NAMES & FACES

Adding Some Punch to a Presser

For those who find news conferences in Washington to be rather dull -- particularly on Capitol Hill -- New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and HillaryClinton's presser on homeland security Thursday afternoon will make you rethink. The Senate TV Gallery briefly morphed into "The Jerry Springer Show," and no politicians were involved!

New York Post reporter Vince Morris and CBS cameraman P.G. Cong had minor fisticuffs after the news conference (at least they waited until after -- very professional). It seems the very tall Morris was obstructing a camera shot and tempers flared. What happened next was caught on tape (and aired by CNN with the header "Journalists Gone Wild"): Cong walks up to Morris and jabs his neck. Words are exchanged, then Cong lunges toward Morris and bam! Cong is hurled across some chairs and crashes to the ground.

Asked about the incident, Morris said, "No comment," and CBS told us that Cong was unavailable for comment.

As we were reminded by various press types, this wasn't Morris's first scuffle with a photographer. In January, while covering Howard Dean's rise and fall on the campaign trail, an altercation that now sounds familiar erupted at a Dairy Queen in Des Moines. According to the Des Moines Register, a freelance photog requested that Morris step out of the shot. Shoving resulted then, too, with Morris declaring at the time: "I had a reason! This guy had his hand on me! So I took care of it!"

Between this and the whole Dick Gephardt-chosen-as-veep cover-story debacle, clearly it has been a sensitive week over at the New York Post.

Holding Court With Allen Iverson

Hey, basketball fans: You have two chances tonight to hang with Allen Iverson and friends. Iverson (and perhaps even Magic Johnson -- he's on the guest list, anyway) will drop by Ortanique restaurant to tout the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. Just hand over 20 bucks at the door and you can party with the hoopster. Then, in the wee hours, word is Iverson and Co. will head to the Water Street club H20 for an after-party.

As it happens, Iverson hasn't been resting up for his late night out. He has been spotted showing off his skills at Sports Club/LA on the famous glass-enclosed basketball court that attracted all those gawkers back in Washington's George Clooney and "K Street" days.

David Bowie and Those Olden Years

It's hard to imagine the ever-timeless David Bowie as actually aging, but news that the 57-year-old was rushed to a German hospital to undergo emergency heart surgery makes that fact hard to ignore.

The good news is that Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane/Thin White Duke/ Iman's husband was released earlier this week (the surgery took place June 25). He expects to return to work next month. Phew! Says Bowie, "I tell you what, though, I won't be writing a song about this one."

Noted . . .

Billionairess Oprah Winfrey handed over a million bucks to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The $110 million museum is being built on the Ohio River in Cincinnati . . . The band Velvet Revolver came out with its debut album only about a month ago, but it looks like the group is going to lose its lead singer, Scott Weiland, for a while. Thanks to a judge's order Thursday, the former Stone Temple Pilots frontman is heading back to drug rehab after he pleaded no contest to driving under the influence in Los Angeles.

. . . and Quoted

"John and I have a lot in common. He's a lawyer. I'm a lawyer. His name is John. My name is John. He was named People magazine's sexiest man of the year. I read People magazine."

-- John Kerry, helpfully pointing out similarities between himself and running mate John Edwards, aside from their abundant hair.

-- Compiled by Anne Schroeder

from staff and wire reports