White House Correspondents Insider

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

“The White House Plumbers” Return to The Watergate

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The Watergate Hotel became ground zero once again this time for HBO’s actors, producers, and crew to recreate the break-in orchestrated by President Richard Nixon’s Watergate plumbers, with G. Gordon Liddy portrayed by Washington native Justin Theroux and E. Howard Hunt played by Woody Harrelson.

Justin Theroux as G. Gordon Liddy and Woody Harrelson as E. Howard Hunt, set in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Theroux and Harrelson flank Judy Greer as Mrs. Frances Liddy and Lena Headey as Mrs. Dorothy Hunt.

From HBO:  “Based in part on public records and the book Integrity by Egil “Bud” Krogh and Matthew Krogh, the five-part limited series The White House Plumbers will tell the true story of how Nixon’s own political saboteurs and Watergate masterminds, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, accidentally toppled the presidency they were trying to protect.”

David Bernad, executive producer of the HBO hit “White Lotus,” developed the show with “Veep” writers Peter Hyuck and Alex Gregory. David Mandel, executive producer of “Veep” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” is also an executive producer and the director of all “White House Plumbers” episodes. Frank Rich of “Succession” and “Veep” fame is also an Executive Producer.

HBO “The White House Plumbers” Executive Producer and Director Dave Mandel reunites with “Veep” consultant Tammy Haddad while shooting at the Old Executive Office Building

“The White House Plumbers” producers, writers, and crew on site-survey for Lincoln Memorial sequence

“The White House Plumbers” actor Ike Barinholtz, consultant Tammy Haddad, and G. Gordon Liddy star Justin Theroux with rescue Kuma on the roof of The Watergate

Justin Theroux as G. Gordon Liddy and Woody Harrelson as E. Howard Hunt with Dannia Hakki at Prettyman Courthouse

White House Plumbers Show Jacket

Former HBO Films president and show producer Len Amato and Justin Theroux on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House.

Axios and HBO Team Up for News Series

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Axios’ Mike Allen interviewing Assistant to the President, Ivanka Trump.

Washington-based news media startup Axios has partnered with premium television network HBO for a new series that, according to a statement from Axios’ Mike Allen, who just last week scored a rare interview with First Daughter Ivanka Trump, “will feature breaking news, interviews with the world’s most influential leaders, and short documentaries on the topics that matter most.”

The limited run series, out this fall, will be covering the midterm elections across America as well as “politics, technology and culture with a combination of breaking news, short documentaries and high-profile interviews.”

Producers of the series include broadcaster Perri Peltz and filmmaker Matthew O’Neill. Axios CEO Jim VandeHei said in a statement, “The world needs new, smarter ways to better understand the dominant personalities and definitive trends changing politics, business, technology and our lives.”

While the premiere date is still TBD, you can sign up for the Axios AM newsletter for more updates about the show here.

Gary Cohn Talks Life After the White House, Addresses Peter Navarro Comments at Washington Post Live

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Gary Cohn, the former economic advisor to Donald Trump, spoke with Washington Post White House economic policy reporter Damian Paletta on Thursday, June 14th to discuss the legacy of his tax reform bill, Peter Navarro’s explosive comments at the G7, trade, infrastructure, and what’s next for the former Goldman Sachs CEO.

Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan kicked off the discussion saying “Gary Cohn has had a remarkable career and has stepped down from his position at the pinnacle of wall street and government finance to answer the call of government service.”

Gary Cohn says that the chance to serve in the White House was “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” On his signature achievement at the White House, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, he said, “There was a moment every day where we thought this was going to fail.”

When asked by Paletta whether or not he thought the bill will eventually be revenue neutral, Cohn answered, saying “I’m going to make a bit on news here: It won’t be revenue neutral,” and suggesting that it would be either positive or negative depending on how the economy performs.

Paletta asked Cohn for his response to Peter Navarro’s incendiary comments suggesting there was a “special place in hell” for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by saying, “It was inappropriate and uncalled for. And it’s not his job.”

 On his time in the White House alongside fellow advisors Steve Bannon, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Cohn said, “Last year was the best year of my life.” When asked if the facts always won out in the Oval Office, Cohn replied, “I may not comment on that!”

Paletta asked Cohn if he could see himself coming back to work in this administration in a different role. Cohn said, “I can see myself coming back to Washington,” prompting cheers from the crowd.

Other highlights included Cohn thinking his nickname, “Globalist Gary” was “kind of a flattering name,” and suggesting that he knew of some CEOs that would make for great presidents. He also claimed that Trump’s tweets “100 percent” affect investment markets. As for his plans going forward, Cohn plans to spend more time with his family and also that, “At this stage of my life I’d like to go and do something more unique.”

Washington Celebrates Bret Baier at Three Days in Moscow Book Party

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Bret Baier’s newest book is already creating buzz. On Monday evening, an A-list of Washington politicos descended on the Marriott Marquis at the invitation of co-hosts David & Carrie Marriott and Ande & Mae Grennan for a reception celebrating Fox News Anchor Bret Baier’s new book, Three Days in Moscow: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Soviet Union.

Bret and Amy Baier were joined by Kellyanne Conway, Attorney-General Jeff Sessions and Mary Sessions, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and Hilary Ross, and Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao.

Marriott Executive Chairman Bill Marriott and wife Donna entertained guests alongside their son and daughter-in-law in the hotel’s Liberty Ballroom.

Fox News Anchor Chris Wallace mingled with National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow before Baier gave his remarks.  He discussed key moments in the book and told previously unheard stories about the Reagan family, including a humorous account of Nancy Reagan saving longtime White House Correspondent Helen Thomas from a flash mob in Moscow. When Secret Service agents formed a protective circle around the First Lady, she spotted Helen in the crowd, pointed to her, and exclaimed, “She’s with us!”

The reception kicked-off a two-week national book tour, which concludes just before the author heads to Singapore to cover the much-anticipated U.S.-North Korea summit.

Guests included Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Azerbaijani Ambassador Elin & LaLa Suleymanov, Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar, Kuwaiti Ambassador Salem & Rima Al-Sabah, Barbara Allbritton, Heather Podesta, Kay Kendall and Jack Davies, Janet Donovan, Willie and Finlay Lewis, and Ryan Williams.

Washington Media Women Toast Tina Brown

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Time Warner’s Carol Melton and Gail MacKinnon from the Motion Picture Association lead a toast to Superstar editor and author Tina Brown at The Jefferson Hotel in Washington DC. Photo courtesy Haddad Media

Journalist, entrepreneur and author Tina Brown delighted the crowd gathered at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington Tuesday evening, dishing about her experiences as a magazine editor-in-chief, highlighted in her newest book, The Vanity Fair Diaries.

Connie Milstein, Carol Melton, Andrea Mitchell, Hilary Rosen, Gail MacKinnon, Rachel Pearson and Kathy O’Hearn hosted the book party. The biggest applause of the evening came during the Q&A session led by Tammy Haddad, where she was asked her working around men accused of sexually harassing women, including Harvey Weinstein.

“The answer to creepy men is to kind of be the boss, right?… [T]he more women in power, the more women who are leading, the more women on that team, the less of these creepy, stalking harassers you’re going to encounter… I’ve been hassled in other ways, in terms of feeling like so many women feel: cut out of the action that I wanted to be in or underestimated or demeaned or whatever. I’ve had a lot of that in my career,” Brown responded.

Guests included Chris and Lorraine Wallace, former House member Jane Harman, Mac McLarty, Kevin Baron, Megan Smith, Craig Gordon, John Coale, Martha Slagle, Peter Baca, Lloyd Hand, John Phillips, Linda Douglass, Robin Sproul, and Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar.

“You’ll all be in my next ‘Diaries,’” she toasted party attendees near the end of the evening. “So watch out!”

You can read more about Tina’s book and the event in the Washington Post’s write-up of the celebration here.

Brown’s newest book, The Vanity Fair Diaries, was named one of the best books of 2017 by Time, Amazon and The Guardian.  It is available in print, Kindle or audiobook on Amazon.

House of Cards Resumes Production on Sixth Season Without Kevin Spacey

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Michael Kelly, star of House of Cards. Photo courtesy Haddad Media

The political drama House of Cards will return for a final eight-episode season in early 2018 without actor Kevin Spacey.

Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos announced Monday that the sixth season of the show will feature Robin Wright.

“We are excited to bring closure to fans,” Sarandos said.  “We’re excited for the 370 people who make ‘House of Cards’ and have done the best work of their lives on that show; for the 2,000 people in Baltimore who have come to depend on that show for their jobs. And so we’re really excited that we were able to come to a good creative conclusion to the show.”

Late October, actor Anthony Rapp told Buzzfeed News that Spacey had tried to sexually assault him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 years old.  Several others then came forth with additional allegations of sexual misconduct by Spacey, including more than 20 people at the Old Vic theater in London, where Spacey was artistic director from 2004 through 2015.

In early November, Netflix severed ties with Spacey.

“Netflix will not be involved with any further production of ‘House of Cards’ that includes Kevin Spacey,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement on November 3.  “We will continue to work with [Media Rights Capital] during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the show.”

During the first five seasons of House of Cards, Spacey played the character of Frank Underwood, a ruthless Southern politician that ultimately ascends to the White House.  Wright plays Claire Underwood, Frank’s wife.  At the end of season five, Frank resigned from the presidency in disgrace and Claire became president.

Disney Ends Ban on Los Angeles Times Film Critics After Media Backlash

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Photo courtesy Pixabay

Amidst significant media backlash, the Walt Disney Company has reversed its decision to ban film critics with the Los Angeles Times from press screenings of its films.

Disney said in a statement:

“We’ve had productive discussions with the newly installed leadership at the Los Angeles Times regarding our specific concerns, and as a result, we’ve agreed to restore access to advance screenings for their film critics.”

The Walt Disney Co. had revoked the Times’ access to all press briefings, an ABC website for journalists and other media events following a September story in the paper titled “Is Disney paying its share in Anaheim?” which focused on the company’s business ties with the city of Anaheim.  Disney had considered the story to be unfair, and blacklisted the newspaper following its publication.

In response to the blacklisting, several individual journalists, film critics and media outlets ranging from The New York Times, Washington Post and The A.V. Club announced their own boycotts of advance screenings of Disney films.

The A.V. Club’s A. A. Dowd wrote that the outlet took exception with Disney’s strong-arm tactics.

“It’s a dangerous precedent that Disney is setting: Write an unfavorable story—one that Disney hasn’t disputed factually, even—and it will blacklist your publication, punishing independent journalism by using its massive corporate influence. And it’s one that we similarly can’t abide. The A.V. Club will follow [Washingont Post film critic Alyssa] Rosenberg’s lead and—effective immediately—we will refrain from attending any press screenings of Disney movies, at least until the company rescinds its ban on The Los Angeles Times. “

Film critic groups had also voted to disqualify Disney films from award nominations.  In a release, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics jointly announced their decision, wherein “all four critics’ organizations have voted to disqualify Disney’s films from year-end awards consideration until said blackout is publicly rescinded.”

The Walt Disney Co. has enacted punitive action against news organizations and analysts in the past for publishing pieces the company deemed unfair.  Press liaisons have told journalists several times that access to Disney executives and film previews is “a privilege and not a right.”

“A powerful company punishing a news organization for a story they do not like is meant to have a chilling effect,” The Times said. “This is a dangerous precedent and not at all in the public interest.”

Spicer Regrets Arguing With Reporters Over Inauguration Crowd Size

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James Brady Press Briefing Room. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer regrets berating journalists during his first White House press briefing in January.  During this session, Spicer had aggressively asserted the inauguration crowd size was the largest ever.

“Of course I do, absolutely,” Spicer admitted during an interview Monday with the New York Times.

During the first official appearance in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, Spicer announced that “[t]his was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period.  Both in person and around the globe.”

Photos and videos of the inauguration showed fewer people gathered on the National Mall than for former President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration.  Additionally, Nielsen data suggests the television audience for the Trump inauguration fell below numbers for both Presidents Reagan and Obama.

Spicer made a surprise guest appearance at the Emmys on Sunday to make fun of this notable first briefing.  Appearing at the end of Stephen Colbert’s opening monologue, the former press secretary emerged on stage pushing a mobile podium similar to one used by Melissa McCarthy in a popular Saturday Night Live skit.

“This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period.  Both in-person and around the world,” Spicer responded to Colbert.

“This was an attempt to poke a little fun at myself and add a little bit of levity to the event,” Spicer explained during in his interview with the New York Times.

CONGRATS! Veep Wins “Best Comedy”, Julia Louis-Dreyfus Makes Emmy History

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Veep billboard in Times Square. Photo courtesy Ron Cogswell.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus scored Emmy history Sunday night by winning “Best Actress in a Comedy Series” for the sixth consecutive year in a row.  In addition, the smash HBO series Veep, wherein Louis-Dreyfus plays ex-President Selina Meyer, took the top award for Outstanding Comedy Series for the third year in a row.

“We had a whole story line about impeachment, but we abandoned that because we were worried someone else may get there first,” Louis-Dreyfus said in her acceptance speech.  “This continues to be the role of a lifetime and an adventure of utter joy.”

In winning Best Actress this year, Louis-Dreyfus now holds the record for most Emmys won by an actor in the same role.  That distinction had been held by both Candice Bergen, who won top recognition five times for her landmark character Murphy Brown, and historic Don Knotts for his portrayal of Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show.

Louis-Dreyfus is now also tied with the legendary Cloris Leachman for most Primetime Emmys wins by a single performer.  Both women have won eight Emmys.

“I don’t know what to say about it other than I’m numb,” Louis-Dreyfus noted after the awards ceremony.  “I can’t believe it.  I adore Cloris Leachman.  All I think about is her in Young Frankenstein going ‘He was my boyfriend.’  I’m just incredibly honored and amazed this has happened to me.  It’s all very baffling and a sh—ton of good luck.”

Louis-Dreyfus beat out other supremely talented actresses for the top billing in comedy:  Better Thing’s Pamela Adlon, Black-ish’s Tracee Ellis Ross, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Ellie Kemper, Grace and Frankie’s co-leads Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, and Mom’s Allison Janney.

Her series Veep also rocked the evening by taking home their third consecutive “Outstanding Comedy Series” Emmy.

Executive producer David Mandel joked about the comparison between his award-winning comedy series and the real-world White House.

“I guess I’m honestly just glad that in our world Selina lost so we get to do our own show.  Obviously the comparison is going to be drawn, but you’re not watching us do a scene in the Oval Office and then watching him do a scene in the Oval Office.  He ends up being the 30 Rock to our Studio 60.  I think they’re doing a better job being funnier,” Mandel said backstage at the awards ceremony.

The Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series faced tough competition from other fantastic shows this year, including HBO’s Silicon Valley, ABC’s Modern Family, FX’s Atlanta, Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, ABC’s Black-ish and Netflix’s Master of None.

Veep went into the evening as this year’s most nominated comedy series, with 17 total Emmy bids.  The show has been a nominee for best comedy series every year since its first season in 2012.

HBO announced earlier this month that Season Eight of Veep will be its last.  The final season will air in 2018.

Comedy Central Extends Trevor Noah’s Contract Through 2022

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Photo courtesy Comedy Central.

Earlier today, Comedy Central and Trevor Noah announced that they have agreed to a contract extension to keep the popular comedian and television host behind the late night desk on the Emmy-winning smash The Daily Show with Trevor Noah through 2022.

President of Comedy Central Kent Alterman celebrated the announcement stating, “Trevor makes us look smart on a daily basis, and for that we’re grateful.”

Similarly, Trevor Noah expressed his gratitude to the network and his fans for helping bring another five years of his late-night show to the airwaves.

“I’m thrilled to be continuing this amazing journey with both fans of The Daily Show and Comedy Central.  It’s really exciting to renew this contract for either five more years or until Kim Jong Un annihilates us all – whichever one comes first.”

Under the contract extension, Noah will remain as host at The Daily Show through 2022, in addition to his roles of writer and executive producer.  He will also host and produce year-end specials for the network beginning in December 2017.

Noah has found outstanding success since joining the network in 2015, especially among millennial and Generation X viewers.  In the third quarter of 2017, The Daily Show increased its viewer share among millenials an astounding 28% compared to last year, more than triple the growth of any other late night talk show.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah airs on Comedy Central Monday through Thursday at 11:00 PM EST and is available to stream the following day on thedailyshow.com and via the Comedy Central mobile app.