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The Department of Justice says that it is unlikely to bring charges against Fox News correspondent James Rosen, who had his email searched by the FBI in relation to a leak investigation.

A warrant was executed against Rosen’s email, accusing him of being a “co-conspirator” to the individual accused of leaking information related to North Korea.

The implication that Rosen was complicit, as well as the apparent breach of a free press, drew a sharply worded critique from Fox News yesterday.

The Washington Post has more on the DOJ decision:

In response to questions about how Rosen was characterized in the affidavit, the Justice Department said in a statement Monday: “Saying that there is probable cause to believe that someone has committed a crime and charging the person with that crime are two different things.”

“No reporter has been charged in this case,” the statement added. “And, at this time we do not anticipate bringing additional charges against anyone.”

When an extraordinary event takes place, there is always some extraordinary television coverage that follows. Here are some of the highlights from this morning’s coverage.

NBC’s “Today” reunited a teacher with one of the students she helped save:

“CBS This Morning” put together a montage featuring the raw sights and sounds form the tornado, including a woman finding her missing dog live on camera:

ABC’s “Good Morning America” interviewed two of the teachers who helped save students at one of the elementary schools:

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President Obama is scheduled to comment on the disaster in Oklahoma at 10 AM and it is likely that all of the broadcast networks will break into regular programming to cover it.  ”CBS This Morning” went into the 9 AM hour to cover the fallout. We hear that “CTM” will stay live until 12 PM on the east coast covering the damage, and 10 AM pacific.

Update: “Our prayers are with the people of Oklahoma today,” Obama said. “Oklahoma needs to get everything that it needs right away.”

“If there is hope to hold onto, not just in Oklahoma but around the country, it is the knowledge that the good people there in Oklahoma are more prepared than most, and what they can be certain about is that Americans around the country will be right there with them,” he added.

Meanwhile, the news channels are sending their A-teams to Oklahoma to cover the fallout from the tornado.

As we noted yesterday, NBC has Brian Williams,  Lester Holt, Ann Curry, Harry Smith, Kate Snow, Anne Thompson and Dr. Nancy Snyderman in Oklahoma, as well as the Weather Channel team of Jim Cantore, Mike Bettes, and Mike Seidel.

ABC News has Sam Champion, Ginger Zee, David Muir and Alex Perez in Oklahoma. Byron Pitts, Mike Boettcher, and Cecilia Vega are also either in Moore or en route.

CBS has Norah O’Donnell anchoring from Moore, and Anna Werner on the ground, and Scott Pelley will anchor the “CBS Evening News” there this evening.
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CNN has named Indra Petersons as its new weather anchor and correspondent. Petersons will primarily contribute to “New Day” with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira which begins June 17, but will also appear across all CNN shows and platforms. With the devastating tornado in Oklahoma, Petersons is starting her field work early for CNN, and will be reporting from Moore this week.

Petersons joins CNN from KABC Los Angeles, where she was a meteorologist and general assignment reporter. Before KABC she worked at KEYT Santa Barbara and KVIA El Paso, also as a meteorologist.

She is effectively replacing Rob Marciano, who left as CNN’s weather anchor in November of 2012 to become the co-anchor of “Entertainment Tonight.”

A massive tornado–as wide as two-miles–ripped through a suburb of Oklahoma City this afternoon. Cable news channels picked up the tornado as it barreled through the city, while video of the aftermath spurred special coverage.

All three cable news channels went wall-to-wall with coverage, with Fox News forgoing the politics-centric “The Five” to have Shepard Smith deliver special coverage (video of Shep here). CNN stayed with “The Lead” and “The Situation Room,” while MSNBC kept special coverage going straight through the beginning of “Hardball.”

Our sister blog TVSpy has more information from the local TV coverage.

Update: TV networks are beginning to send teams to Oklahoma City. We will update as we get them. CBS actually had a correspondent (Anna Werner) in Moore, OK in time for the 6:30 evening newscast (video here).

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“Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts received a standing ovation as she accepted her George Foster Peabody Award Monday. Roberts is the first journalist since Walter Cronkite to get a standing ovation at the awards lunch, held annually at the Waldorf Astoria.

Roberts, pictured here with ABC News president Ben Sherwood, was honored for reports on her bone marrow transplant, which successfully raised awareness for Be the Match, an organization that registers potential bone marrow donors.

“As journalists we want to cover stories that cause a reaction that leads to action,” Roberts said in her speech. “We had no idea chronicling my journey would cause such a catalyst for action … many becoming bone marrow donors.”

Scott Pelley emceed the event. CBS News, PBS and CNN were among this year’s other winners.

25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 264 | MSNBC: 125 | CNN: 122 | HLN: 155

• Primetime: FNC: 299 | MSNBC: 171 | CNN: 133 | HLN: 148

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Fox News executive VP of news Michael Clemente released the following statement to TVNewser with regard to James Rosen being targeted by the Department of Justice.

“We are outraged to learn today that James Rosen was named a criminal co-conspirator for simply doing his job as a reporter. In fact, it is downright chilling. We will unequivocally defend his right to operate as a member of what up until now has always been a free press.”

Clemente’s statement comes as The New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza uncovers the full warrant application, which makes it seem as though the FBI is interested in investigating Rosen as much as it is interested in investigating Rosen’s source. Chilling indeed.

On “America Live,” Megyn Kelly revealed that two other Fox News staffers were targeted for investigation by the DOJ on stories unrelated to Rosen’s. Videos after the jump.
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First on TVNewser: Fusion, the upcoming cable news channel from ABC News and Univision, is adding HuffPost Live host Alicia Menendez to its lineup, TVNewser has learned.

Menendez is joining Fusion as an anchor based in Miami, and will host her own show on the channel when it launches later this year.

Menendez, the daughter of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), has long been a regular commentator on cable news, and is the former co-host of “Power Play” on SiriusXM’s Cristina Radio, which targets “Modern Latina” listeners. She is also a former contributor to NBCLatino.com.

She joined HuffPost Live before it launched in the Summer of 2012, and has become one of the faces of the burgeoning video channel, which recently secured a TV foothold on Mark Cuban’s AXS TV. She drew particular acclaim for her live coverage of the Boston bombings last month.

Update: internal memo from Fusion’s Beau Ferrari, after the jump.

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NBC News has officially named Deborah Turness as its new president. Turness will start her new role in August, reporting to NBCUniversal News Group chairman Pat Fili-Krushel.

“It is quite simply the greatest imaginable honor to be named as the next President of NBC News,” said Turness in a statement. “I am hugely excited by the opportunities that lie ahead and look forward to working with the talented journalists and technicians who make it one of the great global news operations.”

Turness is the editor of ITV News in the UK, a role she has held since 2004. She will remain that role until July, helping to select her successor at the British broadcaster. ITV and NBC News have long been partners, sharing bureaus and correspondents across the globe.

“Deborah has built an outstanding reputation as both a journalist and business executive with a proven track record for innovation and collaboration,” said Fili-Krushel in a statement. “She is a leader with a global perspective, who is also very familiar with NBC News, having worked closely with us through our partnership with ITN. Her passion for the news business, combined with her creativity and vision, will be a tremendous asset to NBC News, and I’m very pleased to welcome her to the team.”

The announcement was expected, as multiple outlets reported that Turness was the pick a week and a half ago. Her name was first floated back in April.

More information, below.

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