White House Correspondents Insider

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

First Lady Fields Questions From Kids

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Sasha and Malia weren’t there, but presidential pooch Bo was on hand while First Lady Michelle Obama entertained questions from a curious crowd of kids in the East Room. Executive Office employees brought their offspring to the event as part of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

The First Lady joked a few may have “read my bio” beforehand when asked about childhood obesity.

“Every First Lady defines their job based on what their interests and passion are,” Mrs. Obama explained. “For me the issues are healthy living for our kids.”

That includes limiting the number of snacks, to which one youngster said they only ate two snacks a day – Mrs. Obama approved.

As to how she was going to celebrate Earth Day, which also happens to be today, the First Lady said her daughter Sasha had brought home a few energy efficient light bulbs, so there would be some bulb changing taking place at the White House.

On a lighter note, Mrs. Obama said that Bo’s favorite toy was a big rope and “the game is, can you get it before he gets it?” and yes, she often wins. The kids gave a big “whoa” when they heard the girls have to get up at 6AM but Mrs. Obama got the last laugh: “They can get up later if they move faster.”

Defending Twinkies

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First Lady Michelle Obama is on the cover of the latest Newsweek magazine with a shiny red apple but last week she came to the defense of the Twinkie (the cream-filled sponge cake is apparently a favorite with the Obama girls).

The First Lady spoke with Newsweek’s editor Jon Meacham at the magazine’s Executive Forum in Washington about her Let’s Move initiative to fight childhood obesity.

She’s challenging grocery companies to rework their products and wants nutritional information put on food packaging that’s easier to understand. The First Lady draws a line at putting a warning label on Hostess Twinkies or Kellogg’s Froot Loops cereal but appeals to parents to use common sense when it comes to feeding their kids.

“I’m all in favor of good snacks. We grew up with snacks and chips. But we have to exercise more. Parents have to understand what’s in the Twinkie. So we don’t need a warning, we need information that’s easy to understand.”

The First Lady Defends Twinkies from whcinsider on Vimeo.

Is Washington Suffering from Journalist Dinner Overload?

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U.S. President Obama attends the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner in Washington.

President Obama at 2009 RTCA Dinner

President Obama in his speech to the RTCA got right to the heart of Washington’s journalist dinner rivalry, saying he was on hand to “Tell jokes that weren’t funny enough for me to use when we did this five weeks ago,” at the White House Correspondents’ dinner (known as the Senior Prom to the RTCA’s Junior Prom.) Then again, he said, twisting the knife deeper: “The jokes may not be as good but neither is the guest list.”

And later: “I think your programming is more relevant than ever before — at least that’s the impression that I get when I read the blogs.”

In his appearance before the Radio and TV correspondents at the Washington D.C. Convention Center, the President was unaccompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama on the orange and yellow rose-rimmed dais and he left at 9:20, before dinner was served. His short stay prompted some last-minute frantic juggling of the entertainment lineup, according to insiders. VP Biden wasn’t there, either, despite apparently erroneous earlier reports that he would attend. A spokeswoman said that he had a scheduling conflict.

Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, right after the speech, noted the President’s “sharp elbowed humor;” a few tweets from the dinner suggested that his humor was “underappreciated” by the audience. He cracked himself up several times, however.

The biggest laughs of the night came when he joked about embattled California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger competing on “I’m a Celebrity….Get Me Out of Here,” then added: “That’s how I feel about tonight.” The dinner, he said, was causing him to miss “date night” with Michelle, and his plans to go for Thai food-pause-“in Bangkok.”

A joke about being in bed with NBC’s Brian Williams, whom he called a terrible house guest, was followed by a list of new TV programs that the success of “Inside the White House” had inspired, the funniest of which was TLC’s “Jon & Kate plus Peter Orszag.”

5th Annual Moves Power Women Awards

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski

There was also a mild jab at NBC White House Correspondent Chuck Todd for having the style of a TV correspondent and “the facial hair of a radio correspondent.” To MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski, he said: “We both have partners named Joe who used to be in Congress and don’t know when to stop talking.” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, he noted, was “the only other man in America with his own situation room,” and it was cooler than the President’s, which he said, was unable “to generate the bandwidth to turn Larry Summers into a hologram.”

Random jokes poked fun at his own Administration, including Richard Holbrooke, whom he alleged sprayed WD-40 that caused Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s elbow-breaking fall. He announced a “new” plan to rescue the auto business, telling dinner guests to look under their seat, a la Oprah, because everyone was getting a car company. Fox, he said, would get AIG.

Looking relieved that his speech was over, the President ended his remarks with a serious tribute to the work of the press, noting “I am here tonight because I appreciate the role you do.” He got the traditional standing ovation at the beginning and end.

First Lady to Present Journalism Scholarships at White House Correspondents Dinner

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Michelle Obama to hand out scholarships to journalism students at WHCD while Jennifer Loven, WHCA Prez, cuts dessert and gives back money to DC food bank.

This year’s WHC dinner on Saturday, May 9, has a new feature.  First Lady Michelle Obama will personally hand out the annual awards that are funded by the White House Correspondents Association.  By eliminating dessert from the menu, Loven says they will pass on $23,000 in savings to a local charity.  The Washington Post’s The Sleuth, Mary Ann Akers reports.