“Brit built this foundation,” Fox News anchor Bret Baier says of his predecessor Brit Hume. “We’re just trying to complete the house.”

Baier, host of “Special Report,” lead anchor of FNC’s primary coverage, and moderator of five GOP debates, is profiled by the AP’s David Bauder today.

Of Newt Gingrich‘s proposal to debate without a journalist-as-moderator, Baier says, “I don’t think that would work. I don’t think it would be too enjoyable to watch.” And of Gingrich’s attacks on the media: “It’s just politics. A lot of politicians have complained about media coverage and media questions. He just does it more frequently than others and perhaps more effectively.”

As we told you yesterday, John Coale, Greta Van Susteren‘s husband helped arrange a dinner with Herman Cain and several media bigwigs, including Van Susteren, in New York this weekend. But due to Cain’s personal issues, that dinner has been canceled. Reports then began to surface that Coale is advising Cain. (As for the dinner, Coale says Cain had called him up and asked him to phone his friend, New York gossip queen Cindy Adams who invited the guests.)

So, is it fair to say John Coale is a Cain adviser? And should Van Susteren mention this on her show, especially when she’s discussing the Cain campaign, as she did last night during a conversation with Brit Hume?

On the first question, both Coale and Greta say “no.” On GretaWire she writes that her husband has a lot of friends in Washington:

As friends, he gives them advice, and they give him advice….he tells them things and they tell him things. It is all part of living in Washington. Many in the media have spouses – unlike my husband – who actually WORK for politicians and or in government. Let me repeat, my husband does NOT WORK for any of them and NEVER HAS.

As for the second question, we asked Fox News and Bill Shine, who oversees primetime shows, including Van Susteren’s says Greta’s blog post is enough of a disclosure. Shine refused to answer why she didn’t mention the friendship, or advice-giving, or dinner-arranging, or whatever you call it, on air.

You’ll recall, Van Susteren got the first interview with Cain and his wife earlier this month following the sexual harassment allegations.

What do you think? Comments are open…

Here’s what the cable networks are planning for coverage of Pres. Obama’s address on Libya tonight at 7:30pmET from the National Defense University.

• Bloomberg’s executive editor Al Hunt and Julianna Goldman anchor coverage from Bloomberg TV’s Washington bureau.

• CNN will lead into the president’s remarks with John King and lead out with Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper anchoring special coverage along with King, Eliot Spitzer, and Fareed Zakaria, as well as CNN International correspondents Nic Robertson and Arwa Damon up until the 9pm hour when “Piers Morgan Tonight” begins.

• CNBC’s Larry Kudlow anchors coverage during “The Kudlow Report.”

• Fox Business Network’s Neil Cavuto anchors “FOX Business Special Report: Target Libya. A Presidential Address” beginning at 7:30pm.

• Fox News Channel’s Shepard Smith anchors during “FOX Report.” Coverage continues at 8pmET as Bill O’Reilly talks with Brit Hume.

• MSNBC’s Chuck Todd is in for Chris Matthews and will anchor coverage during “Hardball.” Primetime is as normal with the network adding a live special at 11pmET on the situation in Middle East and North Africa which will include NBC’s Richard Engel reporting from Libya.

Broadcast network plans can be found here.

All four major broadcast networks, along with the cable news channels, are bringing out the big name talent for coverage of the 2011 State of The Union address Tuesday evening.

On the broadcast networks, NBC has Brian Williams anchoring along with “Meet the Press” host David Gregory.

ABC has Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos anchoring, joined by a number of correspondents, hosts, and analysts, including Jake Tapper, Christiane Amanpour, Jonathan Karl and Deborah Roberts.

On CBS, “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric will lead the coverage, joined by CBS reporters and analysts.

On the Fox broadcasting network, Fox News Channel’s Shepard Smith will anchor coverage. Smith will be joined by “Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace and correspondent Wendell Goler.

On the cable news channels:

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Today marks the first day of the 112th Congress, which brings with it several ceremonies — including the swearing-in and the election of the Speaker of the House. The cablers are all ready for the coverage.

• Fox News Channel will start their coverage within normal programming at 11:30amET, which will include reports from Shannon Bream, Brit Hume, and Bret Baier. Then FNC will continue with White House press secretary Robert Gibbs‘ briefing at 12:30pmET.
• MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell are set to go with special coverage from 12:30pmET-2:30pmET.
• CNN will be live with anchors Wolf Blitzer, Candy Crowley, John King, and Ali Velshi — who will give analysis and special coverage starting at NoonET.

Update: ABC is planning a special report at approximately 2 PM ET, when Speaker-elect John Boehner takes the gavel from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, officially transferring power to the Republican party. Dianer Sawyer will anchor, with George Stephanopoulos in New York and Jonathan Karl in DC. Jake Tapper and Claire Shipman will also be a part of the coverage.

Fox News Channel has signed “Special Report” anchor Bret Baier to a new, multi-year contract extension, the network says. Baier will continue to serve as the anchor of “Special Report” under the new deal.

He has led the show since January, 2009, when he took over for Brit Hume, who is now a political analyst for the network.

“Bret’s integrity and hard-nosed approach to journalism has made him a go-to source for political news coverage,” said FNC senior VP of news editorial Michael Clemente in a statement. “We look forward to his strong presence on the network for years to come.”

The news of Baier’s re-upping was first reported by The Baltimore Sun‘s David Zurawik.

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In Part III of this week’s Media Beat interview, MacNeil-Lehrer Productions CEO Simon Marks talks about the new PBS Newshour: “We wanted the program to look a little bit more engaging, to give it added impact.” Marks also talks about his time with Fox News Channel as a contributing correspondent which included “co-anchoring with Brit Hume and Catherine Crier the funeral of Princess Diana.”

• Part I, Monday: How Technology Changes How the World is Covered

• Part II, Tuesday: Simon Marks on “Doing more with Less”

Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly are set to co-anchor the 2010 midterm election coverage on Fox News Channel. Coverage begins at 6pmET Tuesday with “Special Report with Bret Baier.” Then, at 7pm, “The FOX Report with Shepard Smith,” followed by Baier and Kelly’s “America’s Election HQ.” Baier and Kelly will be joined by senior political analyst Brit Hume and a panel of FNC contributors including Juan Williams, Democratic consultant Joe Trippi and former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, Karl Rove.

Fox News anchors Martha MacCallum and Bill Hemmer, who brings back the “Bill Board,” will be covering exit polls and tracking live data on the giant touchscreen. Chief political correspondent Carl Cameron provides minute-by-minute reporting on election results.

Bair and Kelly will be moderating panels with FNC contributors: former vice presidential candidate and Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, former Alaska Governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and former Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

What about Bill, Sean and Greta?

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The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik profiles Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier who will be FNC’s main political anchor for the mid-terms, taking over for longtime DC journalist/anchor Brit Hume.

“I dreamed of taking over for Brit Hume — I really did,” says Baier. “And when I thought about what I really wanted to do with my career it was to cover politics at a time when people were really interested in politics. And this is that time. The TV business is often like a ladder where you’re always thinking about the next rung. I’m not anymore. I’m thinking about the next show. I feel incredibly blessed to be where I am at this point in my life.”

Zurawick points to Baier’s ratings lead for his nightly newscast — nearly doubling the combined average of his CNN and MSNBC competition.

So far this year, “Special Report” has an average nightly audience of 2,107,000 in viewers — compared with 604,000 for “The Ed Show” on MSNBC and 545,000 for Wolf Blitzer’s “Situation Room” on CNN.

Baier joined FNC in 1998 in the nascent days of Roger Ailes‘ network. And while much has changed, the attitude hasn’t.

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Former Fox News Channel Washington bureau chief Brit Hume was back on the network today in his new role as senior political analyst, previewing the 2010 midterm elections.

Based on what anchor Bill Hemmer said, viewers can expect to see plenty more Brit leading up the elections:

“Brit, welcome back!” Hemmer said. “The first of many.”