Barbara Bush–one of former President George W. Bush’s twin daughters—spoke at the National Press Club today to talk about her global health organization, Global Health Corps. “Global health equity, ” is the goal of her NGO founded in 2008 and dedicated to both reducing the global health disparities and improving public health. Barbara, with input from her sister Jenna, founded the group, which sends recent college graduates on yearlong fellowships, after her travels and work in Africa. The luncheon was this Bush’s first event at the National Press Club and hosted many DC influentials beginning with her sister, Jenna and former FLOTUS Chief of Staff Anita McBride, Jean Case of The Case Foundation, Jessica Grounds and Susannah Wellford Shakow from Running Start, Jennifer Higgins, Capitol Health Group, Glamour’s Washington editor Linda Kramer Jenning, Emily Lawrimore from Senator John Barrasso’s office, USA Today’s Susan Page, and Politico’s Kiki Ryan. CLICK on press.org to watch, if you missed it on C-SPAN. Here are some photos:

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mmcknight DC, Washington Events Barbara Bush, Global Health Corps, National Press Club

Just in time for its 90th anniversary, the Miss America pageant has signed a deal to get back on network TV. Next year’s competition will air live on ABC on January 15, 2011.

The three-year agreement with ABC comes after the pageant’s nearly six-year absence from network TV due to record low ratings. Since 2004, the pageant had been aired on cable channels CMT and TLC.

Though happy with the deal, Sam Haskell, chairman of the Miss America Organization, declined to discuss the specifics.

“It’s a wonderful deal,” Haskell said to the Associated Press. “It’s much better than any deal we’ve had in the last five years.”

In light of the recent spat between Miss America and Miss USA, Haskell says that this deal will reposition the pageant to separate itself from its competitor, which is owned in a joint venture between Donald Trump and NBC.

“No little girl walks around saying, ‘I want to be Miss USA when I grow up.’ She says, ‘I want to be Miss America,’” said Haskell.

Read more about the agreement in The Washington Post.

abernson News Media ABC, Caressa Cameron, Miss America, Sam Haskell

One of the top communications specialists for democrats joins Erik Smith’s Blue Engine media team. Capps is married to White House Deputy Press Secretary, Bill Burton. Here is part of the release:

Blue Engine Message & Media is thrilled to announce that Laura Burton Capps has joined our strategic communications and issue advocacy team. Laura has spent fifteen years developing strategic communications and issue advocacy campaigns for the nation’s highest profile public officials, including President Bill Clinton, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Senator John Kerry’s presidential campaign, as well as leading academic and non-profit organizations. Laura has built a reputation as a respected advocate for environmental and climate issues through her most recent roles as Senior Vice President for Government Affairs and Communications for the Ocean Conservancy and as Communications Director for the Alliance for Climate Protection, the non-profit founded and chaired by Vice President Al Gore.

mmcknight News Media

Washington’s social reporters at Politico have proclaimed the first state dinner of Julianna Smoot’s Reign as White House Social Secretary a hit! Join all of Washington perusing the final guest list to figure out how they became the lucky few.

mmcknight News Media, Washington Events, White House Staff

Anita McBride is parlaying her extensive White House experience into the global business market.

APCO Worldwide President and CEO Margery Kraus announced today that McBride is now a member of the company’s International Advisory Council (IAC) and a senior counselor with Global Political Strategies (GPS).  McBride served as a former assistant to President George W. Bush and chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush among numerous other White House and government positions that spanned three presidencies.  Her extensive work with foreign policy and leaders makes her a perfect fit as part of APCO’s IAC which is comprised of “more than 50 recognized global leaders, including former elected politicians, leaders of business and industry, and academics at leading universities.”

Kraus said in a release today that, “Her uniquely high-level expertise on a range of domestic and international issues will be a valuable asset to our IAC and GPS teams and a considerable benefit to our clients.”

Read the full press release here.

WHC Insider News Anita McBride, APCO Worldwide

Has the celebrity aspect of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner gone too far?

Michael Getler, the independent internal critic, otherwise known as the “ombudsman” for the Public Broadcasting System, believes that it has. In a recent Ombudsman Column, Getler calls the dinner an “embarrassment, just one more brick on the pile that buries confidence in the U.S. press.” The dinner happened to take place on the same weekend that marked the passing of two long-time PBS public affairs shows: Bill Moyers Journal and NOW with host David Brancaccio.

Getler called it “Journalism’s Passing Parade” – do you agree? Share your comments.

WHC Insider WHCA Dinner Bill Moyers, David Brancaccio, Michael Getler, NOW, PBS, WHCA, WHCA Dinner, White House Correspondents Dinner

The 2010 Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize was awarded to Robert Greenstein, founder and executive director of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, on Thursday evening at a dinner ceremony at the Newseum.

Over 100 guests from the world of academia, government, journalism, think tanks and non-profit organizations gathered for the annual ceremony hosted by the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Also honored was Rebecca Blank, Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce, who was inducted as the Eleanor Roosevelt Fellow of the Academy.

The American Academy works to bring scholars and government officials together to improve the policy process. The prize is given to someone who is deemed to follow in the Moynihan tradition of drawing on data and evidence in making public policy that advances the human good.

Some of those helping to celebrate the honorees were MSNBC commentator Lawrence O’Donnell, Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, Mike McCurry, Jason Furman of the National Economic Council and his wife Eve Gerber, HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Greenberg, Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch, and OMB’s Katherine Wallman.

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WHC Insider Awards American Academy of Political and Social Science, Eve Gerber, Howard Fineman, Jason Furman, Katherine Wallman, Lawrence O'Donnell, Mark Greenberg, Mike McCurry, Moynihan Prize, Newseum, Rebecca Blank, Robert Greenstein, Tom Malinkowski

The grand tradition of the “Heart’s Delight” Vintners Dinner was lifted to another level Friday evening as guests raised their glasses to honor dinner Chairman Constance Milstein.

Milstein and her husband, Jehan-Christophe de La Haye Saint Hilaire, are long-time benefactors of the American Heart Association.

David Markiewicz, the Executive Vice President of the AHA, praised Milstein’s dedication and generous support of heart research, and highlighted the pivotal role she played in gathering the supporters at the annual event.

Milstein friend and President Obama’s HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Ambassador Capricia Marshall joined her at the table, as well as Ambassador of Monaco Gilles Norghes and his wife Ellen, and the new deficit czar Bruce Reed and his wife, Bonnie LePard.

CBS News White House Correspondent Bill Plante emceed the evening. The sparkly crowd included Betsey Apple, Dee Dee Myers and Todd Purdum, John Coale, the Washington Post’s new Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Kathleen Parker, ABC News’ reporter Jonathan Karl.

FOX News’ Bret Baier recounted his infant son’s multiple heart surgeries to the spellbound crowd (including his wife, Amy). The Baier’s family story inspired the wine auction that followed, raising some $50,000 for research.

The Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium was aglow as some 400 guests dined on a six-course meal accompanied by distinguished wines from Château Margaux.

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WHC Insider Awards American Heart Association, Betsy Apple, Bill Plante, Bret Baier, Bruce Reed, Capricia Marshall, Constance Milstein, Dee Dee Myers, Gilles Norghes, Heart's Delight, John Coale, Jonathan Karl, Kathleen Parker, Kathleen Sebelius, Todd Purdum

Get ready to pack the sunscreen.

The Republican National Committee announced today that the 2012 Republican National Convention will be held in Tampa-St. Petersburg once the site city agreement is fully negotiated and the full RNC votes for approval this August at its Summer Meeting.

“We are honored and privileged to accept the bid from Tampa, Florida to host the Republican National Convention in 2012. The host committee’s hard work and dedication resulted in a tremendous bid that we are confident will produce a successful event. The Tampa area boasts state-of-the-art facilities, exciting and vibrant downtowns, and a clear enthusiasm from the community to host our convention. We look forward to joining our compatriots in the Sunshine State for our convention in 2012,” said RNC Chairman Michael Steele.

POLITICO’s Mike Allen reported earlier today that top Republicans would recommend Tampa as the host city, beating out Phoenix, AZ and Salt Lake City, UT. The convention will be held the week of August 27, 2012.

Check out the full story.

WHC Insider News 2012, GOP, Mike Allen, Politico, Republican National Committee, Republican National Convention, RNC, Tampa

gtruong News Michelle Obama

Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist and co-author of “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” used his latest post to remind us all that Mother’s Day is more than just flowers and breakfast in bed.

The column names organizations that are helping to make motherhood safer including White Ribbon Alliance and CARE, part of the coalition that makes up Mothers Day Every Day.

The 2010 WHC Garden Brunch helped raised awareness for maternal mortality and the role mothers play in not only building families but in fostering communities worldwide.

Here is a video with some of the motherly advice shared by a few guests at the brunch.

Happy Mothers Day Every Day from whcinsider on Vimeo.

WHC Insider News CARE, Mothers Day Every Day, Nicholas Kristof, WHC Garden Brunch, White Ribbon Alliance

President Obama has announced Solicitor General of the United States, Elena Kagan as the nominee to fill the opening of retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

President Obama called Stevens a “consistent voice of reason” and said he believes Kagan will “ultimately provide that same kind of leadership on the Court.” Kagan, 50, is the first female Solicitor General and was the first female Dean of the Harvard Law School. Her nomination must be confirmed by the Senate.

Here she is last month at HBO’s screening of their documentary, Sergio.

gtruong News Elena Kagan, President Obama, Supreme Court

Move over Ryan Seacrest, ABC News’ Rick Klein and GQ’s Ana Marie Cox had the red carpet covered at the Washington Hilton for the 2010 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Check out the dynamic duo on ABCNews.com as they talked to folks from WH Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to Senator Scott Brown to Academy Award winning director Kathryn Bigelow.

WHC Insider Washington Ana Marie Cox, Kathryn Bigelow, Rick Klein, Robert Gibbs, Scott Brown

WHC Insider presents the first annual WHC Weekend Insider Awards to highlight the great deeds of the famous and infamous who came to Washington to party, schmooze, and most importantly – be seen – at the events surrounding the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.

It’s the biggest weekend in Washington, second only perhaps to Inauguration, which you clever kids know from civics class only comes once every four years (and without as many brunches).

So, here it is, the best of the fetes, as we scour the tables at the Washington Hilton to find someone not represented by Bob Barnett.

BEST OUTREACH BY A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL

Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. No one walks in LA, but apparently Hollywood hottie and “Entourage” star Adrian Grenier was making his way on foot to the Bloomberg/Vanity Fair after party when he was spotted by none other than Rahm Emanuel. The White House Chief of Staff’s brother, Ari Emanuel, was the inspiration for the high-strung, heavyweight agent portrayed by Jeremy Piven on the hit HBO show “Entourage.”

Rahm immediately had his motorcade pull over and Adrian hopped in. Now that’s taking it to the people!

Read more…

WHC Insider Awards Adrian Grenier, Anna Kendrick, Bloomberg, Bob Barnett, Boone Pickens, Bradley Cooper, Candice Crawford, Carol Blue, Carolyn Weyforth, Chace Crawford, Christopher Hitchens, Dan Pfeiffer, Elena Allbritton, Greta Van Susteren, Joe Mazzello, John Coale, Jon Meacham, Jonas Brothers, Katie Couric, Kim Kardashian, Matthew Morrison, Morgan Freeman, Politico, Rahm Emanuel, Robert Allbritton, Rosario Dawson, Sara Olson, Tony Romo, Vanity Fair, WHCA, WHCA Dinner, White House Correspondents Association Dinner

John McLaughlin began the post-WHCA Dinner Sunday brunch tradition, and this year was no different with the Thomson Reuters McLaughlin brunch.

Making a grand return to the rooftop of the Hay-Adams Hotel, with one of the most beautiful views of the White House, McLaughlin gathered notables like T. Boone Pickens, Dennis Quaid, and Wolf Blitzer. Georgette Mosbacher has been attending since 1988.

Previous brunch guests have included Vice President Dick Cheney, Tom Selleck, and Robert De Niro (while prepping for his role in “Wag the Dog”).

WHC Insider Washington Events Boone Pickens, Dennis Quaid, Dick Cheney, Georgette Mosbacher, Hay-Adams, John McLaughlin, McLaughlin Brunch, Robert De Niro, Thomson Reuters, Tom Selleck, WHCA Dinner