White House Correspondents Insider

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

CNN Gets Tapper, ABC Has Their Own Shuffle and No Go on ''Plan B"

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In case you thought it was the end of the world–well, it’s just another Friday for the District.

In pre-Christmas media shuffle CNN announced that Jake Tapper is their new chief Washington correspondent and anchor. Mike Ryan’s Playbook backstory sheds light on what CNN seems to have in mind for the former ABC correspondent: “Tapper’s new show will initially air during one of the hours that CNN programming is in D.C., between 4 and 7 p.m., after which it will likely find a later time slot. The pitch to Tapper by incoming CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker was key to the hire. Before his White House gig, Tapper was a utility player at ABC News, doing stories on Iraq, the culture wars, and plenty of general assignment stories ranging from the Virginia Tech attacks to interviewing Larry David. A show that focused on a broader palette of story subjects, from politics to international affairs to sports to popular culture, has always been his main goal.”

Which means over at ABC, Jonathan Karl has become their new Chief White House Correspondent and Martha Raddatz is bumped to Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, which the release notes will find her as “primary substitute for George Stephanopoulos on This Week and will contribute regularly to the roundtable” along with Karl.

Going to the pundit side, Politico has Purple Stategies’ Rob Collins being vetted for the National Republican Senatorial Commitee.

Would you call the failure to pass Speaker John Boehner’s “Plan B” proposal “embarrassing”? You’re not alone as nearly everyone lead with that description after last night’s rejection of his fiscal cliff spending plan. Here’s a sampling:

Bloomberg: “The flawed approach left Boehner embarrassed and Republicans without a clear alternative to Obama’s proposal to raise $1.2 trillion in taxes on high earners and cut $1.2 trillion in spending.”

Washington Post’s Right Turn: “House Republicans embarrassed their speaker Thursday night by shutting down his Plan B to protect all but millionaires from a tax hike, come Jan. 1. How close was the GOP to having enough support for Speaker John Boehner’s plan? A senior leadership aide replied glumly, ‘Not close enough.'”

On Morning Joe, David Axelrod said: “But the fact that they couldn’t even pass that was an embarrassment. This is the longest day of the year and certainly true for John Boehner, I’m sure he’s scratching his head right now.”

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Connie Milstein’s Delightful Night

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The grand tradition of the “Heart’s Delight” Vintners Dinner was lifted to another level Friday evening as guests raised their glasses to honor dinner Chairman Constance Milstein.

Milstein and her husband, Jehan-Christophe de La Haye Saint Hilaire, are long-time benefactors of the American Heart Association.

David Markiewicz, the Executive Vice President of the AHA, praised Milstein’s dedication and generous support of heart research, and highlighted the pivotal role she played in gathering the supporters at the annual event.

Milstein friend and President Obama’s HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Ambassador Capricia Marshall joined her at the table, as well as Ambassador of Monaco Gilles Norghes and his wife Ellen, and the new deficit czar Bruce Reed and his wife, Bonnie LePard.

CBS News White House Correspondent Bill Plante emceed the evening. The sparkly crowd included Betsey Apple, Dee Dee Myers and Todd Purdum, John Coale, the Washington Post’s new Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Kathleen Parker, ABC News’ reporter Jonathan Karl.

FOX News’ Bret Baier recounted his infant son’s multiple heart surgeries to the spellbound crowd (including his wife, Amy). The Baier’s family story inspired the wine auction that followed, raising some $50,000 for research.

The Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium was aglow as some 400 guests dined on a six-course meal accompanied by distinguished wines from Château Margaux.

Obama Star Alan Krueger is Celebrity Tennis MVP at Kastles Charity Tournament

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Krueger_ServesIMG_6470

Alan Krueger

With Redskins superstar Darrell Green and tennis great Ilana Kloss, it was hard to imagine that a former Princeton economics professor would be the breakout star of the first annual celebrity tennis match to benefit the American Red Cross on the final night of the Washington Kastles season.

Alan Krueger, Assistant Treasury Secretary for Economic Policy, impressed his team and his media/political opponents — including Senator Evan Bayh, Fox’s Brett Baier, CNN’s Ed Henry and ABC’s Jonathan Karl. Coaching on the sidelines: Billie Jean King and the GEICO Caveman.

Caveman Green

GEICO Caveman with Darrell Green

Bloomberg’s Al Hunt and Margaret Carlson called the game in a Washington version of the Wimbledon voice over. Celebrity ball kids included Patrick Henry (8), David (8) and Rachel (10) Greenberg, Betsy Fischer’s daughter Ella (8), and Jonathan Karl’s girls Anna (9) and Emily (12).

Insiders were disappointed that Washington fav Gene Sperling had to cancel his appearance due to meetings, but Kreuger was the tournament’s MVP. Kastles owner Mark Ein has expanded the reach of the franchise, only in their second year, and with this first-ever charity celeb match has created a new Washington tradition.

Check out all the photos …

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and check back later for video highlights.

"NewsHour," ABC News Cutting Back on RTCA Tables This Year

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McCain And Obama Square Off In First Presidential Debate

Jim Lehrer of PBS' "NewsHour"

Two of the news organizations that won’t be taking as many people to the RTCA dinner this year as in the past are PBS’ “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” and ABC News.

In conjunction with “Washington Week with Gwen Ifill & National Journal,” “The Newshour” normally takes 15 tables, but this year, it is down to just two. The show’s financial crunch in the last year, due to corporate underwriting cutbacks, has been well documented.

“It’s a tight economic climate and we can’t afford it,” says Rob Flynn, VP of communications and marketing. “The organization is important to us and we’d like to do more.” Indeed, Linda Scott, producer of Capitol Hill and Congressional coverage for “The NewsHour,” will serve as chair of next year’s dinner.

Despite the smaller presence, the “NewsHour” snagged a high-profile administration guest. Sitting at one of its tables will be retired Marine Gen. James Jones, the National Security Adviser, and his wife Diane.

Also at the tables: “NewsHour” correspondent (and soon to be co-anchor) Judy Woodruff, PBS President CEO Paula Kerger and her husband Joe Kerger; the new COO of PBS, Michael Jones and his wife, Vicki Hawkins-Jones; and Les Crystal, the president of MacNeil Lehrer Productions. Ms. Ifill won’t be in attendance because “Washington Week” duty calls.

ABC News' Jonathan Karl

ABC News' Jonathan Karl

ABC News, meanwhile, will have just a single table. George Stephanopoulos won’t be there, but Jonathan Karl, the network’s senior congressional correspondent, will be in attendance, and of course Robin Sproul, VP and Washington bureau chief.

“We made a decision to cut back and have a smaller presence at the dinner this year. Since the White House Correspondents’ dinner was Obama’s first journalism dinner as President, we had a greater presence there and the guests to show for it. We’d also rather focus our resources on covering the news right now,” said spokeswoman Emily Lenzner.