Last week came the rumors about the possibility of Ryan Seacrest taking over for Larry King on CNN at 9pmET.

Now Seacrest speaking to Access Hollywood, is looking to settle the rumors later this week:

"I will be on Larry's show Thursday night. We will talk more about it with Larry," Ryan explained. "Larry is going to be on CNN as long as Larry wants to be but I am going to be Larry's guest Thursday night and Larry and I are going to talk about everything."

(via OCN)

CNN correspondent Dan Rivers is talking about his perilous journey out of cyclone-ravaged Myanmar (Burma). As TVNewser reported last Monday, Rivers was reporting anonymously at first, but by late Monday he'd begun identifying himself. That may have been his undoing.

Rivers soon found out the officials were looking for him. On Thursday, Rivers hid under a blanket at a police checkpoint. He returned reporting later that day, but was spotted again. He was told to return to his van where police would be waiting. "There were a lot of things going through our minds then about what we would find at the end of that journey," he told the AP. "At one point I was thinking, 'what if they just shot us and threw us into the river and said it was an accident?'"

The police handed Rivers over to another government official, who let him go after being convinced he and his group were part of the relief effort. The AP's David Bauder writes, "cigarettes, water and a candy bar helped."

"I kind of felt that I'd used my nine lives up and it was time to get out of the country," Rivers said.

But the drama didn't end there. Rivers was called off the airplane as it was ready to leave Yangoon. He was searched again, but thanks to an impatient flight attendent, Rivers was allowed back on the plane. By Friday, he was back in Thailand. "I was amazed at the lengths they apparently went just to catch me," Rivers said.

And already CNN has a correspondent back in Myanmar. This time, reporting anonymously. (Image below from 10:26amET today)

Headline News anchor Nancy Grace is one of the celebraties featured in this month's Mother's Day edition of Quick & Simple magazine (no link). Grace recalls some fond memories:

Some of my fondest memories are times built around saving money. I recall many wonderful nights sitting with my mother as she worked over our sewing machine, making my sister and me new dresses. Or when the weather was good, we'd pick fruits together on the weekends. We'd make jellies and preserves and enter them into the Georgia State Fair. With the blue ribbons came money! And that money went towards buying one another Christmas presents.

Grace will host a special Mother's Day edition of her show on Sunday, featuring the winner of HLN's Extraordinary Parent contest.

Don't look for Lanny Davis to appear on CNN anytime soon. The Clinton confidant called his Tuesday night appearance, the "worst experience I ever had on television." Not only was it a tension-filled booking, Davis tells Politico's Michael Calderone he ended up waiting 90 minutes to get on the air.

This, however, doesn't mean Davis will stop making the cable rounds in support of candidate Hillary Clinton. He was on with Neil Cavuto earlier on Your World.

FishbowlLA today quells some of those Ryan Seacrest-to-CNN rumors.

Mayrav Saar reports that sources close to Seacrest confirmed the American Idol host is in talks with CNN to take over for Larry King at 9pmET, but the source also says, "I don't think it's going to happen."

King just signed a new deal that will keep him with CNN into 2011. The deal, however, does not guarantee King will stay as 9pmET host of Larry King Live.

About our earlier post: Glenn Beck v. Gamers:

We were just sent this post from the Xbox360 Fanboy blog. Beck has apparently been on a gamer tirade lately saying, "I will tell you that all these video gamers ... they're bloggers, as well as video gamers — they're writing all kinds of stuff about me [that] I'm the enemy now of video gamers. I could care less about video games. Video game bloggers? They're losers..."But only video game bloggers, right Glenn?

Beck responds to TVNewser:

"I stand by my view that a video game that allows you to have sex with a prostitute and then beat her to death might be a bad influence on people. However, if video game bloggers want to disagree with me, join the club. And of course, I just meant that video game bloggers are losers...TV News bloggers are brilliant beyond measure."

We thought so. Thanks, Glenn.

Glenn Beck begins his third year as part of prime time on Headline News with double-digit gains in the time period. Glenn Beck is up 91% in Total Viewers and up 93% in A25-54 vs. the prior year's ratings (Dec. 27, 2004-Dec. 25, 2005).

Beck tells TVNewser, "It takes most shows one full year to figure out what we learned in just two. At this rate, imagine how little progress we can make in the next two!"

Glenn Beck launched on HLN on May 8, 2006.

CNN correspondent Cal Perry is reporting live on the phone this morning from the middle of today's violence in Beirut. While bursts of gunfire can be heard in the background, Perry described the scene: "We're behind, believe it or not, a Dunkin' Donuts, a very large building here. It's the kind of situation where you don't want to move, you want to stay where you have cover," Perry said.



CNN anchor Tony Harris said the images are being provided by Al-Jazeera while Perry reports. Correspondent Brent Sadler is also reporting from the scene for CNN International.

Meanwhile, about seven thousand miles away, CNN correspondent Dan Rivers, remains one of the few western journalists reporting from inside Myanmar and the aftermath of the deadly cyclone there.

The New York Daily News' Tanyanika Samuels writes about the news network being launched with the help of CNN/US president Jon Klein. CNN doesn't have to worry the competition though — this one takes place in a school.

Klein spent the day recently at PS 71, his elementary school alma mater, as the Preparatory Broadcast Network was launched. The student-produced news is broadcast to classrooms, and helps prepare students for the broadcast world.

Also aiding the project are two volunteers from CNN, Rob Frehse and Rob Fox.

"I saw a lot of kids serious about learning. The school was filled with strivers when I went there 40 years ago, and it still is today," he said. "It was very motivating."

The Associated Press' David Bauder writes about this morning's Sen. Barack Obama interview with CNN anchor John Roberts. Roberts declared on air that, before the interview, it would be a "Rev. Wright-free zone."

During his following six-minute interview with Obama, he didn't mention Rev. Jeremiah Wright one time. The Huffington Post has the video.

This comes on the heels of Obama's hour-long Meet the Press interview with NBC's Tim Russert, who spent his first 11 questions asking about the subject.

"Everyone has to make their own decisions," Russert told Bauder. "I don't take questions off the table. I was just in Indiana and I assure you, everywhere I went, people came up to me and asked me about it."