Howard Kurtz, writing for Daily Download, has some thoughts about the David Gregory gun stunt on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” which has drawn the attention of the D.C. Metropolitan Police.

Let’s get real here. People who don’t like Gregory, or his network, or the media, or gun control are using his little stunt to express a bit of manufactured outrage, as though he were some kind of criminal.

This isn’t to say that NBC doesn’t have a bit of ‘splaning to do. The police say the network sought permission for Gregory to hold up the magazine during the Wayne LaPierre interview and was turned down.

Charge David Gregory with grandstanding. But don’t waste our time with a police “probe” that was launched purely for public relations purposes—and which has given Gregory an explosion of free publicity.

Politico reports the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department told producers of “Meet the Press” that they were not allowed to show a high-capacity gun clip on the air, but host David Gregory held it up anyway. From Gwendolyn Crump, a police spokeswoman:

NBC contacted [the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department] inquiring if they could utilize a high capacity magazine for their segment. NBC was informed that possession of a high capacity magazine is not permissible and their request was denied. This matter is currently being investigated.

In Washington, DC you are not allowed to “possess, sell, or transfer any large capacity ammunition feeding device regardless of whether the device is attached to a firearm.”

Gregory was interviewing NRA chief Wayne LaPierre on last Sunday’s show. Gregory is on previously scheduled vacation and will not be hosting this Sunday’s show. TVNewser has reached out to NBC News for comment, but we have not heard back. The investigation is a topic of discussion on the news networks with CNN, HLN, Fox News and ABC News all reporting on it today.

It appears WhiteHouse.gov’s “We the People” site is the place of choice if you want to set up a petition against a member of the media. Last Friday, a petition was created calling for the deportation of CNN host Piers Morgan over his stance on gun control. The petition has more than 68,000 signatures so far — up from 47,000 Monday afternoon.

Two days after the Morgan petition, another was established calling for charges against “Meet the Press” host David Gregory after he brandished what appears to be an assault rifle magazine during a discussion with NRA head Wayne LaPierre on last Sunday’s show. That’s a violation of Washington, DC law. The code reads:

No person in the District shall possess, sell, or transfer any large capacity ammunition feeding device regardless of whether the device is attached to a firearm. For the purposes of this subsection, the term large capacity ammunition feeding device means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Breitbart.com reached out to the office of Chief Cathy Lanier who responded, “Yes, we are investigating the incident to determine if the magazine was in fact real.”

Merry Christmas TVNewser readers! In celebration of the holiday, we present NBC News anchor David Gregory dancing to Christmas music. Specifically Cee Lo Green‘s cover of the 1970 Donny Hathaway classic “This Christmas.”

Today actually has a page letting visitors vote on when Gregory had the best moves.

The full video, if you want to watch it, is after the jump.

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The crew of NBC’s “Today” decided to play a little prank on co-anchor Savannah Guthrie this week. There was a news brief about a burger chain in Brazil that serves up its sliders in edible wrappers. Natalie Morales threw to David Gregory, Al Roker and Guthrie on the Plaza, and Gregory said:

“Don Nash Our executive producer is so thoughtful and forward looking and so trendy that he actually had a couple of these burgers flown in for us to try.”

There was just one problem: they were not burgers with edible wrappers, as Guthrie soon discovered.

“Do the weather, please I beg of you do the weather,” Guthrie quipped to Roker after figuring out the prank.

WATCH:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

NBC News has announced a pair of notable interviews, with “Rock Center” to feature a discussion with Richard Engel and his crew, and “Meet the Press” securing the first interview with NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre since the awful shooting in Newtown, CT last week.

On “Rock Center” tonight Brian Williams will sit down with Engel, as well as producers Ghazi Balkiz and Aziz Akyavas, and cameraman John Kooistra “to hear their story first-hand.” Other stories include an Ann Curry piece on Sandy Hook and the latest from Chelsea Clinton.

On “Meet the Press” Sunday, David Gregory will sit with LaPierre in his first interview since the Newtown shooting. The NRA is slated to hold a press conference today, so whatever they announce there will surely come up in the interview.

At 1:30 PM ET, President Obama will be giving his first press conference in months, and the first since he won reelection just over a week ago.

The cable news channels will, as usual, be dedicating their programs in that hour to covering the conference, and the broadcasters will be breaking into regular programming to carry it as well.

NBC will have Brian Williams anchoring from New York, with David Gregory in Washington and Chuck Todd at the White House. CBS will have Scott Pelley anchoring. ABC will have Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos anchoring with Martha Raddatz and Jonathan Karl in Washington.

The President is expected to be asked about the Petraeus scandal, though any other subject is presumable also on the table.

The broadcast networks will all air special reports covering a statement from President Obama around 1 PM today. It will be President Obama’s first public statements following his reelection (not counting his acceptance speech, of course). As usual, expect the cable networks to not only air the speech, but provide plenty of lead-up coverage and post-statement “analysis.”

Obama is expected to talk about the “fiscal cliff,” a series of tax increases and spending cuts which will all happen at the same time early next year. He is not expected to take any questions from reporters.

Update: On NBC Brian Williams will anchor from new York, joined by David Gregory in Washington and Chuck Todd at the White House. On ABC Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will anchor from New York, with Jake Tapper at the White House.

For the third-straight Presidential election, NBC is turning the skating rink and Rockefeller Plaza around it, into its election news hub “Democracy Plaza.” An outline of the United States lies a half inch under the ice, and will be filled in as each state goes red for Romney or blue for Obama. Red and blue curtains will rise up 30 Rock as electoral votes are counted — the 16th floor is the crucial 270 mark. And for the first time, Democracy Plaza will serve as a hub for all the NBC News outlets, with NBC, MSNBC, Telemundo and CNBC all either anchoring or having a presence there tonight.

“We don’t just have the broadcast channel, we have the cable channel, we don’t do two hours of the “Today” show, we do four, and when you come to Democracy Plaza, we are not just doing election coverage, we are doing all of this,” NBC News president Steve Capus told TVNewser last night, as he signaled toward the rink. “I think it is a great focal point for the culmination of two years of politicking that has brought us to this point.”

There are two elevated temporary studios overlooking the ice rink, one of which will be used by NBC News and the other by MSNBC. Just off the rink, next to the statue of Prometheus, is an outdoor studio, where Tamron Hall (warmly dressed, one hopes) will be based. Hall will walk out to the rink throughout the night, presenting storylines based on exit polls using augmented reality, much like the first down lines in televised football games. There is also another smaller studio by the rink for guests, in addition to those on the 3rd floor of 30 Rock, where NBC News programs originate.

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“NBC Nightly News” anchor and managing editor Brian Williams heads up NBC’s coverage from Rockefeller Plaza — dubbed Democracy Plaza from now through election day. David Gregory and Savannah Guthrie will join Williams at the anchor desk. Tom Brokaw looks at historical trends, Chuck Todd reports electoral storylines via a studio equipped with  augmented reality, Pete Williams reports on voter irregularities, Andrea Mitchell follows key congressional races, and Lester Holt follows governor’s races and down-ballot issues. Tamron Hall is on exit poll duty for both NBC and MSNBC. Kristen Welker will report from Obama headquarters in Chicago while Peter Alexander will report from Romney headquarters in Boston.

There’ll be coverage on NBC sites theGrio.com, NBCLatino.com and if you have Xbox, you’re in luck, you can watch NBC’s coverage there too.

Much more after the jump…

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