It was an 80s flashback at the Ronald Reagan Building, fully equipped with glow bracelets, Atari games, giant dangling Rubik’s cubes, and breakdancers busting moves to a cover band. Not a bad way for Fred Ryan, President and CEO of Politico and Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and GE Chairman and CEO, Jeff Immelt, to get a party started. Add in Tom Brokaw and Andrea Mitchell and you have a Washington style party to celebrate the Centennial birthday of the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.
Jeff Immelt
Thanks to the new GE ads, we remember Reagan as a Hollywood heartthrob and popular host of General Electric Theater, which aired on CBS radio and television. GE honored their beloved star with a party and conversation on Wednesday. Jeff Immelt reminisced about starting with the company back in 1982 while Reagan was in office (Immelt’s father worked at GE, too).
NBC’s Tom Brokaw moderated the panel discussion and aside from interviewing the president several times, shared a birthday with him: February 6. Panelists included Politico’s Mike Allen, CNN Sam Feist, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Reagan White House Staffer Ed Meese, and former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer.
Reagan was remembered as “The Great Communicator “ and Fleischer did not doubt the president could still wear the title in today’s media environment. “If Ronald Reagan had a Twitter account he would know what to say in 140 characters or less.”
Reagan only needed four words to go down in history. Ed Meese recalled how anotherspeechwriter, Peter Robertson, told the president that “tear down this wall” was too strong and the State Department would not be happy with the phrase. Reagan insisted, telling Mr. Gorbachev and the rest of the world to knock down the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987, essentially the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
The Reagan Library has more information on centennial celebrations taking placethroughout the country.
Check out photos from the party and panel discussion below:
Gordon Brown, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and wife Sarah, were in Washington this weekend to launch his U.S. book tour. The Browns were greeted by top politicos, global financial leaders and media types at a stately affair held at the Jefferson Hotel. The party was co-hosted by long-time friends Connie Milstein, owner of the Jefferson Hotel and her husband, J.C. de La Haye St. Hilaire, and Ted Greenberg & Tammy Haddad.
Brown charmed the A-plus crowd, including the Obama Administration’s David and Susan Axelrod, Austan and Robin Goolsbee, Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley, Bill Burton andLaura Burton Capps, Stephanie Cutter, Bruce Reed, Eric Lesser and Katie McCormick Lelyveld, as he had a little fun describing his post PM life as well as giving his assessment of the global economy.
Here are Brown’s comments as reported by Politics Daily on AOL –
“In brief remarks, Brown — among the first world leaders to rescue troubled banks at home in 2008 — warned that “for the time in 200 years, America and Europe are being out-produced, out-invested, out-traded and out-exported” by other nations, and that the solution to the global crisis was to tap into a billion middle class consumers in Asia who in 10 years will have twice the buying power as Americans.”
Brown repeated that same message on ABC News “This Week with Christiane Amanpour” saying that while Asia and China had to consume more, “Europe’s got to reform its markets. America is prepared to invest in the future, while doing its fiscal consolidation. And that would mean, in my view, that you would have this exit strategy from a crisis based on high growth and high employment and not low growth and what I fear is high unemployment for a decade.”
The former prime minister — who earlier in his career spent a decade as finance minister — warned that the immediate danger “is that people cut back in education, which is vital for the future, that people cut back on their international contacts, because they think the solutions lie in national answers to their problems, when they lie in global cooperation. And I think the danger is, you have a ’30s-style protectionism where people relapse into currency wars, as we’re seeing, or trade wars or banning takeovers that have got cross-border ramifications, or simply a protectionism in of the mind, where anti-immigrant sentiment gets to the point that we’re not really talking to each other in a way that means that we have a coordinated world.”
A crowd formed around media celebrities including new CNN host Piers Morgan and his wife Celia Walden, Arianna Huffington and Glee’s Matthew Morrison.
Notables in the crowd: Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director of World Bank; Ambassador Capricia Marshall; Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell; Terry McAuliffe; Rima al Sabah, Bob Barnett and Rita Braver; Bruce and Bonnie Reed; Robert and Ellen Bennett; Hilary Rosen and Kate Harold; Sam and Danielle Feist; Dan and Rhoda Glickman; Shelby Coffey; Anita McBride; Sally Quinn; NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, and the BBC’s Rome and Amy Hartman.
“Beyond the Crash” is published by Free Press/Simon & Schuster.
Hundreds gathered at the Newseum Wednesday evening to recognize the scientific work of CURE Epilepsy, raise awareness, and to honor 2010 Friend of CURE Awardee, longtime television producer and WHCInsider’s own Tammy Haddad.
Susan Axelrod, Chair and founding member of Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, was on hand to mark the special occasion. Axelrod and Connie Milstein, CURE supporter and noted philanthropist, co-hosted the event.
Connie Milstein, a CURE board member, announced the Axelrod Milstein Challenge Grant. It is a $500,000 two-year program. CURE Challenge Grants are CURE’s most prestigious, and fuel the much needed research to find the key to the cure of this dreaded disease.
“Susan works tirelessly to find a cure for epilepsy and seizure disorders. Like many families across the world, the Axelrods live with this disease every day, but their work, their strength, and their optimism give hope to so many, as they fight and live for a cure,” said Milstein.
Susan Axelrod described the lack of progress and the difficult research road ahead: “With so many troops returning from war with traumatic brain injuries and epilepsy, the need is more urgent now.”
Axelrod, along with her husband David, was desperate to find answers when their own daughter Lauren was diagnosed with uncontrollable epilepsy at 7 months old. Twelve years ago, CURE was founded by Axelrod and two other mothers around a kitchen table. Many members of the CURE family were on hand last night and gathered on stage for a group photo and greeted with a round of applause.
The room was a living tribute to CURE and Ms. Haddad, as devoted friends from both sides of the aisle raised a glass to what many have called a “force.” Haddad used her annual White House Correspondents Weekend Brunch to raise awareness for CURE after seeing Susan and Lauren Axelrod on the cover of PARADE magazine, and later on NBC’s The Today Show.
“I chased her down for weeks to get her to host the Correspondents Brunch because I wanted to help. Here was a chance to use a HUGE platform for an important message,” said Haddad. “What did she tell us? No parent, no child, no family — no person should have to suffer and experience the pain of epilepsy. That is her goal…and since she is unstoppable we know she will reach that goal.”
Cabinet appearances by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Dr. Howard Koh, NIH’s Story Landis and Dr. Tony Fauci.
The audience roared as a video roast of Haddad began with David Gregory anchoring a “Meet The Press” open lamenting the lack of agreement on anything in Washington except in friendship and respect for Haddad. Also in the video: ABC’s Jake Tapper from the White House, Greta Van Susteren and John Coale. Jon Meacham roasted the longtime network and cable news producer by reminding the audience that Christopher Buckley put her in his novel “Thank You for Smoking.” Haddad’s former MSNBC’s colleagues, the “Morning Joe” team – Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist, Mark Halperin and Harold Ford taking turns trying to figure out what award Haddad hadn’t won yet while praising her work for CURE.
The surprise ending was a song written and performed for Haddad by Glee superstars Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch.
Among those there to help celebrate: Rima al Sabah, the Kuwaiti Ambassador’s wife; British Ambassador to the US Nigel and Julia Sheinwald; AFT President Randi Weingarten; Tom Oliphant, Mary Louise Oates and Robert Shrum.
Politicos aplenty including Bloomberg’s Kevin Sheekey, Joel and Lisa Benenson, Jim Margolis, Susan Sher, Stephanie Cutter, Julianna Smoot, Dan Pfieffer, Eric Lesser and Jen Psaki.
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard fresh from a Supreme Court appearance, along with crowd favorite Terry McAuliffe; Tony and Heather Podesta; Podesta Group CEO Kimberly Fritts and hubby, Marion Turner; Holly Page; Bruce Reed and Bonnie LePard.
Media biggies included Wolf Blitzer, Howard Fineman and Amy Nathan, Lynn Sweet, Betsy Fischer (producer of the surprise video), Andrea Mitchell, Gloria Borger, Roger Simon, Annie Groer and Hilary Rosen.
Both republican and democratic political operatives included Bob Stevenson, Jane Oates, Dan Meyers, Erica Elliot, Rich Galen and Tom Synhorst.
Designed by Jacquie Bloom, the Newseum’s Knight Center was aglow in CURE red. Guests enjoyed the pomegranate martini ice luge and the ice cream sundae bar.
CURE is in the middle of their Every Dollar Counts Every seizure Matters campaign. To donate CLICK on CUREEpilepsy.org.
2010 WHC Garden Brunch: Story Landis, Susan Axelrod, David Axelrod
While at the 2010 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch, guests were asked to share the best advice from their mother in honor of Mothers Day Every Day and CURE Epilepsy.
Some of the answers from the media, business, and political elite who stepped across the lawn at the 18th annual brunch are posted below – and be sure to WATCH the video of the tribute to two important causes which affects the lives and health of families all across the globe: maternal mortality and epilepsy.
Susan Axelrod, Founder & Chair of CURE Epilepsy spoke from the heart about the disease and the desperate need to support research and find a cure. Axelrod, the honorary co-chair of the brunch, was joined on stage by “Glee” star Matthew Morrison, People’s cover boy Chace Crawford, and HBO’s “The Pacific” star Joe Mazzello, as well as the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, who showed their support for CURE Epilepsy and MDED by signing a giant Mother’s Day card.
CHERYL HINES: My mom taught me to have fun in life. That’s what it’s about!
RUPERT MURDOCH: My mother told me to look after my sisters!
DANA DELANEY: Tell the truth – it’s easier to remember
STEVE WEBER: Swallow your spit
SUSAN SHER, First Lady’s Chief of Staff: 1. Always wear lipstick 2.
It’s just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor man. (I followed neither.)
WOLF BLITZER: Do the best you can!
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: Be fearless!
NICK JONAS: Treat women with respect!
JOE JONAS: Coins are not edible!
DEMI LOVATO: Pack clean underwear!
JOE MAZZELLO, HBO’s “The Pacific”: Make it real
DAVID GREGORY: Always wear socks!
KIM KARDASHIAN: My favorite thing my mother taught me is…. To be myself
CHEVY CHASE: Make sure you shake few hands. You can get hurt.
JAYNI CHASE: Wear comfortable shoes.
PATRICIA ARQUETTE: Get quiet and ask God to let you feel who you are …your true self.
BRET BAIER: Always open a door and pull out a chair for a lady!
ANDREA MITCHELL: Watch out when you cross the street
It’s a ritual of spring—like Punxsutawney Phil and the Capistrano swallows—the first weekend in May is the White House Correspondents Dinner. President Reagan dubbed it “Washington’s spring prom” and it has grown into a weekend of events with D.C., New York and even Hollywood’s stars.
One of those events is the annual WHCD Garden Brunch. In 2009, hundreds of guests gathered in the garden, but there was a twist. The brunch was given in honor of the Mother’s Day Every Day campaign and featured honorary brunch Chair Ann Curry of the Today Show, with special guest Susan Axelrod of CURE Epilepsy.
Mothers Day Every Day is a U.S. advocacy group for maternal health led by the White Ribbon Alliance and CARE. Their campaign for healthy moms and newborns aims to raise the political will and resources to reduce maternal mortality around the world to meet the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal number five.
There were some incredible moments as Captain Richard Phillips, who survived the Somali pirate attack, met Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano and relived his dramatic rescue for the first time. T. Boone Pickens and his wife Madeleine talked to reporters about their successful campaigns for the Pickens Plan and to save wild mustangs
And “Gossip Girl” star Chace Crawford taped a Mothers Day greeting surrounded by the star-stuck, pre-teen girls volunteering at the brunch. Arriving guests loved the adorable girls who greeted them with white ribbons, which were tied around their wrists in honor of mothers everywhere.
Since the garden brunch’s start 17 years ago, when Barbra Streisand made a surprise guest appearance, Hollywood stars in town for the dinner have made the Saturday morning event part of their itinerary. Last year’s star power included Kerry Washington, Ludacris (escorting his own lovely mother), Christian Slater, Val Kilmer, Matthew Modine, Tim Daly and Dana Delany.
Washington’s own stars—Ben Bradlee, Sally Quinn, Andrea Mitchell, John King, David Gregory, Betsy Fischer, Greta Van Susteren and John Coale, Luke Russert, Gordon Peterson and Norah O’Donnell—turned out in force to mingle with the year’s top newsmakers: Todd Palin, Alan Greenspan, and Rep. John Dingell. Last, but not least, there was a who’s who from the Obama administration in the crowd: Austan and Robyn Goolesbee, Mona Sutphen, Melody Barnes, Bill Burton and Katie McCormick Lelyveld.
Media and opinion leaders from around the country gathered including Newsweek’s Jon Meacham, Time’s Richard Stengel, Arianna Huffington, and Walter Issacson. And L.A. media mogul and agent provocateur Andrew Breitbart brought father-in-law Orson Bean, a crowd favorite. Politico’s Mike Allen posed with nephews and fans while reporters swarmed Val Kilmer to ask whether he would make a run for governor.
This year’s brunch will again honor the Mothers Day Every Day campaign, which is led by advisory committee co-chairs Donna Shalala and Ann Veneman, and co-founders Dr. Helene Gayle and Theresa Shaver. WHCInsider will supply live coverage on Saturday, May 1st, as the first guests arrive.
It’s sure to draw another stellar “cast” of characters who will enjoy a morning drink and conversation with expected—and unexpected—guests. The spring blossoms, the fun, and the gossip, are sure to get everyone in the mood for the White House Correspondents Dinner on that evening.
MSNBC threw a memorable Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner after-party that stood apart from parties past. Held directly across the street from the main event at the Washington Convention Center, MSNBC turned the traditionally staid Historical Society of Washington, D.C. into a brightly-lit fete of themed cocktails, glowing neon necklaces and comfort food.
As guests walked down the blue carpet entrance, we asked them the question of the night: are you a nerd or a jock? Politico’s Mike Allen said he was “all of the above!” and Patrick Gavin thought he was a hybrid of the two. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell exclaimed she was a “total jock.” John “I’m a PC” Hodgman discussed the modern cultural divide at length during the dinner.
Inside the party, the scene downstairs included a Starbucks-sponsored coffee bar where guests ate ice cream sundaes and desserts. From the main bar, guests walked outside to a large outdoor patio, where dance music had the party-goers on their feet for “Don’t Stop Believing.” Faces and heads glowed in the light of neon necklaces and headbands.
Upstairs, special guest bartender Rachel Maddow was mixing up cocktails at her heavily-branded “Rachel Maddow’s Bar”– complete with MSNBC napkins and “Rachel’s Bar” menus. Maddow’s signature cocktail was listed as a Hearst: a mix of gin, sweet vermouth and bitters (though she told us she actually served more of her cava drink, “Airmail” which mixed rum, fresh lime juice, honey and the bubbly cava on top). Afterwards, Maddow relinquished her bar duties to catch up with Ana Marie Cox and John Hodgman.
Later in the night passed treats included mini-pancakes and mini-ham, bacon and cheese croissants. As the bars began to close, guests went out back. Among the last to leave at 3:00 a.m. were MSNBC Morning Joe’s Willie Geist, Luke Russert and many of the cable network’s junior staffers.
Media heavy-hitters spotted at the party: Steve Capus, Tamron Hall, Norah O’Donnell, Contessa Brewer with Matt Ackland, Joe Scarborough with Mika Brzezinski, David Shuster, Carlos Watson, Chris Matthews, Lynn Sweet, Margaret Carlson, and Eugene Robinson.
Politicos rounded out the guest list, including Obama senior adviser David Axelrod, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Obama economic adviser Larry Summers, as well as Hilary Rosen, Alex Castellanos, Brad Dayspring, and Kevin Madden.
Fox News set the bar for RTCA after-parties with its disco extravaganza in 2004, and this year, MSNBC will try to top it with Rachel Maddow, who will be mixing cocktails behind the bar. If that’s not enough, there will also be a chocolate fountain.
More than 400 guests are expected to cross the street from the Convention Center when the dinner ends to an MSNBC logo-swathed Washington Historical Society, at 801 K Street.
Maddow won’t be at the dinner; she’ll head to the party after doing her show; her “special cocktail” is being kept a tightly guarded secret. But an insider reveals the rest of the menu will include mini-milkshakes, ice cream bar, the chocolate fountain and breakfast, for those who stay to the bitter end. And a Starbucks Coffee Bar, in honor of the new “Morning Joe” sponsor. There won’t be a band, just a DJ.
MSNBC muscled in on the party after Fox News backed out. MSNBC was initially told Fox had locked up the Historical Society, the only party venue around in that part of town, and ”It was this space or nothing,” said an insider. No official word on why Fox may have changed its mind but someone in the know said it was due to the ever-changing dinner date, from April 2 to June 4 to June 19, a Friday-and Father’s Day weekend, no less. (Many on-air talent types at all the networks are begging off this year because of the timing.)
NBC is going all-out with dinner tables, too, purchasing 13, which will seat administration guests including Attorney General Eric Holder; David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, senior advisers to President Obama; White House economic adviser Larry Summers; Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Congressional guests include Sen. Susan Collins, R.-Maine, and Rep. David Obey, D.-Wisc.
NBC’s lengthy list of on-air talent attending includes: Chris Matthews, Pete Williams, Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd, Tom Costello, Savannah Guthrie, Jim Miklaszewski, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, John Harwood, David Schuster, Carlos Watson, Tamron Hall, Contessa Brewer, Monica Novotny, Alex Witt, Ed Schultz, Norah O’Donnell, Dylan Ratigan, Willie Geist, Kelly O’Donnell and Luke Russert,as well as a number of commentators and analysts (Lawrence O’Donnell, Ana Marie Cox, Michelle Bernard, Eugene Robinson and Richard Wolffe.)
Execs include NBC News President Steve Capus, MSNBC President Phil Griffin, SVP and Washington bureau chief Mark Whitaker, and Betsy Fischer, the longtime exec producer of “Meet the Press.”
“This is our year, this is our time. We’re the place for politics and we really wanted to make a big splash in D.C. at this dinner,” said spokesman Jeremy Gaines.
Ali Wentworth and George Stephanopoulos threw a book party for Lee Woodruff’s second book – Perfectly Imperfect – and it included a surprise engagement announcement! Check out the video with Quinn Bradlee and fiancé Pary Williamson accepting congrats from Andrea Mitchell.
We are proud to support the work of CURE Epilepsy and The White Ribbon Alliance, and encourage you to make a contribution by clicking on each of the following logos.
