDATE: To see past WHCI coverage of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and related events, please click here.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Wins Big at SAG Awards, Criticizes Refugee Ban

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris Godsick and Brad Hall. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series at the SAG Awards Sunday night.  Louis-Dreyfus  portrays former president Selina Meyer  on HBO’s Veep. Now, she is taking her formidable speaking skills into the real world to defend American immigrants.

The 2017 Screen Actors Guild kicked off with numerous passionate political speeches, and Louis-Dreyfus began by taking a humorous look at the presidential predicament, before her speech quickly took a serious turn.

She began by joking about current events and President Trump’s propensity to exaggerate and use “alternative facts.”

“Whether the Russians did or did not hack the voting of tonight’s SAG awards, I look out at the million or probably even a million and a half people in this room, and I say this award is legitimate and I won. I’m the winner. The winner is me. Landslide!” Louis-Dreyfus said to a roar of laughter from the audience.

Taking a more serious tone, Louis-Dreyfus referenced her family’s immigrant history and described Trump’s recent immigration ban as a “blemish” on the country and “un-American.”

“My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France, and I’m an American patriot and I love this country, Louis-Dreyfus continued.  “I am horrified by its blemishes.”

The seven-time Emmy Award-winner concluded her speech by quoting a statement from SAG’s “sister guild” the WGA.

“Our guilds are unions of storytellers who have always welcomed those from other nations, and of varying beliefs, who wish to share their creativity with America. We are grateful to them, we stand with them, we will fight for them.”

Bryan Cranston, friend of White House Correspondents’ Insider, also won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor for his role as LBJ in a Television Movie or Miniseries for HBO’S “All the Way.”

Bloomberg’s Top Trump Reporter Adds TV Reporter to His Portfolio

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Howard Fineman and Kevin Cirilli. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

Kevin Cirilli is one of the “original reporters” who followed the Donald Trump campaign since Day 1. While most of these reporters joined the White House beat Cirili was named Bloomberg’s Washington Top TV reporter.

A veteran of Politico and The Hill, Cirilii has extensive experience coveraging Congress and the financial committees.

More information can be found here at FishbowlDC.

Martha MacCallum Hosts New Show on Fox News

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Martha MacCallum on the floor of the DNC in Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of Twitter.

Martha MacCallum will take over for Tucker Carlson at 7pm on Fox News, kicking off the primetime lineup with a new news program, “The First 100 Days.” The show will chronicle the beginning of the new administration and run through President-elect Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office.

MacCallum will also co-anchor the network’s Inauguration Day coverage on Friday, January 20th alongside Chief Political Anchor Bret Baier.

“Martha is a versatile and skilled anchor who has proven to be an essential component of our news programming,” Executive Chairman of 21st Century Fox Rupert Murdoch said. “For the last 12 years, our viewers have trusted her reporting and we are pleased she will be part of our primetime line-up for the first 100 days of the new presidency.”

Fox News Channel has been the most watched television news channel for nearly 15 years, and according to a Suffolk University/USA Today poll, is the most trusted television news source in the country.