White House Correspondents Insider

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

DC Media and Politicos Welcome Back Jill Hazelbaker

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Uber execs Todd Bowers, Megan Capiak, Crysten Glawe, Dave Barmore with the milkshake man from Captain Cookie and the Milkman Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media

Uber execs Todd Bowers, Megan Capiak, Crysten Glawe, Dave Barmore with the milkshake man from Captain Cookie and the Milkman, one of UberEATS’ most popular delivery places, Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media

Friends and colleagues gathered Tuesday night, September 13, to welcome Jill Hazelbaker, one of their own, back to Washington DC. Hazelbaker is currently Senior VP of Public Policy and Communications at Uber after longtime executive positions at SnapChat and Google. Hazelbaker had previously served as an aide to Sen. John McCain. Politicos, media, and techies gathered in the backyard of Tammy Haddad, the former site at the White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch, to catch up with Jill and enjoy food from UberEATS vendors.

Jill Hazelbaker, Michelle Lee, Niki Christoff, Cecilia Kang

Jill Hazelbaker, Michelle Lee, Niki Christoff, Cecilia Kang at Uber EATS Dinner

Among the guests were Greta Van Susteren, recently departed from FOX, and her husband John Coale. Guests like Facebook’s Erin Egan were talking about the 4 million viewers Susteren had from her most recent Facebook post. The link to Greta’s post is here.

Guests from the White House included Shailagh Murray, Deesha Dyer and Kirby Bumpus. Marty Baron, Editor of Washington Post was seen talking to former employee Cecilia Kang, now with the New York Times. Her colleague Jeremy Peters, Rick Klein, Betsy Fischer Martin, Robin Sproul, Kevin Cirilli and Craig Gordon rounded out the political journalists.  Hill favorites Heather Podesta, Juleanna Glover, Kimberley Fritts and Ron Bonjean were on hand.  Four Seasons Women Breakfast Club members Carol Melton, DeDe Lea were also in attendance.

Food for the gathering was provided by a variety of UberEATS vendors such as Mason Dixie Biscuit Co., Captain Cookie and the Milkman, Zombie Donuts, Ghibellina, Chaia, Hill Country BBQ, Buredo,  and The Chickery.

 

Forbes Most Powerful Woman Greta Van Susteren Scores Hillary Clinton Interview

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Greta Van Susteren won twice this week, first she was named one of Forbes most powerful women, and today with the announcement that she won the booking sweepstakes for an interview with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Van Susteren finally got a shout out for delivering the number 1 show at 10pm for 10 years against Anderson Cooper who had inches of ink on his various reporting exploits but never tipping the ratings scales in his direction.

Look for her interview with Fox anchor Bret Baier on day two of Clinton’s book tour which begins on Monday, June 9th.

Gretawire Continues to Dominate Forbes Power Lists

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John Coale, Greta Van Susteren, Kevin Spacey, Rep. Darrell Issa

Gretawire makes a comeback on the annual Forbes power list. Ranking in near her first spot from six years ago, Greta Van Susteren proves she’s still got it after fifteen years. The list of World’s Most Powerful Women runs from television, production and into global trade rather than the usual Washington politics.

Which means that she continues to dominate the airwaves and Twitter alongside ABC’s Diane Sawyer. It doesn’t come as a surprise after she stopped at the Garden Brunch to pose with “House of Cards”‘ resident rep Kevin Spacey or actual Californian Representative Darrell Issa above. As always, she keeps Gretawire humming faster than Hotline when it comes keeping touch with Capitol Hill.

When Scandal and White House Correspondents' Presidents Collide at The 20th Annual Garden Brunch

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President Fitzgerald Grant (better known as Tony Goldwyn) met White House Correspondents Association President Ed Henry today at The 20th Annual Garden Brunch. The ‘legendary’ meeting that crossed two universes went out earlier through a livestream that culminated (at the 2:37 mark) with remarks from co-hosts honoring the White House Correspondents’ Association, CURE Epilepsy and The Miss America Foundation. Taking place at the historic Beall-Washington House, where else would you expect the perfect blend of Washington media, Hollywood and tech influences like Uber’s Travis Kalanick, Revolution’s Steve Case or even a gold medalist like Gabby Douglas?

Attendees rounded through R Street into the horseshoe to be greeted with CURE iPhone covers and #STEM branded protractors to give a hint at why Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathmatics are being so vetted by the Miss America Foundation to strengthen education for young women. And it’s true, the Garden Brunch is full of “Things Beltway People Like.”

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At the brunch alone you could find Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery posing with “Homeland”‘s Morena Baccarin or Kevin Spacey shaking hands with Navid Negahban and MC Hammer.Then there were the entire cast of Netflix’s “House of Cards” while Gerard Butler of “Olympus Has Fallen” came to lift the spirits of the brunch patrons.

Greta Van Susteren and husband John Coale, whose announcement that she would not attend the WHCA dinner made headlines, was dragged over to the red carpet by Kevin Spacey. For those around it felt like a House of Cards moment when he commanded Greta to “Stand next to me.”

There were even appearences from White House officials like Valerie Jarrett, Gene Sperling, Alan Krueger Tina Tchen (and daughter Emma), FLOTUS chief of staff and her Communications Director Kristina Schake and Reggie Love. House Leader Eric Cantor came to present the CURE Heroes Award to Pat and Patty Horan, an Iraqi war veteran who suffers from seisures. Senator Joe Manchin and Representative Darrell Issa mingled in the crowd with media heavies Joanna Coles, Editor of Cosmopolitian Magazine, David Carr and Jeremy Peters of the New York Times, Chris Hughes of The New Republic, Patty Rockenwagner, from Conde Nast, Alex Korson and Louis Bergholz, of Morning Joe, Toure And during the remarks given by Brunch co-hosts Tammy Haddad and Hilary Rosen, Google’s Eric Schmidt and Internet Investor and Fundamental Physics Prize Founder Yuri Milner happened to be near stage right.

Angel Investor Ron Conway led the giving with a pledge of $5,000 to each of the causes as Mayor Ed Lee and Mayor Villaraigosa talking to Steve Case and other tech leaders including Joe Green who is leading Mark Zuckerberg’s new political efforts in Washington.

Check out some of our photos in the slideshow below:

Did Greta Start a Trend? The Hill Declares Less Glitz at White House Correspondents Dinner

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Special guests tweet "Let's find a Cure!"

First Greta Van Susteren announces she will not attend the 99th Annual White House Correspondents Dinner and now The Hill reports it will not be as star-driven. Here is Judy Kurtz report: “The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner — considered the glitziest and most buzzworthy event of Washington’s party season — appears to be a bit more low-key this year. Between the guest list absences of some of Hollywood’s brightest stars and a more subdued party scene, many folks working behind the scenes agree this year’s dinner will be decidedly more subdued. One shindig noticeably void from the soiree circuit this year is Funny or Die’s annual First Amendment Party. Last year’s high-caliber bash on the eve of the dinner had partygoers bumping and grinding at the event’s huge downtown space well into the wee hours of the morning.
The Hollywood Reporter, which last year held star-studded affair with Google at the W Hotel, is also ducking out of the Correspondents’ dinner limelight this time around. A publicist tells us “we aren’t doing anything this year.”

“I don’t know if it’s toned down or not,” Hollywood on the Potomac editor Janet Donovan said of the mood in town, “but it feels that way.” Donovan pointed to the lack of Anthony Weiner-sized headlines as a possible reason for the drop-off, saying that “perhaps because Hollywood celebrities are now more frequently in town, and we don’t really have a huge ‘five minutes of fame’ scandal-type this year.”

One veteran party planner, who wanted to remain anonymous so as not to upset clients, tells ITK that the nation’s capital could be suffering from presidential inauguration fatigue: “You know, we just had a major event in Washington. And then to have this, three months later almost to the day, and to do all the wrangling and all the huge productions again, it’s just kind of like — I think people will do it again big next year.” Fox News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren, who has brought head-turning guests such as Lindsay Lohan and Kim Kardashian to prior dinners, says she’s “taking a pass” on attending the fete this year. In a recent blog post, Van Susteren said she made another commitment out of town the weekend of the April 27 dinner. “I am sure everyone will have fun,” Susteren wrote, “it is the one day of the year that the media, politicians, entertainers etc. socialize together — but it can also be a bit exhausting as it is a 2½ day affair.” Donovan says Susteren’s tabloid-worthy guests always made for a colorful weekend, calling the time the “On the Record” host brought Ozzy Osbourne to the swanky dinner “one of the biggest celebrity gawking years.” Others tell ITK that political conventions and inaugural coverage broke the bank for many news organizations around town, allowing for fewer resources for the glam event. While big names such as Nicole Kidman, Jessica Alba and George Lucas are confirmed to attend as guests of various media companies — and there’s still time for more A-listers to be announced as VIP guests — the party planner tells ITK many celebs feel they’ve “done” the whole D.C. thing already: “If you look at the list of celebrities that have been here or attended since [President Obama has] been president, it’s like looking at an Academy Awards event. When they’ve been here once, they think they’ve checked the box.”

What about Kevin Spacey and the House of Cards cast? That’s glitz! Follow all the White House Correspondents Dinner action at WHCinsider.com

SEE YOU AT THE 2013 WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS GARDEN BRUNCH, GRETA!

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Greta’s classic invites include Ozzy Osbourne himself.


Greta Van Susteren stunned the Washington political media establishment by
telling Politico’s Dylan Byers that she will skip the White House
Correspondents Dinner this year but she made the brunch co-hosts very
happy. Van Sustern and her husband John Coale created some of the most
memorable moments since she switched careers from law to television. Her
2001 move (check year) to Fox News Channel was chronicled with the cover
of People and her show, On The Record, have been number 1 for “45 quarters.”

She told Dylan she won’t be attending and explained further at Gretawire. The reason? Supposedly this Washington Post article detailing this year’s guests.

Still, Greta has been a main stay at the WHCA Dinners of past. She’s the prime reason why Kardashians and Lohans show up:

Shawn Champan Holley, John Coale, Greta van Susteren, Kris Jenner and Lindsay Lohan

Greta is so instrumental she can make once-in-a-lifetime-shots like this happen:

Todd Palin, John Coale, Greta van Susteren, David and Susan Axelrod, Sarah Palin, Wendi and Rupert Murdoch

While she’s not attending the dinner this year, you can be sure she’ll be at our brunch on the day of the White House Correspondents Dinner. It’s not the same as the dinner–the brunch is much more loose and laid back when it comes to photos, off-the-record conversation and general fun. Of course, it’s invitation only. Like all the quality stuff in Washington.

This year, for the first time, the brunch is being held to raise awareness for the Miss America scholarship program. They’re devoted to STEM (or Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. Mallory Hagen, the 2013 Miss America and Miss New York, has engaged young women in STEM issues. Miss America Board Chairman Sam Haskell announced the STEM initiative before January’s broadcast on ABC:

“The Miss America Organization will work with national and community partners to create an unconventional approach to driving young women’s interest in STEM.

Our efforts coincide with the national momentum to teach STEM curricula outside traditional school settings, targeting female students who are currently underrepresented in STEM professions. Our hope is to help shift girls’ attitudes about STEM and boost the percentage of women employed in STEM-related industries. It’s not just the right thing to do, but is also the smart thing to do for America’s future and our economy.”

We continue to support the research efforts of CUREepilepsy and see their latest research at their site. We’re pleased to announce we will be broadcasting the brunch program live on Saturday April 27th.

VP Biden Surprises Axelrods at CURE Epilepsy Event

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CURE Epilepsy’s 2012 Key to the Cure event announced a new Slash The Stache campaign: CNN pundit and Purple Strategies’ own Alex Castellanos has volunteered to give up his moustache if he can bring in 500 more donors. At the event, co-hosted by Connie Milstein and JC de La Haye Saint Hilarie, Tammy Haddad and Susan & David Axelrod, David Axelrod started off remarks with a rhetorical question: “So what’s a mustache,” said Axelrod. “What’s a mustache mean? We got $1.1 million to remove it.”

Held at a private residence in Washington, D.C., Susan and David Axelrod, fresh from their Morning Joe appearance where he lost his iconic mustache, informed the assembled crowd about the DC campaign. “Alex called me and said ‘I’d be willing to join you in this Slash the Stache’ movement if that would be helpful. Tonight we announced on CNN if we can add another 500 donors to the 26 donors we added this month, he will shave his mustache off on CNN. Which, as Alex pointed out, for a Cuban is even harder than it is for me.”

Axelrod closed out his announcement by making way for a surprise guest: Vice President Joe Biden.

“He has great empathy for people who struggle,” said Axelrod in his introduction. “He came out and spoke at our dinner last year in Chicago. Everyone in that room felt like there was a family member there talking to them because he understood their struggles.”

“I came tonight,” said Vice President Biden, “because I think it’s appropriate to nominate Susan for the Nobel peace prize. Because it’s great to be at a bi-partisan event in Washington where everyone knows what to cut and who should pay for it.”

The Vice President went on to address the effects of epilepsy, including the fifteen million effected throughout the world by the disease along with 65,000 that perish from the disease. Referencing his own sister-in-law’s son, Vice President Biden described it as “not only a lightning storm in the brain, but a knife in the heart.”

“All you have to do is look in my sister-in-law’s eyes,” said Biden, “Look at this magnificent child and know there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop the seizure.”

Biden singled out the great scientific work of three top NIH doctors, Dr. Frances Collins, Dr. Story Landis and Dr. Tony Fauci. He also praised the “bi-partisan” efforts of Alex Castellanos in joining the DC Campaign. Washington veteran Heather Podesta is Castellanos co-chair of the new campaign.

Guests included Obama top aides Alan Krueger, Fred Hochberg, Alyssa Mastromonaco, Dan Pfeiffer, Jon Favreau, Ben Rhodes, Bruce Reed, Evan Ryan, Tony Blanken and Cody Keenan. Tech was well represented by Fred and Kim Humphries of Microsoft and Walt Mossberg of “All Things Digital.”The Defense Department’s Jeremy Bash and former Defense Department official Doug Wilson attended along with Dr Mark Dybul, the new head of the Global Fund for AIDs, Tuberculosis and Malaria. GOP Hill top aides Doug Heye (Cantor) and Michael (Boehner) and MK Steel were there to support the cause and Alex Castellanos. Media favorites Jonathan & Betsy Fischer Martin, Ed Henry, Bill Plante,Kimberly Dozier, Luke Russert, Gretel Truong, Kelley McCormick and Patricia Harrison, President of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Washington newcomer, New York Times Congressional reporter Jeremy Peters and partner, Dr. Brendan Camp were greeted by new Washington colleagues. Purple was well represented by Steve McMahon and Rob Collins.

You can watch the full video of the event including the Vice President’s remarks below:

Video streaming by Ustream

Friends and sponsors included Jim McGreevey, American Beverage Association, Dan Whyte, from Brookfield Renewable, Erik Smith from Blue Engine Message & Media, Microsoft, Walmart and American Airlines. Greta Van Susteren and husband John Coale were thanked for their support, friendship and co-sponsoring the event.

David Greenberg was the lucky 11 year old boy along with babysitter Lauren Campbell who were given a ride home by the Vice President in his motorcade!

The Starts Align at WH Correspondents' Dinner Garden Brunch

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Georgetown was the center of the action today as Hollywood stars Lindsay Lohan, Matthew Morrison, and Chase Crawford joined political stars Valerie Jarrett, Gov. Jerry Brown and Haley Barbour and media hot shots Willie Geist, Greta van Susteren, and Arianna Huffington to support the White Ribbon Alliance and CURE Epilepsy at the 19th annual White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch.

Lindsay Lohan arrived with Greta van Susteren & John Coale, Kris Jenner and lawyer Shawn Chapman Holley and guests lined up to meet her and shake hands.  After listening to the speeches, Lohan wowed the young volunteers who lined up for photos.

Hosted by Tammy Haddad, Kevin Sheekey, Hilary Rosen, Clarke Camper, Mark Ein, Alex Castellanos, Anita Dunn, Bill Knapp, David Adler, Steve McMahon and Franco Nuschese, guests strolled through Ein’s home and marveled at all the star power.

Spotted in the crowd were Bob Barnett and Elle Macpherson, Kris Jenner, Kate Hudson, Kerry Washington, Tim Daly and Woody Harrelson.

Hosain Rahman from Jawbone donated super-hot Jamboxes to anyone who made a significant donation to White Ribbon Alliance or CURE.  Elle Macpherson used her supermodel moxy to quiet the crowd as she, Rosario Dawson and Willie Geist presented the Jamboxes to the lucky donors including Bret Baier, Steve Schmidt and Steve Clemons.

Also honored at the event were Steve and Jean Case for their innovation and philanthropy and Susan Axelrod for her tireless work to find a cure for epilepsy.  GOP power house Alex Castellanos moved the crowd with his speech about Lauren Axelrod’s struggle with relentless seizures.  Both Susan and David Axelrod had tears in their eyes as Alex recounted the family’s battle with their daughter’s illness.

Steve and Jean Case accepted their award from NYSE Euronext’s Clarke Camper with a beautiful reminder that everyone has the power to help people in need.

You can watch the program from the Garden Brunch tonight on C-SPAN prior to the live broadcast of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Greta and John bring LiLo to WHCD

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Another Van Susteren WHCD first: Kim Kardashian in 2010

Greta Van Susteren and her husband, attorney John Coale have won the booking sweepstakes this year by scoring Lindsay Lohan as their guest for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.   Since her move to Fox 10 years ago, Greta has been wowing Washington insiders and making headlines by snagging the hottest guests.

It was a scene like none other when President George W. Bush, at his first dinner mentioned Greta and John’s guest, Ozzy Osbourne, who was at the height of his reality show fame.  Last year, Van Susteren surprised everyone by bringing Sarah Palin to the WH Correspondents’ Dinner to mingle with the “gang of 600”, the top politicos and policymakers, something no one ever thought would happen.

Van Susteren has had the number 1  show on Fox for 10 years, and  never shies away from a controversy or a question.

Here is how FishbowlDC broke the big story.

Van Susteren and Coale to attend Kardashian Wedding

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Kim Kardashian, Greta Van Susteren and John Coale at the 2010 WHC Garden Brunch

The White House Correspondent’s Dinner has a history of building relationships.  In 2010, Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren brought Kim Kardashian to the weekend full of festivities.  Having kept in touch,  Greta and her husband, John Coale received an invite to the upcoming wedding of Kardashian to NBA player Kris Humphries this weekend in California.

Coale told POLITICO “Should be a real hoot!”

Another famous DC duo are also reportedly in Cali to do some baking for the wedding.