White House Correspondents Insider

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Archives for May 2017

CNN Fires Kathy Griffin

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Photo courtesy Josh Hallett.

CNN has fired Kathy Griffin as co-host for the network’s annual  New Year’s Eve special after the comedian appeared in a video Tuesday holding a prop designed to look like the bloody severed “head” of President Donald Trump.

Griffin quickly apologized for the stunt, amidst backlash from both conservative and liberal politicians as well as countless others.

CNN posted on its Twitter account that: “CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year’s Eve program.”

CBS News Ousts Scott Pelly as Evening News Anchor

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Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Scott Pelly has been removed as anchor of the CBS Evening News.

Pelly will continue with the network as a full-time correspondent for CBS’ weekly television news magazine, 60 Minutes.  He has been out on assignment for the news show of late, but is expected to return to the Evening News for a farewell broadcast.

Sources say Pelly’s reassignment has been in the works for some time.  Until a permanent replacement is selected, guest anchors will fill in the evening news chair.

Pelly took over as CBS Evening News anchor in 2011, succeeding Katie Couric.  He has worked for CBS News for three decades.

While anchor, CBS Evening News has consistently rated behind both ABC and NBC evening news broadcasts in viewers.  It saw the steepest ratings drop of all three network broadcasts for the first quarter of 2017.

White House Communications Director Mike Dubke Resigns

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Photo courtesy Pixabay.

After only three months on the job, White House communications director Mike Dubke has resigned. Dubke tendered his resignation on May 18, but the news has only become public, according to stories first published in Axios and the Washington Post.

According to reports, Dubke tendered his resignation on May 18, but offered to stay with the administration throughout President Trump’s first international trip.

As communications director, his primary focus was helping restructure the press operations of the White House, and is leaving on good terms, according to a senior administration official.

Dubke’s last day has yet to be set. It is assumed his job will remain open in the short term.

Veep Renewed for Seventh Season on HBO

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Veep’s Matt Walsh helps to salute the veterans of @dogtagbakery and @NS2Serves at the 2017 Garden Brunch. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

Award-winning political comedy Veep has been renewed for a seventh season on HBO, returning to television in 2018. All original cast members have also closed one-year deals to return in this new season.

The show has won a dozen Primetime Emmys to date, including five awards for best lead actress in a comedy series for Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Veep has also received Emmys for best comedy series twice – for its fourth and fifth seasons. Louis-Dreyfus has also received two SAG Awards, two Critics’ Choice Television Awards and one TCA Award for her work on the show, playing now-former President Selina Meyer.

The cast also includes Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Timothy Simons, Kevin Dunn, Gary Cole and Sam Richardson.

The current sixth season of Veep will run on HBO until June 25. The show is executive produced by David Mandel, Frank Rich, Louis-Dreyfus, Lew Morton and Morgan Sackett.

Montana Republican Candidate for Congress Charged with Assault Against Journalist

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Glacier National Park in Montana. Photo courtesy Pixabay.

Law enforcement officials in Montana have charged Republican House candidate Greg Gianforte with misdemeanor assault after a physical altercation against The Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs Wednesday evening in the candidate’s Bozeman campaign headquarters. Gianforte is running in a special election to Congress, being held Thursday.

The assault was recorded on audio and witnessed by other journalists.

According to Jacobs, and corroborated by other journalists and the audio recording, Gianforte body-slammed him and broke his glasses as the reporter asked questions about health care reform and ObamaCare repeal plans. The candidate denies the charges.

Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin posted a release Wednesday night confirming Gianforte had been cited with misdemeanor assault.

“Following multiple interviews and an investigation by the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office it was determined there was probable cause to issue a citation to Greg Gianforte for misdemeanor assault,” the statement reads. “The nature of the injuries did not meet the statutory elements of felony assault.”

The campaign released a statement saying the reporter intruded on “a separate interview in a private office” and “aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg’s face.” Shane Scanlon, spokesman for the campaign, said

“Jacobs was asked to leave. After asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined. Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg’s write, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground.”

Eyewitnesses include three Fox News journalists, including reporter Alicia Acuna. She stated she and others “watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the man, as he moved on top the reporter and began yelling something to the effect of ‘I’m sick and tired of this!'”

Gianforte is running for a special election to Congress against Democrat Rob Quist to replace former Rep. Ryan Zinke, who was nominated by President Trump to be Secretary of the Interior.

Click here to listen to The Guardian reporter Jacobs’ audio recording.

MSNBC Vaults to Top Spot in Weekly Ratings War

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Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

The cable news network MSNBC finished at the top in the key demographic of 25-54 year olds and in total viewers against its two rivals last week for the first time ever, according to Nielsen Research.

MSNBC also finished second in basic cable viewers as well, only being beaten by TNT, which had aired several NBA playoff games over the last week.

For the first time since June 2000, Fox News finished third in primetime.

During the week of May 15, MSNBC averaged 2.440 million total viewers, followed by Fox with 2.405 million. CNN was a distant third with 1.649 million total viewers.

In the prized 24-54 year old demographic, MSNBC averaged 611,000 viewers, followed by CNN with 589,000. Fox News came in third with 497,000.

The network’s Rachel Maddow was the most-watched non-sports program for the week with her 9 PM show, “The Rachel Maddow Show,” in all basic cable. Additionally, “The Last Word,” hosted by Lawrence O’Donnell at 10 PM, was second overall in the cable news race.

For the month of May to date, Fox News is still ahead, averaging 2.3 million total viewers and winning the 25-54 demographic.

White House Deliberately Sending Fake News “Leaks” to Journalists

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The White House has been providing intentionally false information and “fake news” to The New York Times, according to White House correspondent Maggie Haberman.

On Twitter, conservative radio talk show host Bill Mitchell posted: “You know what we should do? Start flooding the NYTimes and WAPO tip lines with all kinds of crazy “leaks.”  Then laugh when they print them!”

However, New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman responded that this was already the case, replying “The Trump administration has tried this a few times, sir.  We actually vet these things.”

In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Kyle Pope, editor in chief and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review discusses the greatest threats to a free press today.

“I think the bigger risk right now is of somebody getting duped — intentional misdirection or fabricated leaks. In this climate, that is more what I would be worried about.”

President Trump has frequently criticized the mainstream media, and particularly The New York Times, saying recently in an interview with a conservative blog that the Times’ “intent is so evil and so bad” that “they write lies.”

The Hamptons Comes to Washington to Celebrate Holly Peterson’s New Novel

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Co-hosts for the event Kathy O’Hearn, Carol Melton, Heather Podesta, Megan Murphy, Holly Peterson, Hilary Rosen, Tammy Haddad. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

New York Times best-selling author Holly Peterson held a book party for her new novel about class conflict in a playground for the world’s wealthiest people, it Happens in the Hamptons at The Jefferson Hotel in Washington, DC on Wednesday, May 17. The party was hosted by Tammy Haddad, Connie Milstein, Hilary Rosen, Heather Podesta, Kathy O’Hearn and Carol Melto.

Megan Murphy, Editor of Bloomberg Businessweek, interviewed Ms. Peterson about the novel and its themes of ambition, romance, and the clash of social classes. Peterson also offers a few insights on the Trump family.

According to Peterson, the same class conflicts that exists throughout America is magnified in elite resort towns. “I think the class conflict that is roiling this country is shown in technicolor in a summer community whether it’s Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard or Aspen. There’s this amazing tension between the classes in these communities.”

Peterson continued, “I think there’s three worlds in my book. You’ve got the old WASP-y Protestants that run these country clubs and drink a lot and play tennis with their Exeter roommates and have money but don’t have serious money. That’s a huge amount of people in the Hamptons, golf clubs and tennis and all that. And then you have these super-rich accomplished New Yorkers, but you also have a very vibrant local community with AV technicians and land surveyors and teachers and biologists and vintners. You have all three worlds interacting all the time. You have them interacting on the beach, they have sex with each other, they play tennis together.”

You can watch coverage of the event here:

https://audioboom.com/posts/5937349-holly-peterson-s-inside-look-at-ambition-surfing-the-trump-family-and-class-conflict-in-the-hamptons

Volta Insider: White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch 2017 Honors Military Veterans and a Free and Fair Press

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Rachel Greenberg interviews Mark Testoni, President & CEO of SAP NS2 | NS2 Serves. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

In the latest episode of Volta Insider, Rachel Greenberg interviewed several prominent attendees of the 2017 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch. This year’s Garden Brunch was dedicated to honoring military veterans and their families and celebrating a free press.

Greenberg provides insight into the themes of the Garden Brunch talking to elected officials, media titans, and some of the leading champions for military veterans.

Senator Mark Warner had a message for young people saying, “I think it’s more important than ever for young people to be involved.  Because if young people tune out, all you do is turn the keys over to the political extremes on the left or the right.  And for a nation that’s about 20 trillion in debt, to leave that kind of debt to the millenials, to our kids would be a disaster.  That is why your voices need to be heard.”

Rep. Darrell Issa had creative advice for those interested in pursuing a career in politics, “My advice [to young, aspiring journalists or politicians] … is to do something else first.  Really, the breadth of talent of people that go straight into politics, straight into journalism, there’s plenty of them.  The outliers — the people that make a difference — are the people that come with something to offer.  And so  particularly in the case for politics, life experience, real understanding.  Whether it’s working in soup kitchens or working on wall street, try to make sure you bring something other than a desire to vote.

Greenberg also spoke with CNN’s Brian Stelter on the new administration’s galvanizing effect on young journalism students, “There are so many problems in media right now, there are so many attempts to tear down the press, to delegitimize the press.  But it also makes it a more interesting time to be part of the solution.  And I see a lot of students nowawayds more motivated to be a part of it.”

Other interviews include Graham Moore, Academy Award winning screenwriter and author, Art Bilger, founder of the non-profit WorkingNation, and Meghan Ogilvie, CEO of Dog Tag Inc.

Check out the latest episode of Volta Insider here:

http://voltainsider.com/2017/05/16/episode-19-white-house-correspondents-garden-brunch-2017/

Holly Peterson Brings Hamptons Heat to DC

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Co-hosts for the event Kathy O’Hearn, Carol Melton, Heather Podesta, Megan Murphy, Holly Peterson, Hilary Rosen, Tammy Haddad. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

For one night only, The Jefferson hotel was ground zero for all the Hamptons action! BLOOMBERG Business week editor-in-chief Megan Murphy interviewed journalist and bestselling author Holly Peterson on her new book it Happens in the Hamptons.

Connie Milstein and co-hosts Carol Melton, Hilary Rosen, Heather Podesta, and Juleanna Glover, gathered the DC elite at the historic hotel. Guests included Rep. Debbie Dingell, Maureen Dowd, Sally Quinn, and Ms. Peterson’s first boss, Bill Knapp.

Holly Peterson and Maureen Dowd. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

Ms. Peterson discussed the disparity between the glamorous island’s haves and have-nots. She also discussed finding harmony in such a polarized place, recounting her time learning to surf with locals and the unique culture of Southhampton.

Guests picked out Hamptons flip flops and buzzed about the announcement of an independent counsel right as the standing room only crowd.

Megan Murphy and Holly Peterson on stage at The Jefferson Hotel. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

Spotted: Daniel Lippman, Ryan Williams, Stephanie Cutter, Robyn Bash.  Kate Goodall, Tom Forrest, Jonathan Capehart, Ann and Lloyd Hand, Betsy Fischer Martin, Polson Kanneth, Heather Lauer, Anita McBride, Tina Tchen, Melissa Moss, Ryan Williams, Becca Glover, Alyse Nelson, Rupert Allman, Su-Lin Nichols, Sissy Yates, and Jayne Sandman.