White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) President and CBS News correspondent Weijia Jiang previewed on Thursday what to expect from the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner after an armed suspect stormed the April event."I don’t want images of my colleagues hiding under a table to be the last images from this year, of all years," Jiang told People magazine.She added, "I want us to stand together and to show that we are not gonna be intimidated — that we are going to come back stronger, and we are going to recognize all the people who have done such hard work."WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS' ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES EVENT BEING RESCHEDULED AFTER SHOOTINGWhite House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) President and CBS News correspondent Weijia Jiang spoke to People Magazine about the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Dinner.(Al Drago/Getty Images)Since then, Jiang described several security measures taken ahead of Friday's dinner in partnership with the Secret Service and a private security firm hired by the WHCA.
These measures include moving the location from the Washington Hilton to the Waldorf Astoria ballroom, shrinking the guest list from 2600 attendees to approximately 680 and allowing only one access point through a private entrance."I do feel very good about the measures that we’ve taken and really thought through," Jiang said.Despite the tight schedule to put together a new dinner, Jiang emphasized the importance of celebrating the press during America's 250th anniversary.TRUMP PRAISES PRESS AFTER WHCD SHOOTING, SAYS UNITY AT DINNER WAS 'BEAUTIFUL'"Maybe if it wasn’t this year, 2026, it would’ve been easier just to say, ‘Let’s just wait until next year’s dinner,’" Jiang said."But especially at that time leading up to July 4th, all the country was talking about, all Washington was talking about, was America 250.
And the First Amendment is such an important part of that fabric that this year of all years, we ha...