MAKING AN ENTRANCE AND AN EXIT: Host of “CBS This Morning” Gayle King walked into the Washington Hilton on Saturday night in an eye-popping kelly green gown by Vicky Tiel. On Friday night, she was spotted leaving the Turkish Embassy residence where The Hill was hosting its pre-WHCD party.

“Don’t hurt yourself.” — A St. Regis employee to guests of Friday night’s TIME-People party at which partygoers, many of whom were White House correspondents, received gift bags so heavy they could give you a hernia. More on the contents later…

Humility is…

“I have been told many times I look like @MatthewPerry. I just saw him at #nerdprom. He is far better looking.” — The Hill’s Managing Editor Bob Cusack.

Editor wants WHCD weekend to be more substantive

“It kind of sickens me when you’re here for the White House Correspondents’ Weekend that there are not more substantive discussions.” — Steve Clemons, Editor-at-Large for The Atlantic, who hosted a discussion over the weekend with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Sen. Joe Manchin (R-WVa.) at the Ritz. The banquet room was packed. Breakfast disappeared too fast. The discussion centered on American military power today. Attendees included BuzzFeed Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton, NJ‘s Brian Fung, Yahoo! News‘ Chris Moody, Newsweek-Daily Beast‘s Eli Lake and The Atlantic‘s Jay Lauf.

A plea for help

“Someone catch me up on the last 9 days of news.” — Politico White House Correspondent Byron Tau.

Important Q to Ponder: “In a cab going to the airport but our driver is sleepy so he has the window down – to freeze or get into an accident?” — Oversharing Sherri Shepherd, co-host of ABC’s “The View.”

HuffPost‘s Sam Stein “impressed” with Politico

ThinkProgress‘ Judd Legum: “Politico currently has 54 separate links to stories abt WHCA Dinner on its front page.”

Huffpost‘s Sam Stein: “I’m kind of impressed.”

And in Bob Schieffer, Claire Danes father-daughter news… 

“Someone asked Bob Schieffer if he was Claire Danes’ daddy.” — former White House reporter Myles Miller.

Some buzz on BuzzFeed Party

“CSPAN showing super long line for @BuzzFeed party. A lot of sad faces who can’t get in #buzzfeedbbq” — Washington Examiner‘s Charlie Spiering. And this from Roll Call HOH’s Warren Rojas: “Crowd in #BuzzFeedbbq just let out very self-satisfied collective whoop after @cspan live shot of line @JackRoseinDC #counterwhcd”

Psy or is it more like Sigh?

“Psy just walked by me. I feel somehow cooler. Or at least more relevant.” — WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza. Good thing Cillizza didn’t actually try to communicate with Psy.

Starting new pub is stressful

“Rare has oped from Jeb Bush today so big relief we can get the big names when so new. I’m on pins and needles every day.” — Rare Editor-in-Chief Brett Decker. See here. Will Jeb run or won’t he? Who knows, but his last graph sounds rather presidential. He writes, “American greatness comes from the power of individuals – not the government – to create wealth and opportunity through competition, innovation and empowerment. Not only must we pursue reform, we must do a much better job communicating how these reforms protect and promote the genius of America.”

More WHCD fallout…

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Insiders tell us Executive VP Ken Jautz and VP Bart Feder addressed the staff after the show went off the air today. Suffice it to say, the era of Jeff Zucker is underway.

In a nutshell, the execs said they have no answers for the staff and were unable to address most of their questions. Members of the staff were assured their jobs were safe, but one veteran of the changing show carousel at CNN says they would be naive to believe that.

“Every single one of these people should be preparing their resumes and trying to get out of that building as fast as possible,” a network insider told FishbowlDC, explaining that staffers are worried for their jobs. The prevailing feeling is that O’Brien, who previously worked with Zucker at NBC, will end up in another role.

For the month of January, “Starting Point” drew an average of 264,000 viewers. MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” drew 468,000 and FNC’s “Fox & Friends” drew 1.07 million. “Morning Express” on HLN drew 218,000. The broadcast shows (CBS, ABC, NBC) drew millions more than any of the aforementioned programs. In other words, “Starting Point” is behind everyone except its sister network HLN, and HLN is getting close.

Another network insider with a vantage point to this morning’s meeting said it was hilarious to watch Jautz and Feder address the “Starting Point” staff, considering they were two of the main culprits who contributed to the potential demise and dismantling of the show.

From day one, “Starting Point” was in disarray, according to multiple sources aware of the drama going on behind the scenes of the show. It wasn’t supposed to debut in January, 2012, but the decision was made to rush it on the air to coincide with the Iowa caucus. From its launch the show was never fully staffed; all the promises of branding and promotion never materialized; and the constant executive in-fighting over what to do with the show angered its host and staff.

Former CNN Managing Editor Mark Whitaker, who announced his resignation Tuesday, loved the panel format because he desired the show to have the same buzz as MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” But Jautz hated the panel, resulting in it being downsized from 7-9 a.m. to 7:30 to 9 a.m. And when Soledad was off, the panel was only on from 8-9 a.m.

Jautz also detested a single-anchor format. He preferred a two-anchor format, even going as far as focus-group testing Brooke Baldwin and John Berman when O’Brien was away.

So as Whitaker and Jautz waged a constant battle over who would control the destiny of CNN – a scenario set up by then-CNN President Jim Walton when he divided up the duties of Jon Klein when he was canned – “Early Start” and “Starting Point” were ground zero for their battle.

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Ingraham handles “stupid b-i-t-c-h” remark

When a follower asked conservative radio host Laura Ingraham over the weekend, “Are you not a stupid biatch,” she replied, “Very confused–thought it was ‘biotch.’” Actually in the Urban Dictionary it’s “beyotch” and “biatch” or “biotch.” Biatch is a gangster version of the word while biotch is a woman of “unsavory character traits,” or, as they so warmly put it, “a pain in the ass” or a “moody bitch.”

Cabbie tells female journo to “shut up”

“Cab driver asks me where I’m going. I tell him it’s illegal to do that. He tells me to ‘shut up.’ Nice, DC cabs.” — HuffPost’s Amanda Terkel.

CNN Correspondent Mugged

“UNREAL. I was just robbed in midtown Atlanta. Guy walked past me and ripped my wallet right out of my hands.” — CNN Correspondent Brooke Baldwin.

Bob Dole, Viagra, Women in Airports

“Bob Dole says any second thoughts about Viagra ads put to rest by women thanking him in airports.” — WSJ‘s Andrew Grossman, who splits his time between New York and Washington. Ryan Teague Beckwith chimed in, saying, “Two ways to read that.”

Journo says fuck it, run the car chase!

“I am pro- post the clip. Fuck it, people want to see it.” — The Guardian and Salon‘s Jim Newell on the car chase Fox News accidentally aired Friday in which the gunman committed suicide.

Travel Bitches

“Boarded flight to Houston on time. Cut it close because of my own screwup (went to wrong airline/terminal), but still got a sandwich.” — the always traveling Steve Buttry, community engagement director at Journal Register Company and Digital First.

Whoa! Dayspring praises D.C. reporter

“Finally had a chance to meet the lovely @feliciasonmez, doing an MSNBC hit together this morning,” remarked The Hill‘s White House Correspondent Amie Parnes about WaPo‘s Felicia Sonmez. To which Brad Dayspring replied, “Kindest journo in D.C.!”

Bret Baier has lost weight? 

“Have you lost weight? Or is it just the haircut? You look different w/ Harris Faulkner on Fox Report,” a follower wrote FNC’s Bret Baier. He replied, “I have.”

Reporter counts down hours until she pays her rent

“ONLY A FEW HOURS LEFT until its October and I have to pay rent.” — Politico‘s Kate Nocera.

NPR’s Carvin finishing up his book

“After 18 months of writing I now have a completed manuscript for my book, three days early. Now the hard part: editing. #acarvinbook” — NPR’s Andy Carvin.

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report.

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Cell Phone Abuse! “Alarm… Set! (Yeah yeah, fixing my shattered phone tomorrow. Oh Apple store… I am coming for u!)” — CNN Correspondent Brooke Baldwin.

Josh Marshall dings Politifact

“Awesome: Politifact manages to ‘fact-check’ a claim which is totally unsubstantianted [sic] and still look like idiots.” — TPM‘s Josh Marshall. Read the Politifact story here.  

You can’t take WaPo‘s White House scribe anywhere

“Your pooler also notes that David Nakamura, all around good guy and great co-pooler, accidentally spilled his Cobb salad on the plane’s brand new carpet. and promptly cleaned up the mess thoroughly.” — TWT‘s David Boyer in a Monday Pool Report. AF1 was en route to JFK where they were catching helos to Stamford, Conn. for two fundraisers. WaPo‘s David Nakamura needn’t worry. The oil should blend in seamlessly.

Blogger lashes out about masturbatory tweet

Last week DCStakeOut blogger and Institute of Public Accuracy’s Sam Husseini wrote a tongue-in-cheek tweet upon the death of Gore Vidal. Like Vidal, Husseini wrote that he, too, had a lot of sex. “Like Gore Vidal, I had 1000 sexual encounters by the time I was 25. Of course, I was the only one in the room for most.” We ran it in Morning Chatter with the headline, “Blogger (jokingly) boasts of sexual prowess?” And guess who flipped out yesterday on Twitter? “How is that boasting of sexual prowess?” he asked on Twitter. He said somehow we didn’t get that he meant that he’d been, ahem, polishing the family jewels, not sleeping with 1000 people. Thanks for that Husseini! We’re such idiots and wouldn’t have possibly gotten that without your help. When we joked that we needed to add an update and pronto, he snapped, “@FishbowlDC You do that. Learn to read while you’re at it. You’re literally the only person who didn’t get that.” Some might remember Husseini. He was suspended from the National Press Club in November of 2011 after he questioned Saudi Arabian Prince Turki al-Faisal in a way head honchos found “unseemly” and then became outraged when NPC officials somehow didn’t want him acting like an asshole brave journo toward their guests. He was eventually taken off suspension but not without club officials thinking him a nuisance. This was the second time he’d been suspended.

Journo alerts the masses on addiction story

“Doing a deep dive into the scientific literature on addiction. So fascinating. Also, feel free to holler if this is your field. #longwrites” — The Atlantic‘s Alexis Madrigal.

Headline from the AP in London: “Man Sets Fire to Home by Microwaving Socks, Undies.” Read the story here.

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Supermodel Elle MacPherson and a bland and bald companion show up to the WHCD dinner. On their way into the ballroom, he grabbed her ass.

Overheard: “Aren’t you SOMEONE? Because you look like someone.” — a common refrain all weekend long from journos and politicos trying to figure out the identities of wonks and D-listers attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and its surrounding parties.

CNN correspondent connects with her idol: Diane Sawyer

“Ohhhhh my. Can we say journalism idol. Diane Sawyer. #nerdprom” — CNN’s Brooke Baldwin.

Lindsay Lohan on getting invited to D.C.’s prom

“Lindsay Lohan on getting #whcd invitation through her lawyer ‘I thought I was in trouble, like ‘Oh, no, wha…’” — HuffPost‘s Christina Wilkie.

Weigel moves, better said, tweets his way through the crowd

“Too many tuxedos. Can barely see the double agent I need to assassinate. #SXSW” – Slate‘s Dave Weigel.

Prom coverage…

“This really used to be about the White House correspondents, let’s be honest, it really isn’t anymore.” — Politico‘s Patrick Gavin on C-SPAN coverage during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “That’s the state of things today. Celebrities drive the culture.”

Reaction on Kimmel from BuzzFeed‘s Ben Smith: “Kimmel’s best stuff has been fat jokes and blind jokes #yikes #whcd” And from resident know-it-all NYT David Carr: “Obama kilt it. Kimmel had half a set of amazing jokes. #nerdprom.” More importantly, actress/activist Mia Farrow weighs in, saying, “This is painful #jimmy #WHCD” But Tom Hanks‘s son, Colin, disagreed. “And @jimmykimmel slayed as well. Extremely fun evening.” From Politico‘s Jonathan Martin: “Kimmel, first real round of ‘oooos,’ for saying Olbermann ‘has more pink slips than Marcus Bachmann.’” And JMart’s colleague Maggie Haberman: “Please bring back Seth Myers. #help #whcd”

Kurtz gets acquainted with food on Planet Earth

“Ah, mystery meat in gravy and some kind of creamed corn thing. #nerdprom” — The Daily Beast/CNN’s Howard Kurtz acting like he has never seen food before last night at the White House Correspondents’ dinner. Exposé expected on “Reliable Sources” this morning.

Sklar stays at the Hilton

“I stay here every year whether I go to the dinner or not.” — Mediaite founder and lawyer Rachel Sklar, appearing on C-SPAN from her Hilton hotel room during the dinner on C-SPAN. She said she $119 for at least one night at the Hilton this weekend by purchasing her room online. During his performance, Jimmy Kimmel, who was also staying there, said the place isn’t that nice.

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report.

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On the Red Carpet: The media throng at the Newseum last night for the screening of “Game Change” was decidedly well behaved. More on the evening later…

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough’s Morning Oops!

“Of course, Tom Cruise was there, Julianne Moore.” — Scarborough on “Morning Joe” this morning regarding last night’s screening. Game Change co-author Mark Halperin was on hand to correct him. Scarborough brushed it off, saying, “Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks. Come on, it’s all the same thing.”

Journo Love

“Was psyched to see @chris_moody on CNN, but then they used an egg timer and buzzer to cut him off.” — TPM‘s Benjy Sarlin referencing Yahoo! News’s Chris Moody.

Fox News Poster Boy

“I’m thinking about being fair, balanced, and unafraid today. You?” — a follower to FNC’s Bret Baier. To which he replied and, of course, retweeted, “Always.”

Question for us all to ponder…Which Washington journo bears the nickname “Squirrel Boy“?

From the Road

“DFW might be the biggest airport I’ve ever seen. Feels like I just rode terminal transit car from Dallas to Ft Worth.” — Roll Call‘s Shira Toeplitz.

Cupp and Malkin refuse Olbermann’s apology

“.@secupp and I to @keitholbermann: Take your phony, belated, insult-laden apology and shove it.” — HotAir’s Michelle Malkin. Read the Mediaite write-up here.

Reporter covers possible attempted suicide on Twitter

“@wmata: At this time, trains are bypassing Foggy Bottom due to person struck by train.” — “ow ironically, #WMATA board talking about suicides on transit system, as person stuck under a train in apparent attempt.” — Washington Examiner transportation reporter Kytja Weir. “#WMATA plans to have 800 number posted for suicidal riders, DC -made calls would activate DC team, elsewhere alert others.”

What the hell CNN?

“Memo to @CNN: Why wasn’t my team sent to cover prince Harry in the Caribbean?! #justsayin” — CNN’s Brooke Baldwin.

WaPo scribe down on SXSW

“Oh good. SXSW. Or: Week When Twitter Becomes Insufferable Cascade of Techno-Sanctimony & Interactive Backwash. Insniders (cq) unite!” — WaPo‘s Dan Zak.

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Malveaux will move to Atlanta, a CNN spokeswoman said.

Malveaux has worked in CNN’s White House unit for nearly a decade. According to the network’s Pressroom blog, she joins CNN’s Kyra Phillips, Ali Velshi and Brooke Baldwin, who will continue to anchor CNN Newsroom from 9-11 a.m., 1-3 p.m. and 3-5 p.m. respectively.

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