Politics

The breaking news trickled in from Alaska in bits and pieces. First it was: 'Gov. Sarah Palin Won't Run for Re-Election.' Soon enough the cable news networks were scrambling to confirm that Palin would be stepping down as Governor, which she is, on July 25th. As a news conference - without live transmission - was underway at Palin's Wasilla, Alaska home, the national news media was 4,000 miles away waiting for word.

• At 3:02pmET CNN's Rick Sanchez reported that Palin would not be running for a second term. He would repeat the news a few more times until 3:29pmET when, sourcing Alaska affiliates, that Palin would be stepping down as Governor.

• FNC reported that Palin would not be running for a second term at 3:10pmET. At 3:34pm Gregg Jarrett broke in again to report that Palin was handing over power to the Lieutenant Governor, again sourcing a local Alaska reporter. At 3:42, Jarrett reported that FNC had spoken to Todd Palin who confirmed the news.

• MSNBC first reported the news that Palin would not be running at 3:13pmET. An hour later MSNBC broke in again, this time with the tape of Palin announcing her plans.

FNC's Chris Wallace wondered why the soon-to-be former Governor made the announcement with such little fanfare, asking: "Wouldn't you have scheduled it in a way that all of the national media could get up there with satellite trucks and broadcast it live and we could be broadcasting it instead of talking about it? This does not feel like the act of a woman who wants to have a national career."

Meanwhile, CNN's Sanchez has his own questions about the step-down:

Pres. Obama has called a Rose Garden news conference for tomorrow at 12:30pmET. ABC, CBS and NBC will all cover with main anchors Charlie Gibson, Katie Couric and Brian Williams.

Additionally, Fox News' Shepard Smith will provide a special report for FOX affiliates.

This is Pres. Obama's fourth solo news conference; his first not in prime time.

> Update: The newser has been moved to the briefing room because of the heat -- it's expected to be 82 degrees and humid in D.C. today.

In case you missed it last night, here's Pres. Obama at the Radio & TV Correspondents Dinner: "It wasn't easy coming up with fresh material for this dinner. A few nights ago, I was up tossing and turning trying to figure out exactly what to say. Finally, when I couldn't get back to sleep I rolled over and asked Brian Williams what he thought."

Chuck Todd, Mika Brzezinski and Wolf Blitzer also get shout outs...

(via C-SPAN)

Some are referring to it at the junior prom — not as grand as the White House Correspondents dinner in April, but still a dinner where journos and politicos loosen up for a few hours.

And tonight Fox News, CNN and MSNBC will all carry live President Obama's remarks around 8:40pmET. C-SPAN will also provide live coverage of this year's Radio & TV Correspondents Dinner which is being held at the Washington Convention Center.

FishbowlDC has the lowdown on the events. They'll also be in attendance tonight, so look for reports and follow them on Twitter for up-to-the-minute coverage.

As a Senator, he was a Sunday morning staple for years. As Vice President, Joe Biden has now appeared on three of the four Sunday morning public affairs shows. But with each appearance, fewer viewers tuned in.

The figures are in millions of Total Viewers & A25-54 viewers:

• 12/28/2008 — ABC's "This Week" -- 3.67m/1.25m

• 01/25/2009 — CBS's "Face the Nation" -- 3.34m/1.21m

• 6/14/2009 — NBC's "Meet the Press" -- 3.10m/1.07m

> Update: A TVNewser reader points out Biden was still VP-elect for his "This Week" appearance in late December.

Gov. Sarah Palin appeared on NBC's Today show, in a lengthy interview with Matt Lauer. For more than five minutes, the topic of David Letterman took center stage.

She called his comments "a sad commentary on where we are as a culture, as a society, to chuckle and laugh through [such] comments."

"I think he will pay some sort of price for it, Governor," said Lauer.

Lauer also asked if she would be the "future of the GOP." "Absolutely not necessarily," said Palin.

Wolf Blitzer interviewed Palin as well this morning (so...no NBC exclusive), with clips to air on CNN today and in full on The Situation Room.

Click continued to see Lauer's interview...

continued...

Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren continues her reporting from Egypt (she rode a camel yesterday) with an interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this morning. The interview will air tonight on "On the Record."

We hear Van Susteren is heading back to the U.S. later today on the State Dept. plane.

"On the Record" was anchored on Tuesday by Martha MacCallum and last night by Jennifer Griffin. It will be MacCallum again tonight. (Anyone missing?)

Meanwhile, George Stephanopoulos interviews Mrs. Clinton this Sunday on "This Week." It's her first Sunday show interview since her presidential campaign ended this week last year.

President Barack Obama's much-hyped speech in Cairo, Egypt this morning aired on all three cablers, all three business news networks and more. But the time difference meant it aired at 6:10amET — nowhere near prime time.

Although clips have been played on the cablers today, MSNBC has gone to an additional step — replaying the entire speech, beginning at NoonET today (although broken up by commercials). CNN and FNC aired a lengthy clip of the speech at the top of the NoonET hour as well:

During tonight's NBC News special "Inside the Obama White House," as the president and Brian Williams were driving to get burgers, Williams asked Pres. Obama whether when he's watching cable TV and lands on a news channel and sees a debate underway about him, does he stop and watch?

I generally don't. Mainly because I don't find most of the cable chatter very persuasive. I've used this analogy before, it feels like WWF wrestling. Everybody's got their role to play. I know a lot of these guys. And if Pat Buchanan is having a conversation with Chris Matthews or talking to Keith Olbermann, everybody's got their set pieces and, so, I don't feel as if I'm learning anything from the debate.

Part II of "Inside the Obama White House" tomorrow on NBC at 9pmET/PT will include the Obama family.

More video and interactive features here on special page set up on msnbc.com...

The cablers and networks covered President Barack Obama's remarks about the GM bankruptcy this afternoon, with George Stephanopoulos anchoring on ABC, Russ Mitchell on CBS and Ann Curry on NBC.

Tonight on ABC World News, Charlie Gibson anchors from a Chevrolet dealership in New Jersey, in addition to several reports from ABC's correspondents. CBS' Dean Reynolds reports from Detroit and Anthony Mason from New York. NBC's Phil LeBeau (who got the second question at the GM news conference after a reporter from Mexico) and Kevin Tibbles will report for Nightly News.

And perhaps a recognition that it is now 60% owned by the U.S. government, GM was doing the diplomatic thing by airing C-SPAN's coverage of the Obama remarks at its New York headquarters, rather than from, say, CBS which produces its morning show in the GM building. C-SPAN, a public service channel, is owned by cable and satellite operators.