Good evening, everyone, im ayman hohyeldin, welcome to the coverage of the 2024 White House Correspondents it is the night where washington, d. C. Needs hollywood. Youre looking at life pictures from inside the Washington Hilton Hotel where hundreds of journalists, lawmakers, officials and celebrities are eagerly awaiting the introduction of the evenings most important guest, at any moment. Post colin jost, Vice PresidentKamala Harris and and of course President Joe Biden are all expected to make their way into that ballroom. The annual dinner began all the way back in 1921 as an effort to raise money to support the journalists who cover the white house. Association provides scholarships for future reporters and works to educate the public about the value of free press. Tonights glitz and glamour provides at country contrast against the protests across the country continue to grow over the u. S. Support for israels war in gaza. Demonstrators gathered in front of the hotel there in washington, d. C. As we barrel closer to the general election, bidens appointment, seems to be spending more and more time inside the courtroom then on the Campaign Trail. The last few days, the ex president not only becomes the first former Commander In Chief to face criminal charges, he also battled at the Supreme Court for absolute immunity. A President Biden has delivered many of these kinds of speeches before. The stakes tonight for what could perhaps be the president s last White House Correspondent dinner, how certainly high. Lets bring in our panel tonight, msnbc daily columnist and those of series xm. A democratic strategist to former Obama Campaign advisor and series xm house and the cofounder of Lincoln Project, one half of the comedy duo, the good liar. Its good to have all of you here in the studio, greatly appreciate it. Well keep an eye and this and once we start we will dip into it and take it live. Lets start with you, i laid out on what is happening outside of the hotel. And what happens inside is just as important with the remarks. Its very important celebration, something i think is distinctly or uniquely american. The ability to have powerful people in the presence of journalist, comedy is a big part of it, a lot of roasting that goes on and a testament to how the powerful are spoken to in this country, free speech is a right that we all have. But it comes at a time when this country is facing some serious and dangerous challenges. Absolutely. I think that even though its a night of celebration, a night of supporting free press and understanding the importance of it, the backdrop of what is going on in gaza is going to be seen and heard on the train up here in dc yesterday, the practice has been going on for days, four weeks and were seeing more and more in the College Campuses explode with students who are very interested and want to see humanitarian relief. They want to see an end to the endless fighting and also innocent lives that have been lost. Those people are facing severe penalty and for those of Student Journalists were going to be future journalist, some of them will be in the seats right that we are in right now, some of them will be white house journalist, a backdrop that is serious and showing them that will bes and free speech. Not always represented. We are seeing folks make their way way in and we are waiting for the president to be introduced as well. When that happens we will bring that to live. Let me get the lead, message, at the same time, carries a lot of political weight. Its an opportunity to deliver his message. And take some jabs as well. I was at the event last year and a lot of reporters, i am so old, how can you possibly do this, we cant pull it off, he will go out there in a walker. He went out and gave a fantastic almonds, light, funny, sharp. But also acknowledging importance of journalism in the country. It was a really good moment for him last year. I suspect we will have another good moment this year. He underscored on his ability to deliver in this big moments. We saw the State Of The Union, he knocked it out of the park. Two in a row we managed to walk through the republicans and do a trap. And lastly, he was fun and light and wore the sunglasses. We will see that again tonight because the contrast is that joe biden is a happy warrior, a campaigning and having fun. There are 1 million problems hes facing but facing them with a lot of energy and a lot of genuine commitment to solving them. And donald trump is in a courtroom, complaining about the airconditioner. Jason, youre probably the closest to a comedian on the stable, no offense to [ laughter ] i am the closest thing. You are the comedian at the table. Lets talk about colin jost. What do you think he has to do . Its an important and certainly a very risky position to begin. If you will. Yes, theres been several them memorable moments in the past, i think colin will do a great job. He will poke some fun on biden for his age. He might poke him a couple different ways. It will not get too heated. Over the years, we saw Stephen Colbert go out there and roast george w. Bush. Silent room. Lets take a listen. Lets take a listen. [music] finisher thought while he makes his entrance. Theres been moments when obama roasted trump. People said that was the catalyst that basically gave the idf to run for president. I dont know who one that exchange because obama [ laughter ] its the little things. I dont know if those jokes were worth it. President obama a from the comedic point of view, maybe it was. Comedy is very important. Dean, what are you looking out for us question they are going to be serve the same dinner. We are not going to tell the viewers whats in the mugs. I think colin jost, we worked in the production staff, i remember him in 2004, young guy, out of harvard. Really funny guy. He will do a great job. He has a biden quality. A nice person. Doesnt come across with a hard edge, a soft edge. The difference between biden and obama, obama has, obama is like a comedian. Biden will make fun of someone and back off and go, im kidding. Obama did not. Obama slammed Mitch Mcconnell and go im kidding. He slammed mitch connell, mitt romney, he uses it like a weapon. It was different. Biden is, he will make fun of the media lot. The lack of coverage, thats good for him and negative we use, last year, the year before, two years ago, he made fun of the media. They always make fun of the media. Its a great celebration. What a great celebration of the First Amendment. What our country is about. People outside is fully protesting. They are passionate. Inside, the president is being mocked, they are laughing telling jokes at his expense. I have been to other countries, and the middle east, you can do that. You can theres no early show. Theres no second. And donald trump would not go to this for four years, like all dictators in the making, they want to be feared, not laughed at they want people to be afraid of them. They dont want to be a punchline and trump its important when biden returned to the white house, this actually was reconstituted, it was always there, trump did not want to be made fun of because he knows that he is the most thin skinned politician this country has probably had. Every authoritarian feared comedy. Feared mockery. Feared irony. They fear sarcasm. Donald trump is the up as everybody hypersensitive. Are they are they looking at me funny, do you think, he ate all of it. He so weak and so, frankly, all of these authoritarian tough guys at the end of the day, they cant take a joke they cant take a crack. How do you think biden should talk about donald trump tonight . Obviously, we are in an election season and he has the attention of the world, and attend the president speech, he has the attention of the media. Certainly, in an environment like this, when hes speaking to the audience, executives, influencers and the entire country, what is what does he say, what does he say about donald trump . Trump has given us to so much material. We talk about him falling asleep. We talk about all of the things sold, like the Guy In The 90s to open the trunk and had everything. Sneakers. Everything. 60 bibles. Its very different. He is in his own punchline. Hes giving him a lot of material and he will definitely go after them. It will be different with what we saw with obama because obama was a natural born at this and i dont think that joe biden is. He will not going for the jugular because thats not his character but he will definitely take some bar. And it will be hilarious. I was going to say, donald trump never went to the White House Correspondents dinner once. He did give us a lot of comedy. Covid briefings. Tragic comedy, but he gave us comedy. I hope biden mentions, only one is thats a an important, to. He doesnt want to bring up the criminality and details but we can do little jobs. We know that he will not bring up the criminality. But we can do a little jab. To roll in a lot of the weird circus around trump. Youve got dog killing governors. Marjory taylor green. Youve got an entire portfolio of really colorful, insane joke were the people that are big in the maga movement. Lets take a listen to Kelly Odonnell, nbc news correspondents. Good evening. We are really here. Thank you to the Marine Corps Band led by an duane king. Good evening and welcome to a Great Washington tradition. What began as a simple dinner for about 50 reporters back in 1921 has grown and grown to this. I need a little help from the president s own. Thank you. More than 100 years of heritage. We only get dressed up like this once a year and now you are a part of the story. Welcome to the 2024 White House Correspondents [applause] mr. President , vicepresident harris, dr. Biden, and mr. Emhoff, take you for the gift of your time. This is a complex moment for our nation. And a Campaign Year with far away conflicts lead for many worried and wondering about the future. Understandably so. We know that it is our backdrop tonight. We also know that there is value in freezing exceptional work and promising student journalist. This event is the primary fundraiser for our association and a scholarship we will highlight. If you believe in our purpose, we welcome your donations and appreciate your generosity. Master sergeant, i think we might need a little boost for that, dont you sir . Thats the call to donate. And let there be laughter. I hope for a lot of Sidesplitting Light that internet on fire laughter. Remember, the ballroom is filled with newspapers, politicians, of both parties, cabinets, secretaries, senior officials, entertainers and journalists. And more. So the laughter you will hear tonight comes from all those different corners. So get ready to roast, the humor is intended to sing in were across the political spectrum and aimed at the national media, too. But before we get really going, let me offer some thanks. To my employers, mike kavanaugh, and nbc news for three decades of adventure. And for your support, building to this special night, and importantly for giving me the time needed to do this job, to serve as president of the w hca, which can be a fulltime job. To my nbc white house unit, thank you for your endless patience and encouragement and juggling of duties, i am lucky to be in this with you. Rebecca, lauren, for throwing your cells into the project and thank you, and mike manley. We are doing a live tv program here. And we have topnotch Industry Pros from los angeles were here working pro bono. Bob and his production team, then flashman, paul flattery, a bit more, jeremy, Candace Clark , adam mischler, its been fabulous working with you. And to my family, it begins and ends with you. David, everything and more. Gabby, so proud of you. I am lucky my brother, kevin and sisterinlaw lori, are here tonight to get to see this in person. And we certainly feel our parents here as well. To our w hca members, thank you, my goal is to reflect you and your contributions. During the dinner, you will see hundreds of images from our members at work on this feed, there are some wild moments and some oh, wow moments, not so grand, not so glamorous. Hope to take you behind the scenes. But for now, enjoy a great meal and a buffet of selfies, schmoozing, please thank your service, much more to come at the 2024 White House Correspondents [applause] all right, so with that, Kelly Odonnell kicks off the White House Correspondents dinner , were waiting for canadian, colin jost, to begin his remarks and we will hear from the president as well and few others, important awards handed out tonight. Theres Something Interesting happening outside and thats something we want to talk about, how much the protest you are seeing live images, of those protest outside of the Washington Hilton Hotel where the event is taking place. Antiwar propalestinian solidarity, were seeing across the country for, and i just recently in the university campuses, those have become the focus in recent days. But for the better part of six and seven months, we have seen protests all across the United States all Around The World, how important, how big of a shadow do these protests cast in this event tonight . They amplify, a celebration of free speech. On a personal note, i wish my late father was alive to see people in the streets pro jewish, Muslim Christians of all faith, something ive seen in my lifetime but i got to see this. There are people who try to define the movement by the most extreme examples, the way they demonize black lives matter but people see, its a movement for humanity. For peace. And people should not be upset. Some antianything, its pro humanity, if in colleges, the end of the day, its about humanity, so it makes me proud and make me wish my father is here to see it. Rick, the president has faced protest before and hecklers, one of the things he had been given credit is the grace that he has handled it. Theres been criticism about the policy and administration, and the moments where there have been hecklers and protesters inside the room, inside events, he has often times told people melissa listen, lets see here what they have to say. Youre absolutely right. He has diffuse things in that joe biden way. He connects with people. When he gets heckled, he responds, okay, wait a second, let them talk. First one was laughing at square. 2020. When donald trump wanted to shoot black lives matter protesters in the leg of course as he was saying. And who wanted the National Guard to roll in armed and to take them out. It really is a contrast between people who can tolerate dissent and debate and disagreement and people who cannot. Look, this is a fraud complex formal question, theres a terrible human toll taken place right now. And biden is trying to navigate all these different competing interests you. And i dont think you would see that in a country that did not have a free press and not have the ability for people to practice in streets and campuses, you can agree and disagree but the fundamental right is deeply wired into us and excess americans and its really important. This is the important point that i think crystallize in this election that a lot of people have said, you may disagree with bidens policies, how its all playing out, but at the end of the day, could you imagine protesters, organizing under a fascistic authoritarian presidency of donald trump . This scene will not be happening, you would not be in the White House Correspondents dinner, but then again, he seeking immunity and absolute immunity and what that might for future protests in this country. Absolutely. We have seen how he acted with protest. We saw who he during the protests, turned dc but the rest of the state and militaristic occupations. An amplified governors like the governor of florida to actually say, it is okay to run people over with your vehicle who are actively protesting. That is donald j trump. To a point, we have not seen protests like this amplified 10 years ago. 12 years ago. Not even five years ago. Something has changed in this country. Where you have more and more people who are understanding the palestinian people. This is play. For joe biden, someone who has this longstanding history in foreign policy, was engage with former Prime Minister of israel, who understands this area very well. He is also being strategic and how hes handling this but also understands the importance of uplifting our First Amendment rights. Hes not trying to shut these protests down. He knows that these are not violent, these are not violent protests. Hes not allowing the right to take that message and run with it. That says a lot about him and the preservation of our democracy. 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