White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Makeover at the Mayflower Renaissance

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The 85-year old Mayflower Renaissance DC hotel has had it’s share of notable guests (remember Monica Lewinsky and Eliot Spitzer?). The list got longer Saturday night with more glamorous names like Ewan McGregor, Ashley Judd, Dennis Quaid, Tory Burch, Kim Kardashian, and Bobby Flay.

The Grand Ballroom was instantly transformed for the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner after party hosted by Capitol File magazine, Renaissance Hotels and Bing. Here’s a video provided by the Mayflower Renaissance DC about the makeover.

Leave' em Laughing

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There’s probably no tougher room to play for a comedian than the Washington Hilton where hundreds gather for the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, with the guest of honor – the President of the United States – seated at your side.

And this year there’s no tougher act to follow than his own for Jay Leno, just months into his second stint as the host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” after a much-publicized tussle between the peacock network, Leno and Conan O’Brien.

So The Hill gathered some advice for the funny man from some fellow comedians as he preps for his hosting duties.

Quinn Gillespie/FD Kick Off The Glitz And Glamour

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Washington types have started warming up their party chops for the whirlwind weekend surrounding the WHCA Dinner. Quinn Gillespie & Associates and FD hosted a cocktail party Tuesday night at Public Bar. For more photos, check out The Washington Scene from The Hill.

Jack and Susanna Quinn
Photo: Neshan H. Naltchayan

CNN's Ed Henry
Photo: Neshan H. Naltchayan

Jack Quinn and FOX News' Bret Baier
Photo: Neshan H. Naltchayan

Obama Originals and Regulars Reunite at HBO Party

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“By the People,” the HBO documentary by Amy Rice and Alicia Sims, brought together top Obama campaign veterans and the press corps that followed them through the historic 2008 election for a backslapping, bear-hugging reunion at the newly renovated Motion Picture Association of America. HBO President Richard Plepler greeted top White House advisers Anita Dunn, Austan Goolsbee, Dan Pfeiffer, Sarah Feinberg, Bill Burton, Mike Blake, Dag Vega, and Washington’s newest Chicago import Susan Sher, the First Lady’s longtime friend and chief of staff.

The filmmakers’ Obama bus mates were well represented in the 80-plus crowd beginning with bestselling author Richard Wolffe, Obama “original” Juliana Goldman, Lynne Sweet, plus several campaign heavy hitters: Mike Allen, Mark Leibovitch, Jeff Zeleny, and David Jackson.

Representing the 2008 TV and pundit corps: Hilary Rosen, Jonathan Capehart, Betsy Fischer, and David Chalian.

The party went into overdrive when Reggie Love huddled with Richard Plepler; one line formed to take photos with Love and another to shake hands and schmooze with Plepler.

Washington’s elite came out to watch the HBO screening: Ben Bradlee, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, George and Liz Stevens, and Bob Barnett. And all eyes were on Barnett and the HBO chief, as they huddled over their upcoming projects.

Obama media man Jim Margolis and White House Communications Director Anita Dunn spoke after the screening, reminding the crowd that Rice and Sims joined the campaign in 2006.  And after an inspiring speech about the campaign, Margolis told how he meticulously prepared for commercial shoots at the critical campaign moment Rice and Sims were always present, whether it was around the campaign office or stepping in a the right moment to get the shot of the candidate who made history. Dunn said the film captured the special feeling of what it was like to work on the campaign and that “there will not be another campaign that was like the Obama 2008 campaign…people felt that they were a part of something much bigger than one individual.”

Reggie Love, who was always one step in front of or behind Obama in the film, attended the screening with two BlackBerry’s in hand, greeting many of those who spent hours covering the candidate or working on the campaign.  MSNBC’s Richard Wolffe, who made several appearances in the film, cheered and laughed along with his colleagues as the audience could see through the camera lens the sometimes quiet and sometimes frantic moments of the campaign.

For many it was a chance to relive the excitement of the campaign, for others it was to catch up with Obama people who are now running the country.

“By The People” premieres November 3rd at 9:00 p.m. ET on HBO.

Important Women Queen Rania, Indra Nooyi, Sarah Brown Focus on Maternal Health at NYC Dinner

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The Important Dinner for Women isn’t important because of the women who are there (though there were lots of important women there: Queen Rania, Indra Nooyi, Sarah Brown, Ann Curry, Susan Axelrod, Naomi Campbell, Wendi Murdoch, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Tyra Banks … the list goes on), but because of the important cause that brings them together.

Cindy Adams quotes Sarah Brown in her NY Post article:

“Women are more likely to die giving birth than to go to school. Women are considered zero. A woman’s only asset is her body. And each year half a million die in childbirth.”

Read the rest of Cindy’s article here: “Lovely ladies spotlight female mortality rate”

And check out some of the photos from the event:

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Team Obama Rocks the Stage

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Relase Party for the Beatles Rock Band

Release Party for the Beatles Rock Band

The Obama campaign team famously hung together in Chicago and reportedly spent what little “down time” there was available playing Rock Band.

Tuesday night looked like a campaign reunion with Katie McCormick Lelyveld on drums, Jon Favreau on bass, Jenny Cizner and Adam Frankel on vocals, and Katie Johnson on guitar at the Entertainment Software Association’s release party for the Beatles Rock Band video game.

At Gibson Guitar’s showroom in downtown D.C., politicos joined media mavens living the dream on the video game stage. The floor rocked when Viacom’s DeDe Lea (who revealed she was born 9 months after the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan show) and Senator Jim Webb’s Kim Hunter were joined by White House Visitors Office Director Ellie Schafer, Craig Hagen, Director of Governmentt Affairs, Electronic Arts and Rich Taylor from ESA. (And yes, he really did reenact Kanye West’s MTV awards show contretemps to the roar of the crowd.)

ROCKBAND The Beatles - Invite

Also stepping up to the microphone: Representatives Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Joe Crowley, who won rave reviews for their performance of Beatles favorites.

Rock Lighter ruled and there was no mention of health care.

Check out the rest of the photos here!

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Obama Protocol Chief Capricia Marshall Makes a State Splash

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Valerie Jarrett, Desiree Rogers Offer Support

Capricia Marshall and Family

Capricia Marshall and family with Sec. Hillary Clinton

The Ben Franklin Room of the State Department was filled with stars and stargazers, as well as family and friends, as Secretary Hillary Clinton presided over the swearing-in ceremony for her longest-serving aide, Capricia Penivac Marshall, as chief of protocol.

Marshall, the former Clinton White House social secretary and campaign veteran, came to Washington with the Clintons in 1992. Secretary Clinton shared a hilarious Inauguration story about Marshall being stuck outside the White House gate.

It wasn’t just Clinton friends. Top Obama pals Valerie Jarrett, Desiree Rogers, and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Chief of Staff Susan Sher, were there to pay tribute to the newest executive in charge of diplomatic activities for President Obama. Roger’s deputies Ebs Burnough and Joe Reinstein had a crowd of admirers lined up to say hello.

CLICK here to see Marshall’s official list of duties.

Marshall’s protocol team includes some Washington’s savviest veterans, including deputies Lee Satterfield and Dennis Cheng. Her team debuts on the world stage this month with one of the biggest diplomatic gatherings of the year: the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh.

Obama State Department Ambassadors Elizabeth Bagley (Global Partnerships) and Melanne Verveer (Global Women’s Issues) added their shine to the large crowd. Clinton family members, from mom Dorothy to daughter Chelsea, cheered for their close friend. Marshall’s 9-year old son Cole mugged and husband Rob Marshall looked shocked by Clinton’s shout out to him as “the best cardiologist in the world.”

Parents Frank and Mary Penavic beamed and assorted cousins from her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, watched the ceremony.

Former protocol ambassadors Lucky Roosevelt, Lloyd Hand, Lea Berman, Evan and Kit Dobelle joined former White House Social Secretary Ann Stock and veterans of other administrations in their own mini-reunion

Celebrity guests included: Greta Van Susteren and her husband John Coale, Mandy Grunwald, Janet Howard, Ann Orr, Claire Shipman, Michael Feldman, Melissa Moss and her husband Jonathan Silver.

Pam Stevens, once Condoleezza Rice’s press secretary and now press adviser to Ambassador Nancy Brinker and Race for the Cure, caught up with old friends as Betsy Fischer and other media types worked the room. New York’s fabulous event planner, and Marshall pal, Bronson Van Wyck drew his own crowd.

Terry McAuliffe had a double-barreled receiving line around him; no surprise there. He also hosted a Friday night gathering at his McLean home.

Check out the photo gallery:

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More Kastles Tennis — and Tennis Watchers

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Washington has an unlikely night spot: team tennis in downtown D.C. Kastles CEO Mark Ein hosts tennis great Billie Jean King during Serena Williams debut match while some of Washington’s power players — Larry Summers, Judy Woodruff, Al Hunt, Luke Russert, Michelle Fenty, Debra Lee, and Ray and Nina Benton — look on.

Washington Kastles Tennis Match from whcinsider on Vimeo.