TIPS FROM THE POOL, INTO THE DEEP END

NYT‘s Helene Cooper is a lucky duckling. Today she got to interview none other than Bruce Springsteen.

“Pool was able to interview Springsteen on the tarmac, after he alighted Air Force One, with his wife, Patti, from the rear of the plane. Asked if this was his first trip on Air Force one, he said yes, then started grinning. ‘It was pretty cool,’ he said. He said he chatted with the president during the fligjt [sic] about the effect of Sandy on New Jersey. ‘I’m feeling pretty hopeful,’ about the chances that the Jersey shore will recover.”

Guess Bruce is feeling pretty good about changing his mind about performing for Obama on the campaign trail.

QUOTES of the DAY

ATTENTION SHOPPERS: “They’re just like us!” — HuffPost‘s Jennifer Bendery with the accompanying photograph.

Geraldo’s drunken Yom Kippur

“I’m filled with profound introspection for Yom Kippur fast- drinking baccardi rum and coke zero (no fruit) I am delirious drunk and starving” — FNC’s Geraldo Rivera rolls in with the anti-Yom Kippur. Way to go Geraldo! You better start now for next year.

A warning to drunken journos

“D.C. police will begin administering breath tests for suspected drunken drivers on Sept. 28, mayor’s office says.” — Washington Examiner‘s Alan Blinder.

Arianna has a sweet time in Italy

“Having dessert at the @HuffPostItalia launch party with Montserrat Dominguez.” — HuffPost-AOL’s Arianna Huffington.

Chuck Todd admits he’s biased

“I’m biased about Yom Kippur .. I love the holiday because the idea of atoning is just a refreshing way to soul cleanse.” — MSNBC and NBC’s Chuck Todd.

Tips From The Pool…Into the Deep End

“Motorcade left Kent State at 6:37 for the drive back to the airport. One member of the crowd outside Kent State held up a thumb as if requesting to hitchhike with the motorcade, which, alas, did not stop.” — NYT‘s Helene Cooper in a Wednesday evening White House Pool Report.

Christiane has a polyp 

“Unfortunately I’ve got a polyp on my vocal chord which I am having removed Friday. Wish me luck and a healthy voice!” — CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

Funniest mispronunciation this week: CNN “Reliable Sources” Howard Kurtz‘s pronunciation of the surname of State Dept. Spokesman Philippe Reines: Rinds (as in pork rinds). The actual pronunciation of the “Fuck off” spokesman is Rains. But who knows, maybe Howie was sending a deeper, subliminal message. The screwup came on the heels of Reines blasting CNN for revealing contents of the diary of Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Benghazi.

Ass-y lawyer calls out CNN’s Hamby on Twitter

“@PeterHambyCNN Enjoyed speaking to you for the Ohio article. I’m Mark Weaver, not Mike Weaver. thx.” — Mark R. Weaver, Esq. Really Mike? Did you ever think to just email Hamby and not be such a d–k on Twitter?

Quotes of the Day

“It’s moving, it’s deep, it’s Shakespearean almost.” – FNC’s Bob Beckel on the Spice Girls performance in the closing ceremonies of the Olympics.

BREAKING: Cricket in WH Briefing Room

“A chirping cricket in the White House briefing room…at first i thought it was an iPhone! Tune in to hear her (and me) on @GMA…” — ABC News White House Correspondent Jake Tapper.

Travel Bitches

“Boarded flight to DFW on time. For an O’Hare layover, it wasn’t bad. Nowhere to sit, but we got pretzel dogs.” — JRC’s Community Engagement Director Steve Buttry. But everything wasn’t hunky dory. Mimi Johnson, Buttry’s wife, wrote, “Texting from the back of the plane with Steve Buttry, who is in the front of the plane. It seems that we agree #unitedsucks.”

Former Hill flak calls congressman a dumb racist

“So having the not very smart/racist congressman Steve King call you a better vp nominee than Sarah Palin is a good thing- right?” — former 21-year Hill flak Jim Manley, now a Senior Director at QGA Public Affairs.

For obvious reasons we couldn’t resist this from Mother Jones’ David Corn: “I was going to go fishing tomorrow. But I’ve canceled the trip because I’m too exhausted after fishing today. #ARomneyExcuse”

Congressional flak endures Vegas red-eye

“So tired, couldn’t even be bothered to fear for my life during intense turbulence. Kept waking up and thinking, ‘Well….we had a good run.’” — Erica Elliott, Comm. Director for House Maj. Whip Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on the red-eye from Vegas this morning.

‘Intervention’ impacts D.C. journo

“This episode [of] intervention is making me never want to drink again.” — Townhall‘s Kate Hicks.

WH Pooler kept too far away

“Pool is being kept too far away to hear what’s being said — courtesy of roller coaster just behind. Big hug for one woman, who spoke earnestly to Potus for around one minute. He is slowly making his way from one group of people to the next, taking pictures with babies and chatting. Hands on hips. But pool too far away to hear.” — NYT‘s Helene Cooper at the Iowa State Fair Monday.

Breitbart.com and CNN’s Loesch lashes out

“Seriously, I looked through @nancycordes‘s stream and it’s nothing but rehashed Obama Tweets with ‘Obama camp says’ in front.” — Breitbart.com editor and CNN Contributor Dana Loesch strikes out at CBS News darling Nancy Cordes.

Beard watch

“Issa is sporting a beard tonight for those TV watchers out there.” — Rep. Darrell Issa‘s (R-Calif.) Press Secretary Becca Glover.

It’s time to check in on the Sunday morning political talk shows to see how many dill pickles are being invited on this week. The results are dismal for female journos and pundits this week. Take a look.

NBC “Meet the Press”: 1

Joe McQuaid, Publisher, New Hampshire Union Leader
Katty Kay, BBC
Former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.)
Mark Halperin, TIME

CBS “Face the Nation”: 2

Norah O’Donnell, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent
John Dickerson, CBS News Political Director
Nancy Cordes, CBS News Congressional Correspondent
Mike Allen, Politico Chief White House Correspondent

ABC “This Week”: 2

George Will, WaPo columnist, Democratic strategist, Donna Brazile, AOL HuffPost‘s Arianna Huffington, and Major Garrett of NJ. Also noteworthy: Angelina Jolie will stop by.

FNC’s “Fox News Sunday”: Blackballed by FNC PR since summer 2010.

NBC’s “The Chris Matthews Show”: 2

Joe Klein, TIME
John Heilemann, New York Magazine
Helene Cooper, NYT
Gillian Tett, Financial Times

CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: 1

Steve Roberts, professor, GWU
Jennifer Rubin, “Right Turn” blogger, WaPo
Bill Press, syndicated talk radio host
Mike Wise, sports columnist, WaPo
Jason Whitlock, FoxSports.com

We’ve taken a few weeks off our penis project. But we’re back this week to keep an eye on how many johnsons are scheduled to appear on the programs this weekend. As usual, NBC’s “Meet the Press” is weak on estrogen while “The Chris Matthews Show”  is a steady 50/50. Also as usual, PBS’s Gwen Ifill has a strong showing of female guests.

NBC’s Meet the Press: 1

Dee Dee Myers, Democratic Strategist
Mike Murphy, Republican Strategist
Eugene Robinson, Columnist, WaPo
Ed Gillespie, Former Chair, Republican National Committee

PBS’ Washington Week with Gwen Ifill: 3

Major Garrett of National Journal
Jeanne Cummings of Bloomberg News
Deborah Solomon of The Wall Street Journal
Joan Biskupic of USA Today

ABC’s This Week: 1

Matthew Dowd, ABC News Political Analyst
Paul Krugman, NYT
Peggy Noonan, WSJ
George Will, ABC News

CNN’s Reliable Sources: 3

Marisa Guthrie,The Hollywood Reporter; Eric Deggans, St. Petersburg Times; David Zurawik, The Baltimore Sun; Sarah Ganim, Harrisburg Patriot-News; Nia-Malika Henderson, The Washington Post; Robert Costa, National Journal; David Shuster, Current TV

CBS’s Face the Nation: No panel. Three male pols … Sens. Toomey, Manchin and Rep. Ron Paul are the guests.

NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show: 2

Dan Rather, HDNet
Helene Cooper, NYT
John Heilemann, New York Magazine
Lizzie O’Leary, Bloomberg

FNC’s Fox News Sunday: 1 Proudly blacklisted by FNC PR since June 2010. We’ll scrounge and find out.

UPDATE: Juan, Brit, A.B. Stoddard and Bill Kristol.

It’s time once again to check in on how many one-eyed anacondas will hit the political talk show circuit this weekend. Last week we began our series looking at how many females appear on Sunday morning political talk show panels. Last week was rather dismal, with FNC coming in at a big fat zero and the highest showing, two females, appearing on NBC’s “The Chris Matthews Show.” Update: It’s official. This Sunday, ABC’s “This Week” claims the most number of female panel guests.

CBS’s Face the Nation: 1

Mark Zandi, Chief Economist, Moody’s Analytics
Norah O’Donnell, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent
John Dickerson, CBS News Political Analyst

NBC’s Meet the Press: 1

Donna Shalala, Former Sec. of Health and Human Services
William Bennett, Former Sec. of Education
Tim Shriver, Chairman and CEO, Special Olympics
Tavis Smiley, PBS

Fox New Sunday: 1

Brit Hume – Fox News Senior Political Analyst
A.B. Stoddard –The Hill
Bill Kristol – Weekly Standard & Fox News
Juan Williams – Fox News Political Analyst

ABC’s “This Week”: 3

Mary Matalin, Republican Strategist
Amy Walter, ABC News Political Director
Donna Brazile, Democratic Strategist
George Will, ABC News, WaPo columnist

CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: 2

WaPo‘s Jennifer Rubin, Current TV’s David Shuster, Craig Crawford, former WSJ reporter Ron Suskind, former Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Connie Schultz, wife of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

NBC’s Chris Matthews Show: 2

The Daily Beast‘s Andrew Sullivan, NYT‘s Helene Cooper, CNN’s Gloria Borger, and WaPo‘s Michael Gerson.

TIPS FROM THE POOL…INTO THE DEEP END

In a White House Pool Report by NYT‘s Helene Cooper filed late Tuesday night President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama made their feelings for each other plain at a fancy NYC fundraiser at Gotham Theater. They’re still hot for each other. And if that thought makes you uncomfortable, you might not want to read the mushy details.

She: After announcing that they hardly get to travel together anymore, she spoke of how he has changed, saying, “The only difference I’ve noticed is the salt is starting to catch up with the pepper. I think it’s sexy.”

He: POTUS thanked Flotus. “You notice how she’s getting cuter. She is remarkable and it’s the reason why I’ve got remarkable kids. I have improved my gene pool.” He said that “it’s true this is the closest we get to a date, which I’m going to have to fix in about 14 months. Now the truth is, this is not my idea of a date night, normally our dates do not end with me being before 400 of our closest friends.”

Do you have a penis? Do you know a little something about politics or can you at least fake it? Then the Sunday morning political talk show circuit is for you. This Sunday features a particular abundance of testosterone on Fox News Sunday and most of the other shows. Each week we’re going to keep tabs on the gender breakdown of the panels and guests and see who regularly invites females on their shows and more importantly, who doesn’t.

Take a look.

Fox News Sunday: 0

Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard and FNC contributor
Paul Gigot, WSJ
Juan Williams, FNC political analyst
Evan Bayh, former U.S. senator and governor from Indiana and FNC contributor

NBC “Meet the Press”: 2

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI)
Alex Castellanos, Republican Strategist
Mark Halperin, TIME: “President Obama was a dick yesterday” (Seems relevant)
Helene Cooper, NYT White House Correspondent

ABC’s “This Week”: 1

George Will, WaPo, Cokie Roberts, NPR, Jonathan Karl, ABC, Michael Beschloss, American historian

The Chris Matthews Show: 2

Major Garrett, NJ
Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News
Michael Duffy, TIME Magazine
Katty Kay, BBC

CNN’s Reliable Sources: 1

Steve Roberts, The George Washington University
Michelle Cottle, The Daily Beast
Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review
Jeff Zeleny, NYT
Ben Smith, Politico

Paul Carr, TechCrunch

Andrea Mitchell chats up David L. Cohen, Comcast Exec. V.P. and Antoine Sanfuentes, NBC News DC Bureau Chief

Richard Engel via Skype

NBC “Meet The Press” host David Gregory hosted a new discussion series hosted by Comcast Corp. at its gleaming new offices on Tuesday night by moderating what they referred to as a “star-studded” panel on “Covering the Middle East: Perspectives from the Field.” Well, J.Lo and Britney were no-shows. But NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and Ron Allen talked policy while their colleague Richard Engel gave a “boots on the ground” perspective directly from Cairo via Skype. The NYT’s Helene Cooper and NPR Twitter maven Andy Carvin rounded out the panel, which included a vigorous examination of the impact of social media not only on the journalists’ own jobs but also on burgeoning democratic movements around the world.

On May 17th we’ll hear “Perspectives from the Field” on Middle East reporting from a panel of well-known journalists moderated by NBC’s MTP Host David Gregory. The event, sponsored by Comcast Corp. and NBCUniversal, will take place at 300 New Jersey Ave. NW, Suite 700. To RSVP email here: dc_events@comcast.com.

The Panel

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell

NPR’s Andrew Carvin

NYT‘s Helene Cooper

NBC’s Ron Allen

Alec Ross (State Department)