Small Potatoes and a White House Dinner

If you had an opportunity to watch the show this morning, you may have heard me mention that I came down to Washington, D.C. last night for Radio and Television Correspondents Association. It occurs once a year at the Washington Hilton where a 1,000 people, predominantly journalists, convene to give out awards to colleagues and watch the president, vice president or senior cabinet members roast themselves with the media present. It's a fun night! Everyone lets their hair down and for a brief moment forget that they're seated next to the competition.

All of the heavy hitters show up! The security line to enter the ballroom is long and severe. Many Senators, Congressmen and women, Executives both from television and the Corporate World and celebrities attend this dinner. Everywhere you look there's another famous face. It's great people watching

Yesterday, afternoon I took the Acela down to D.C. I don't bother to fly. It takes just as long between travel to and from the airport. When I hopped on the train yesterday, I knew it would be fun. Sitting next to me was Jane Skinner of Fox News (married to Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner), behind me Russell Simmons and his new lady love Porschla (she is stunning), in front of me Amy Entelis and Cynthia McFadden of ABC News and two rows behind me, Jonathan Klein, the executive in charge of CNN. Quite a group right? Talk about feeling like small potatoes

Once we arrived in D.C. I caught up with my Fox News and Business colleagues. Nicole Petallides and I rushed to our hotel to quickly get changed. At the hotel I met up with my personal guest Wes Edens, chairman and chief executive officer of Fortress Capital, a publicly traded asset manager and private equity business.  He's a terrific guy. We connected in Davos and have remained close ever since. Somehow we both know that we have known each other for years, probably dating back to my days on Wall Street, but we can't seem to place it. We talked about so much throughout the night. I was a sponge. Learned a ton and I am so thankful that he came down to DC to join me.

Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch host a pre-dinner party in a gazebo outside the Hilton. The small group is an amazing one. Everywhere you looked there was someone you've seen on TV, heard on the Hill or dreamed of standing next to. On this night they're all in one room. It's a black tie event so it's nice to see everyone get dressed up.

This year's dinner was OK. Honestly it wasn't as good as last year. Governor Mitt Romney stole the show when he came out at the beginning of the night with his top 10  reasons for why he dropped out of the campaign. They were perfect. He was funny, charming and self-deprecating! The vice president spoke and he too, had some great moments. One of the sweet spots in the evening was seeing David Bloom's daughters speak. Their father died five years ago at this point and they have grown up so nicely. They're beautiful girls! At my table were many of the stunning Fox anchors including Nicole, as I mentioned above, and Liz Claman. Also Kevin Magee and his beautiful daughter Claire who attends Georgetown law and sitting to my right was Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. John McCain's economic adviser. The poor guy, I gave him my laundry list of things that I think McCain needs to do on the economy. Any candidate for that matter! Like getting rid of the ethanol subsidies, opening up the strategic petroleum reserves and drilling in ANWR. Between you and me, I always push him on VP candidates. My inside sources tell me that the inner circle is seriously talking about Tom Ridge. I asked again. He said he'll never tell me who's on the list but he didn't dismiss Ridge. Don't forget Tom Ridge on Homeland Security and he's a former governor of Pennsylvania.

After the dinner most of the networks host their own private parties in large ballrooms at the Hilton. Everyone goes to each other's party. This year I took a pass. Had to get up at 4 a.m. to do the show. Hardly slept. Now on Acela ride back home.

One final thought. Go to Washington, D.C. if you haven't been here in years or have never been—it’s one of the most beautiful places in the country--particularly at this time of year! The museums, monuments, city and history are remarkable. Makes you feel so proud to be an American. We're very lucky!