mediabistro.com: FishbowlDC

PBS' Jim Lehrer sent the following note, obtained by FishbowlDC, to all staffers today:

From: Jim Lehrer
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 3:37 PM
To: REDACTED
Subject: A thank you

Dear Boys and Girls, Friends and Colleagues:

I made it. By any measurement, including those of the imagination and the soul, I couldn't be doing better. The initial impact of the operation was a lot like being run over by a truck--make that a bus, an ACF-Brill IC 41 Silversides Air-Conditioned Thruliner, to be exact.

There remain a few bruises and scars to heal but there is progress--literally--every day. The heart things, including the new valve stolen from a pig on my behalf, are moving right along the way they were intended.

I want all of you to know that Kate, Jamie, Lucy, Amanda and I could not have gone through this without the real and spiritual support of you, our NewsHour/MLP family. Your messages of love and encouragement have kept us going—and smiling. That gift basket you sent to Boston is the largest of its kind in the world, I am sure. It's also the only one that featured a Peter Pan bus. Thank you.

Thank you for what you have done for us, thank you for being the people you are.

There is no firm return schedule yet. The good news for me is that it will be only a matter of a few weeks and that I plan to pick up exactly where and how I left off. The bad news for everyone else is that it will be only a matter of a few weeks and that I plan to pick up exactly where and how I left off...

Again, I thank you all; I love you all.

Jim.

Indiana/NC: Live-Blogging (10-11pm)

10:01: In response to a question from Olbermann, Matthews says "Yup." Olbermann: That's the shortest thing you've ever said." Norah O'D: "Does that mean I can use up the time?" Olbermann: "No."

10:02: Olbermann says "this thing gets more mysterious as we go." Russert hears that Lake County may not report until 11 pm. (Ed. note: Ugh). "The longer this delays ... the less and less Sen. Clinton can make the case for momentum ... to those undeclared superdelegates."

10:04: Jamal Simmons on CNN: "If my aunt had a male appendage, she'd be my uncle." Anderson Cooper: "Election Center Late Night" (makes porn music sound?)

10:15 Matthews wonders if the results are being delayed for "dramatic effect." Andrea Mitchell doubts it.

10:17 Hume on Lake County: "We're not getting anything out of there. ... There are some suspicions, as you might imagine, about what's going on with those votes." It may not be until midnight.

MIDNIGHT?!? Whatevs. We're going to bed. We part with John King and his wall and will pick up in the a.m. so send us whatever we ought to read and we'll post when we wake up.

Indiana/NC: Live-Blogging (9-10pm)

9:02: Tom Brokaw talks about back when "Obama sent that thrill up your leg, Chris."

9:05: Andrea Mitchell reports from Hillary headquarters. "They are holding their breath ... They think they've won Indiana. ... This is not a knock out punch for Hillary Clinton ... They've got very hard work to do to hold those superdelegates from declaring. ... There's on way to spin this... This was not a game changer."

9:12: Cable nets turn to Obama's speech in Raleigh, NC:

9:12: TVNewser catches: "NBC now calls Indiana too close to call (it was too early to call)"

9:13: Obama congrats Hillary on "what appears to be her victory in the great state of Indiana."

9:17: Sign of the times? My online feed of MSNBC is coming in more quickly than my television.

9:30: Charlie Gibson anchored an updated World News at 9:30 with primary reports from David Wright (in NC with Obama campaign) and George Stephanopoulos in NY.

9:32: Anderson Cooper joins the coverage after Obama's speech.

9:40: See "CBS And Its 8:09 PM Indiana Call"

9:42: Who says we don't listen to the radio, Chris Berry?!?

On NPR, the Hillary campaign's senior campaign strategist Geoff Garin calls in to chat :

She offers more to the country.

He says the country will hear from her "when more votes are counted. ... We want to make sure this is all put to bed."

Obama superdelegate Joe Andrew comes on next.

9:48: Bill Hemmer takes to the wall. Brit Hume later asks Hemmer if he'll teach him how to use the wall.

9:49: Candy Crowley's in the house.

9:55: Rachel Maddow and David Gregory suggest that Obama's Raleigh speech was "an acceptance speech" for the Democratic nomination.

9:57: Brit Hume says he's getting on in years waiting for Indiana results.

Indiana/NC: Live-Blogging (7-8pm)

7:03: Karl Rove joins Fox News coverage.

7:05: Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News... "Our official call at this hour, so far, is that it's too early to call."

7:06: Obama supporter Sen. John Kerry, on MSNBC, calls Terry McAuliffe's analysis "dead wrong."

7:05: On CNN: Bill Bennett says, "I've got to tell you, I think this is her last best chance, Wolf. And if she doesn't do something dramatic tonight, I think it's probably over."

7:10: On CNN, Donna Brazile just said Lou Dobbs is her "boo" tonight and that she's going to squeeze him "like orange juice."

7:18: How the networks opened with election coverage during their nightly news casts:

7:27: On Fox News, Brit Hume has to correct Jeff Goldblatt's reporting from Indianapolis that Indiana had "139 newly registered voters in this state." Hume: "I assume you meant 139,000?" Goldbatt: "It's been a long day."

7:30: CNN calls North Carolina for Sen. Barack Obama:

7:30: So does MSNBC:

7:30: Fox calls NC for Obama.

7:30: ABC News calls NC for Obama. Charlie Gibson (joined by George Stephanopoulos) anchored an ABC News' special report projecting Sen. Obama as the winner of the North Carolina Democratic primary. Immediately after the special report, Charlie rejoined "World News" in parts of the country and he is currently anchoring an updated broadcast.

7:42: Joe Scarborough calls NC this a "huge victory" for Obama. If Obama wins NC by double digits, "that's a game changer."

7:50: Megyn Kelly (FNC) and Norah O'Donnell (MSNBC) largely credit Obama's NC victory to his success with African-American voters.

7:52: Terry McAuliffe goes on FNC.

7:56: Chuck Todd shows off his technology.

7:57: Keith Olbermann tries to distinguish "too close to call" and "too early to call" (we think we understood) and hints that MSNBC may have a call after 8. On FNC, Brit Hume teases the next segment, which will explain why Indiana is too early to call.