On the analysis side, former Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich and former Current TV anchor Jennifer Granholm will provide insider analysis, with Gloria Borger, David Gergen, Cornell Belcher, Donna Brazile, Alex Castellanos, Margaret Hoover, Van Jones and Ana Navarro also weighing in throughout the night.

One person who apparently will not be appearing on CNN’s SOTU coverage is the anchor of CNN’s “State of the Union,” Candy Crowley. Crowley hosted her weekend program from DC yesterday, and previewed the SOTU on “CNN Newsroom” yesterday afternoon.

Update: CNN says that Crowley is out of town, caring for her mother. Hence, she won’t be able to participate in the coverage.

More info, below.
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• Democratic strategist David Axelrod has already shaved his mustache on “Morning Joe,” but he can’t help himself, and is taking his mustache-shaving ways to CNN. Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist and CNN contributor, says that if they can secure another 500 contributions for Axelrod’s charity, then he will shave his mustache off as well, live in “The Situation Room.” Stay tuned…

• Fox News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren, in something of an aside in her blog, declares “I think Larry King is the best interviewer of all TV.” You can read her argument here.

• The man behind a fake press release about Fox News speaks to The Huffington Post. The hoaxster posted a plausible-reading press release on PRWeb, claiming that a conservative research group found that Fox News viewers had lower IQs than average Americans. It was a ruse, designed to be picked up by some bloggers, and indeed, it was. The details are here.

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“It’s weird that you’re interupting me and not letting me make my point, because we usually get along so well,” said Maddow, who at one point said Castellanos was being “condescending.”

Watch:

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• FNC will be live from 9pm – Midnight ET with co-anchors Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly reporting the voting results from both states. Martha MacCallum and Bill Hemmer will provided live coverage of exit poll numbers. Also contributing to the network’s primary coverage: Chief Political Correspondent Carl Cameron, correspondents Shannon Bream and Mike Tobin, and Senior National Correspondent John Roberts who will be stationed at the primary locations and candidates’ headquarters.
• Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett and John King will headline CNN’s America’s Choice 2012 coverage beginning at 7pmET. CNN Gloria Borger and David Gergen, along with political contributors Paul Begala, Maria Cardona, Alex Castellanos and Ari Fleischer will be on set in the CNN Election Center. Candy Crowley will report from Romney campaign headquarters in Michigan, Jim Acosta will be at Santorum headquarters, and Joe Johns will be at Gingrich headquarters.
• MSNBC will air live special coverage  from 8pm – Midnight ET. MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Rev. Al Sharpton, Ed Schultz and Lawrence O’Donnell will lead coverage and analysis of the results.
• FBN’s Neil Cavuto will host special live coverage starting at 8pmET. FBN’s Rich Edson will report live from Michigan while Lori Rothman will be in-studio to examine exit poll data.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The network already revealed it will be adding more “virtual objects” to its coverage.

“We are taking capabilities of the Data Wall and quadrupling it in order to report the story in the clearest way we can,” said CNN senior VP and Washington bureau chief David Bohrman in a statement. “Viewers are ready for a rich meal of election items and with CNN’s technology on air and online, paired with the Best Political Team, we will serve an unparalleled election night experience.”

Wolf Blitzer will lead the network’s coverage, and will be joined by Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley, John King and Soledad O’Brien. Other anchors, reporters and hosts that will be contributing to the program include Jessica Yellin, Dana Bash, Brianna Keilar, Ed Henry, Dan Lothian, Suzanne Malveaux and new 8 PM hosts Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker.

More information after the jump.

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Castellanos told Media Matters he was unaware of the payment and returned when he “found out.”

“I was not aware of the payment because ours is a large business and an employee who handles and processes payments for me dealt with the RNC transaction,” Castellanos said. “CNN’s preference and policy is that I don’t work for the RNC or political candidates.”

Castellanos received the money in October of last year, and returned two months later. “When I found out that I was being paid by the RNC, I returned it,” Castellanos said. “I wish I could keep it. I would like to add to the economic recovery.”

A CNN spokesperson adds, “Not only did Alex do the right thing by returning the money, he also demonstrated his independence from the party chairman by calling for Michael Steele to step aside.”

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This morning’s Washington Post reports that BP has retained the services of Rosen, a Democrat who heads the Washington office of the Brunswick Group, to help out with BP’s lobbying and public relations offensive inside the Beltway. Rosen has contracted out some of this work for BP to Castellanos…

NY Daily News’ Frank DiGiacomo writes today that some producers in CNN’s Washington bureau “are upset over this.” The network pointed out that neither commentators have been on the air recently. “Both Alex and Hilary are contributors used primarily to comment on political issues, and they are not being used to discuss the oil disaster story,” a spokesperson said to WaPo.

The Huffington Post “cut ties” with Rosen earlier this month when she began consulting for BP, though Rosen was HuffPost’s D.C. “editor-at-large” which is arguable altogether different from being a panelist.

According to a TVEyes search, Castellanos last appeared on the network on May 18 for primary election coverage and Rosen last appeared on June 9th to discuss women in politics. We were unable to find an instance where BP or the oil spill were topics either discussed.

This is not the first time a lobbying issue has come up with Castellanos, but we do know that CNN has had a history of disclosing — on-screen — professional ties its analysts have with other organizations.

So is this a real concern for CNN or is it blown out of proportion?

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On Wednesday, Media Matters reported that Castellanos’ consulting firm, National Media, placed ads for the insurance advocacy group:

According to the detailed ad buy information obtained by Media Matters, Castellanos is responsible for placing, beginning October 11, more than $1 million of AHIP advertising in five states. Castellanos last appeared on CNN September 30; during a debate with Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) on The Situation Room, Castellanos defended Republican health care proposals.

CNN said in a statement, “When Alex Castellanos returns from his vacation and next appears on CNN, we will clearly disclose to our viewers relevant information including his firm’s relationship with AHIP.”

Interestingly, TVNewser went back and checked out a health care debate Castellanos had with Paul Begala on “The Situation Room” September 22nd, and while CNN did not specifically disclose any ties with insurance organizations, they did provide these onscreen graphics to disclose some information about his professional background:

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The BPTOT was gathering on the edge of the newsroom as anchor Wolf Blitzer interviewed former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani. Conservative commentator Alex Castellanos and Democratic commentator Paul Begala compared ties (they wore opposite colors). “It’s kind of a George W. Bush tie,” teased Castellanos of Begala’s blue tie.

A few dozen feet away, Soledad O’Brien and Bill Schneider are being given some final training on the huge Voter Analysis screen. The screen breaks down exit polls in what seems to be an unlimited number of combinations. CNN’s political director Sam Feist stops by to watch the preparations. “Isn’t that cool?” he says. “It’s what we’ve always wanted.”

For Castellanos, this was his first election night on the media side of the equation. There’s good chemistry here,” he says. “I didn’t think I’d find a better place to watch the election.”

Overall, he wasn’t confident about the night. You may find me at the bar at Midnight,” he said. Then he was reminded he would have to be on the air at Midnight. “This is the only bar I’ve ever been at where you sit for seven hours with no booze,” he joked.

We also asked both Castellanos and James Carville about their bet regarding the Louisiana Senate race. Both seemed confident in their candidates before the results. In the end, Castellanos owes Carville some dinner. “I hope Democrats don’t eat much,” he said last night.

• Related: The New York Times’ Brian Stelter gives the late-night behind-the-scenes at CNN…

Below, a look at the CNN Grill on the 10th floor of the Time Warner center (before it became packed), and after the jump, more pictures from CNN’s newsroom:



Click continued to see more pictures of the night…

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The sort-of new commentators include David Brody, Alex Castellanos, Dana Milbank, and Hilary Rosen.

Click continued if you care…

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