American Urban Radio White House Correspondent April Ryan has been hitting up colleagues, administration officials, and Secret Service these days. She may have even approached a certain POTUS. But beyond that, she’s not squealing. For what, you ask?

Girl Scout cookies. In particular, addictive Thin Mints.

And few can say no. “You can’t deny Girl Scout cookies,” she says, explaining that her daughter is a Brownie. “I’m lugging them from Baltimore.” ABC White House Correspondent Jake Tapper snagged a box to help April’s little girl. He also has something of a personal interest as his wife is a consultant for the Girl Scouts of America.

Saying no? Sure, it’s possible. But not wise.

It’s hard for TMZ’s founder Harvey Levin to chill and stop working. At the National Press Club today to keynote a luncheon, he sat in a tan leather chair upstairs to prepare his speech and do this interview. He’s intense, but polite, friendly and not a big shot Hollywood figure who can’t be bothered. He wants to be bothered — within reason. He also wants to get his thoughts together and use the men’s room before his speech because “it would be bad form to pee in my pants,” he says, laughing. Something else that immediately jumps out: He’s smaller than he appears on TV. Throughout the day it will be the first observation people make. He’s svelte and proportional and has expensive-looking black sneakers with no laces and fashionable holes. “Are those Crocs?” asks American Urban Radio’s White House Correspondent April Ryan out of earshot at a VIP reception before the luncheon. Random but noteworthy: He’s newly vegetarian and no longer wears leather. He skips the juicy steak swimming in gravy and potatoes lunch and doesn’t opt for the vegetarian alternative — a mushroom with a thick, bubbling layer of cheese. Instead, he sips ice water. On the show, Levin stands and hangs over a newsroom wall, making it harder to tell how tall or short he is. He’s 5’7,” at least according to the driver’s license he pulled out to show me when I asked.

Before the FishbowlDC interview gets underway, first, a phone call to the office to check in. “Hey it’s me,” he says into his BlackBerry. “Are they still in the meeting? Anything I need to know? We have to talk about Scarlett Johansson. It’s the weirdest thing…” (A producer was in Paris recently and had an inappropriate interaction with Johansson, something that will not run on air. Levin’s producer tells me Harvey’s just having fun and giving the producer as hard a time as possible.)

On starting TMZ in Washington: “Yes, it’s just an issue of time. It will happen. I just need time to do it right. This is going to require me to be here for awhile.” Favorite politicians? “Not really. Therein lies the problem.” Does he support President Obama’s reelection? “Not going to say.”

Let’s begin.

Which GOP presidential contender is the most TMZ-worthy? Too soon to tell. (His producer chimes in, “Rick Perry. He’s bound to do the dumbest thing.” Levin’s not necessarily convinced.)

If you were a carbonated beverage which would you be? Orange crush.

What is the one question you get asked most frequently? What’s in your cup?

How often do you Google yourself? Almost never.

Who is your favorite working journalist and why? Anderson Cooper, because he’s honest.

What word or phrase do you overuse? “Here’s the thing.”

What’s the worst thing a stranger/heckler ever said to him? Find out…
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This afternooon American Urban Radio White House Correspondent April Ryan sat on the dais of the National Press Club during a luncheon where the keynote speaker was TMZ founder Harvey Levin. Beforehand, she attended a V.I.P. reception where she got to meet him and tell him how much she enjoys watching his show.

Please, Fishbowlers, we’d really like to see your creative captions. Send to FishbowlDC@mediabistro.com or to Betsy@mediabistro.com. Or tweet us your caption at @FishbowlDC.

“Bo may look like an ordinary dog but trust me, Harvey, he’s so much more.”

American Urban Radio Host and White House Correspondent April Ryan tells an old story to Politico for their relatively new “POLITICdotes” feature about eating soul food with former President Bill Clinton — that would be before he became a vegan and before he had his heart attack. “He was melding flavors,” she said disapprovingly.

Ryan, a spicy character, is known for kicking ass, namely those of White House press secretaries who try to spin her. Earlier this year was elected to the board of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

Watch here.

Washington is known for its “important” power lists. Most publications have them. There are lists for top lobbyists like Washingtonian‘s “Hired Guns: The City’s 50 Top Lobbyists.” Both The Hill and Roll Call also boast top lobbyist lists. There are lists for important people everywhere (TIME‘s 100), for socialites (Washington Life‘s Young and the Guest List) and there’s FNC’s “Power Player of the Week.” This week The Hill presented their annual summer “50 Most Beautiful People of Capitol Hill.”

Politico‘s 50 to Watch party Thursday night at Barcode in downtown D.C. was unusual in that not even those attending knew whether they had made the list or whether they were just being invited to a party with booze and balloons.

“I had no idea. I had no clue,” remarked ABC News White House Correspondent Ann Compton on her way into the party upon discovering that she’d made the list under the category of New Deans of the White House Press Corps. “What fun!” She continued, “Having been here since I was brand new at 27, to be discovered is really cool.”

Many who didn’t make the list made jokes. NRSC Spokesman Brian Walsh told me he was unofficially #51. And Sen. John Thune‘s (R-S.D.) press secretary Kyle Downey agreed to be #53. Walsh’s illustrious dog, Rudy, slid in at #52.

HuffPost-AOL Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington showed up just to mingle. She knew she hadn’t made the list. Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) made the list and few understood why with all the “formers” in his title.

The concept of a power list? “It’s very Washington,” said a GOP flack at the party who wished to remain anonymous.

A sampling of who made the list: CBS News’ Mark Knoller and Bill Plante, American Urban Radio’s April Ryan,  fundraisers like Alison Baker of Straus Baker, Paula Dukes of Rizzo Dukes Group, Joanna Brooks, a religion columnist, Greg Giroux of Bloomberg Government, David Waldman, a liberal blogger. TV Faces included Brett Baier (FNC), Sam Feist (CNN), David Gregory (NBC), Phil Griffin (MSNBC) and Norah O’Donnell (CBS).

Waiters and bartenders at the party had chiseled physiques and wore tight-fitting Politico T-shirts. “What’s not to like?” replied one waiter when asked if he liked the T-shirt. “It says Politico. And then people ask me what Politico is and I have no idea.”

Oh, look! Another White House Dean. April Ryan, a correspondent for American Urban Radio who most recently landed a seat on the WHCA board, also made the list. Like Compton, she was surprised and tickled to make the cut. “It’s amazing,” she said. “I’m thankful. It’s nice that someone recognized the work I do. I wasn’t doing anything to be recognized. I just do my job. It’s an honor.”

WaPo‘s Jonathan Capehart was in the crowd. Asked what these power lists accomplish, he replied, “The most important thing they do is they let people know quite possibly who they should be paying attention to in a serious manner rather than the folks they are already paying attention to. Most of the time the people we think are important aren’t as important as we think they are or they think they are.”

Politico‘s Mike Allen (pictured above in a photograph that makes him look like a cartoon character) had a different, POLITICO (all caps) sort of response when asked to comment on the list. “This is the next generation of newsmakers,” he said. “These are the people who are going to win the cycle.”

Some were excited about the list. “I like the lists,” said ABC’s Polson Kanneth. “Everyone loves a good list.”

As mentioned earlier, The Hill‘s “50 Most Beautiful People of Capitol Hill” came out this week. Party banter inevitably turned to it. One male who had previous been on the beauty list expressed shock over this year’s list. He looked almost embarrassed to have once been on it. Another partygoer expressed outrage, “It’s not just that they were not that attractive. It’s that some were actively ugly.”

While the bar quickly filled with political and media types who appeared to be enjoying themselves, not everyone there was so hot on the concept of power lists. An intern from Ghana perusing the 50 Politicos to Watch glossy magazine at the bar remarked on lists like this in general: “They’re all corrupt. But I have no evidence to prove that.”

And there was publicist Janet Donovan, who also doesn’t appear to think much of lists. “I hate lists,” said Donovan. Drifting into the crowd of important people and those watching them, she added, “They’re condescending.”

For more on the White House Deans, read Politico Patrick Gavin‘s story here.

Find out who else was in the crowd…

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When given the choice between loud and feisty or a big-name media outlet, the White House Press Corps went with a resounding nod for the former.

April Ryan, who works for American Urban Radio, was elected Friday to the White House Correspondents Association Board as was McLatchy‘s Senior White House Correspondent Steve Thomma. Among the choices were Ryan, Thomma, Sirius XM Radio’s Jared Rizzi and Bloomberg‘s Julianna Goldman. But the real dogfight was Ryan versus Goldman.

Word on the street is that reporters wanted a fighter. They also didn’t want to risk a Bloomberg board member just looking out for Bloomberg. “April’s tough as nails, and really knows her stuff,” said Mediaite‘s White House reporter Tommy Christopher. “She’ll do a great job. And what a great way to kick off Obama’s second term.”

Ryan is certainly no wimp. Some may recall that in December of 2009, former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told her to “calm down” and “take a deep breath” after she pressed him on whether then-Social Secretary Desiree Rogers had overstepped appropriate protocol in the Salahi party crashing incident. Gibbs equated the reporter’s behavior with that of his young son. April snapped back, “Don’t play with me.”

A White House reporter who spoke on the condition of anonymity gave us the lowdown on the race, saying, “April worked really hard on that race, she put a lot into it. Julianna ran a strong race, too, and as charming and well-respected she is, in the end she couldn’t overcome the Bloomberg curse. And Jared was just too new to the White House to make a serious dent in the race.”

A note on the curse: Some may recall that Bloomberg reporter Hans Nichols ran for the board last year and lost badly to then-Politico reporter Carol Lee, who now works for WSJ. At the time there was a sour taste among the Press Corps as publications such as Bloomberg, WSJ and Politico all signed up journos as White House reporters for voting purposes. Some charged dirty campaigning.

See the complete listing of officers and WHCA board members after the jump…

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• NBC’s Meet the Press: President’s Council of Economic Advisers Chair Dr. Christina Romer, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI), former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) and CNBC’s Jim Cramer

• CBS’ Face the Nation: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

• ABC’s This Week: National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and a roundtable with ABC’s George Will, former Bush White House counselor Ed Gillespie, HuffPost’s Arianna Huffington, the Center for American Progress’ John Podesta and American Urban Radio Networks’ April Ryan

• Fox News Sunday: Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Inex Tenenbaum and a panel with Fox News analysts the Weekly Standard‘s Bill Kristol, NPR’s Mara Liasson, Liz Cheney and NPR’s Juan Williams

• CNN’s State of the Union: Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Sen. John Thune (R-SD), National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers, CNN’s Donna Brazile, William Bennett and Suze Orman

• CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz: The Baltimore Sun‘s David Zurawik, “Beat the Press” on WGBH’s Emily Rooney, former NBC “Today” executive producer and former CBS’ “Early Show” senior executive producer Steve Friedman, USA Today‘s Christine Brennan, CBS Sportsline’s Gregg Doyel and pop culture commentator Lola Ogunnaike

• CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria: “The Skeptical Environmentalist” author Bjorn Lomborg, NYT‘s Paul Krugman, “The American Future” author Simon Schama, “Start Up Nation” author Dan Senor and FT‘s Chrystia Freeland

• NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show: HD Net’s Dan Rather, NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell and NYT‘s Andrew Ross Sorkin and Helene Cooper

• Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal: NYT‘s Jeff Zeleny, WaPo‘s Dan Balz, LAT‘s Janet Hook and Politico‘s Eamon Javers

• Bloomberg’s Political Capital with Al Hunt: Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and Bloomberg’s Rich Miller, Kristin Jensen, Julianna Goldman, Margaret Carlson and Kate O’Beirne

• Washington Watch with Roland Martin: Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), McClatchy’s Bill Douglas, TWT‘s Deborah Simmons, Democratic strategist Karen Finney, Roll Call TV and Philadelphia Tribune‘s Robert Traynham, Politico‘s Nia-Malika Henderson and News One/Interactive One’s Smokey Fontaine

• CNN’s Amanpour: Top U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal

Will update as we learn them.

• NBC’s Meet the Press: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), NYT‘s Thomas Friedman and WaPo‘s Bob Woodward

• CBS’ Face the Nation: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

• ABC’s This Week: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and a roundtable with CFR President Richard Haass, ABC’s and columnist George Will, The Nation‘s Katrina vanden Heuvel and WSJ‘s Peggy Noonan

• Fox News Sunday: U.S. Central Command Commander Gen. David Petraeus, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and a panel with Fox News analysts Weekly Standard‘s Bill Kristol, NPR’s Mara Liasson, former White House press secretary Dana Perino and NPR’s Juan Williams

• CNN’s State of the Union: National security advisor Ret. Gen. Jim Jones (Ret.), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Gov. Mitt Romney (R) and CNN’s Mary Matalin and James Carville

• CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz: CBS’ Chip Reid, FrumForum.com’s David Frum, TNR‘s Michelle Cottle, Lisa Bloom, Us Weekly‘s Bradley Jacobs and New York Magazine‘s Will Leitch

• CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria: U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, NYT‘s Tom Friedman and former IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei

• NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show: BBC’s Katty Kay, New York Magazine‘s John Heilemann, CNN’s Gloria Borger and Time‘s Michael Duffy

• Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal: ABC’s Martha Raddatz, Time‘s Michael Duffy, NJ‘s James Kitfield and LAT‘s Doyle McManus

• Bloomberg’s Political Capital with Al Hunt: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Bloomberg’s Janine Zacharia, Margaret Carlson and Kate O’Beirne

• Washington Watch with Roland Martin: U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), and U.S. Army (Retired) Major General John Hawkins, American Urban Radio Networks April Ryan, Republican commentator Ron Christie, Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, Politico‘s Nia-Malika Henderson and News One/Interactive One’s Smokey Fontaine

• CNN’s Amanpour: Afghan President Hamid Karzai

• NBC’s Meet the Press: Pastor Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life” and foundation co-chairs Bill and Melinda Gates

• CBS’ Face the Nation: Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), former House Republican Leader Dick Armey, former NY023 Republican congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava and Republican strategist Ed Gillespie

• ABC’s This Week: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and a roundtable with ABC’s George Will and Cokie Roberts, NYT‘s Paul Krugman, political strategist Matthew Dowd and former Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman and author Dan Senor

• Fox News Sunday: Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), former DNC Chairman and former Gov. Howard Dean (D-VT) and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) and roundtable with the Weekly Standard‘s Bill Kristol, Fortune‘s Nina Easton, former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, NY Post‘s Kirsten Powers

• CNN’s State of the Union: Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), Sen. Jack Reed (D- RI), Overstock.com Chairman & CEO Patrick Byrne, Rep. David Obey (D-WI), Tony Blair and CNN’s Donna Brazile and Ed Rollins

• CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz: Bill Press, National Review‘s Jim Geraghty, FT‘s Chrystia Freeland and CNBC’s Charlie Gasparino

• CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria: Newsweek‘s Maziar Bahari, Google’s Eric Schmidt and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

• NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show: Time‘s Joe Klein, WaPo‘s David Ignatius, WaPo‘s Anne Kornblut and NBC’s Andrea Mitchell

• Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal: WSJ‘s David Wessel, AP’s Charles Babington and CNN’s Gloria Borger

• Bloomberg’s Political Capital with Al Hunt: “Enemies of the People: My Family’s Journey to America” author Kati Marton and Robert Merry, as well as Bloomberg’s Han Nichols, Margaret Carlson and Kate O’Beirne

• Washington Watch with Roland Martin: Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous and Dr. Ronald Walters and a roundtable with American Urban Radio’s April Ryan, TWT‘s Deborah Simmons, Stephen A. Smith, Sirius XM Radio’s Joe Madison, Politico‘s Nia-Malika Henderson and and News One/Interactive One’s Smokey Fontaine

• CNN’s Amanpour: retired Pakistani lieutenant general Talat Masood, former assistant General Counsel for the CIA U.S. Naval Academy instructor Vicki Divoll, CNN’s Peter Bergen, Human Rights Watch director Jose Miguel Vivanco, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Karl de Gaucht and Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), New America Foundation’s Lawrence Wilkerson

• NBC’s Meet the Press: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Rev. Al Sharpton

• CBS’ Face the Nation: Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), CBS News

• ABC’s This Week: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a roundtable with ABC’s George Will, NYT‘s David Brooks, Mother Jones‘ David Corn, PBS’ Gwen Ifill and WaPo‘s Bob Woodward

• Fox News Sunday: NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci

• CNN’s State of the Union: White House senior advisor David Axelrod, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) and CNN’s William Bennett and Donna Brazile

• CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz: WMAL’s Chris Plante, The Baltimore Sun‘s David Zurawik, St. Petersburg Times‘ Eric Deggans, Foundation for the Defense of Democracy’s Cliff May and New America Foundation’s Reihan Salam

• CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria: Former CIA officer Reuel Gerecht, Claremont McKenna College’s Minxin Pei, Harvard’s Roderick MacFarquhar and
“The Age of the Unthinkable” author Joshua Cooper Ramo

• NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show: WSJ‘s Peggy Noonan, WaPo‘s Eugene Robinson, BBC’s Katty Kay and Time‘s Michael Duffy

• Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal: NYT‘s Peter Baker, NPR’s Tom Gjelten, WSJ‘s Naftali Bendavid and Slate and CBS News’ John Dickerson

• Bloomberg’s Political Capital with Al Hunt: White House Communications Director Anita Dunn and White House Budget Director Peter Orszag

• Washington Watch with Roland Martin: U.S. Army (Retired) Major General John Hawkins, Council on American Islamic Relations National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper; Business and Media Institute Director Dan Gainor, Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), WPFW-FM and The Final Call’s Askia Muhammad, Democratic strategist Karen Finney, Urban Radio’s April Ryan, Comcast and Roll Call TV’s Robert Traynham, Politico‘s Nia-Malika Henderson and News One/Interactive One’s Smokey Fontaine

• CNN’s Amanpour: Ha’aretz correspondent for Occupied Lands’ Amira Hass, former U.S. diplomat Aaron David Miller, Center on Law and Security’s Karen Greenberg, Norwegian Defense Research Establishment’s Thomas Heggehammer and U.S. Coordinator for Counterterrorism’s Daniel Benjamin

Will update as we learn them.