We all know that CBS News “Face the Nation” moderator Bob Schieffer is a big fan of country music. But did you know that he is a big fan of Canadian pop star Justin Bieber?

On “CBS This Morning” Friday, Schieffer expressed concern over Bieber’s recent hospitalization in London.

“It was a big week in Washington, Rand Paul was up, and Justin Bieber was down,” Schieffer said, causing Charlie Rose and Gayle King to crack up. “We are trying to get as much information as we can down here.”

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Keeping a booking producer at one of the top hotels in Los Angeles on Oscar night, paid off for CBS News. While ABC, which carried the Oscars, sent the entire “GMA” team to Hollywood, and even NBC’s “Today” had Al Roker and Meredith Vieira there, only one show got an interview with Best Director winner Ang Lee. And that show didn’t have any of its talent in LA and wasn’t planning much post-Oscars coverage. While the other networks got plenty of interviews with other winners at the Dolby Theater, CBS kept a booker at the hotel where Lee was staying. The “Life of Pi” director returned around 3amPT and after some prodding agreed to the interview with Charlie Rose and Gayle King. WATCH:

“CBS This Morning” is profiled by the Los Angeles Times. The Times takes recent morning shakeups: “Good Morning America” topping “Today,” and CNN’s recent morning shift, to figure out how CBS’ morning show fits in. Along the way EP Chris Licht and anchors Charlie Rose and Gayle King weigh in.

“We produce the show as if we’re the only morning show on TV,” Licht says. “We don’t do anything because the other guys do it, and we don’t not do anything because the other guys do it.”

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“We don’t feel that we’re above any story,” she says. “I think we can always figure out a way to tell a story that is relatable and entertaining while keeping our dignity intact. It doesn’t have to turn into silly school.”

Tonight CBS will air the Super Bowl live from New Orleans, Louisiana. Apparently the producers decided that as long as they had everyone down in the Crescent City, why not take advantage?

Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell went on an air boat tour of the Louisiana Bayou, where they came face to face with a gator:

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Also, CBS CEO Les Moonves appeared as a guest, to talk about the business of the Super Bowl:

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If you were watching NBC’s “Today” this morning around 8:10 AM, you may have seen designer Jason Wu talking about the inauguration dress he designed for First Lady Michelle Obama.

“And designer Jason Wu is with us exclusively, our belle of the ball,” Savannah Guthrie said introducing the man.

Wu, however, was not exclusive to “Today,” despite the hype. He would appear live in-studio with Gayle King on “CBS This Morning” just after 8:30 AM and was also in-studio on CNN at 9:40 AM.

Watch the interviews, after the jump.
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ABC’s and CBS’s morning shows are going beyond the normal 9am end time covering the run up to the ceremonial Inaugruation — the real one was yesterday. Anchors and correspondents are in place for the 57th Presidential Inauguration. “CBS This Morning’s” Gayle King, Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell are broadcasting from a temporary booth on the National Mall. “Today” anchors Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker are at the network’s 400 North Capitol studios, also home to Fox News and C-Span. ABC’s “Good Morning America” is a split show, with George Stephanopoulos at ABC”s Newseum studio and Josh Elliot on Pennsylvania Ave. while the rest of the team was in New York.

Fox & Friends, as observed by @GabrielSherman, also mentioned that today is Blue Monday. “The most depressing day of the year,” said Steve Doocy. “It has to do with drab weather, holiday bills and resolutions we have not met,” he explained.

It’s Pres. Obama’s second inauguration, but it’ll be the first time CBS’s Scott Pelley has anchored an Inauguration Day. Pelley will lead CBS News coverage beginning at 10amET Monday following a three-hour “CBS This Morning” with hosts Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell in Washington, DC.

Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett, Wyatt Andrews, Sharyl Attkisson, Margaret Brennan, Jan Crawford, John Dickerson, John Miller, Byron Pitts, Bill Plante and Chip Reid will all contribute to the coverage.

CBS will also broadcast the official swearing-in Sunday at NoonET. The full plan, after the jump…

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As disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong prepares to sit down with Oprah Winfrey tonight (the interview will air on OWN Thursday), the chairman of CBS News says that the network regrets that Armstrong didn’t sit with them instead.

“We wanted the Lance Armstrong interview badly. He chose to go with Oprah,” said Jeff Fager, who is also the executive producer of the iconic newsmagazine. Fager was speaking on a panel about “60 Minutes Sports” at the Television Critics Association Winter press tour in Pasadena.

Admittedly, CBS and Armstrong do not have the friendliest history. In 2011 Armstrong demanded an apology from the network for airing a story that suggested he was a cheat, which it now seems clear he was. Fager responded to the lawsuit by asserting that the reporting by “60 Minutes” was thorough and accurate.

“CBS This Morning” co-anchor Gayle King, who happens to be Oprah’s best friend, said this morning that the talk-show host has been “pulling all-nighters” in advance of the interview.

“And what I know about this story is that it all came together within the last week,” King said. “And Oprah spent this past week pulling what you did in college, all-nighters getting ready. So whatever Lance has to say, she is certainly prepared.”

The morning show ratings race begins 2013 with a split. “Good Morning America” takes a win in total viewers while NBC’s “Today” wins in younger viewers, its first in 7 weeks.

But #3 “CBS This Morning” showed the most growth year-over-year, up +15% in total viewers and up +5% in younger viewers compared to the former “Early Show” which was in its final week.

“GMA” was up +3% in total viewers and down -3% in younger viewers, while “Today” is down double digits: -13% / -20%.

Because of New Year’s, each program’s averages are based on 3 days (Wed-Fri).

The averages for the week of December 31, 2012:

• Total Viewers: ABC: 4.814M / NBC: 4.572M / CBS: 2.535M

• A25-54 viewers: ABC: 1.778M / NBC: 1.899M / CBS: 932K

Today marks the one-year anniversary of “CBS This Morning,’ the latest iteration of the Eye Network’s morning news program. The trio of Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Erica Hill launched January 9, 2012 with a goal to bring more serious fare to the mornings. Now Hill has left for NBC, and Norah O’Donnell has joined the program, but the goal remains the same.

In the year since it launched, the program is up +3% in total viewers and +5% in households compared to a year ago.

At the very end of the program this morning, Rose and King acknowledged the milestone, with King noting that she was wearing the same dress she wore on that first day. This weekend, King, Rose and O’Donnell will host an anniversary party for ‘CTM” staffers.

After the jump, our tour of the morning show.
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