NBC News president Steve Capus responds to the New York Daily News, which reported Matt Lauer was behind the decision to elevate Don Nash at “Today,” instead of bringing on someone from outside the show like MSNBC producer Izzy Povich.

“Matt doesn’t make editorial decisions and he did not spike anything,” Capus told Kaplan.

“This was my call, I spoke to lots of talented people from both cable and network, and in the end went with someone I believed was best suited for the job,” said Capus.

The New York Post‘s Page Six has an item today alleging that NBC “Today” anchor Matt Lauer has suddenly become ratings-obsessed and mean to staffers. It also reiterates some long-running rumors about Willie Geist and MSNBC “The Last Word” EP Izzy Povich possibly joining the program.

Even better than the actual item though is the response Lauer and “Today” EP Jim Bell gave to the Post:

When asked to comment, Lauer told us: “Please print this story — it’s the most interesting and dangerous I’ve ever sounded!” Bell added, “By the way, I’m the producer of the ‘Today’ show.”

Exclusive: The upcoming HBO drama about cable news from “The West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin finally has a name.  TVNewser has learned that HBO is expected to call the series “Newsroom.”

Sorkin’s series follows fictional cable news anchor Will McCallister (Jeff Daniels) and his “News Night” staff at the fictional cable news channel UBS.

While in development at HBO the new project was tentatively called “More As This Story Develops.” The name “Newsroom” (or possibly “The Newsroom,” HBO hasn’t decided whether to add a “the”) is likely to remind Sorkin fans of one of his earliest TV series, the critically acclaimed but short lived ABC program “Sports Night.”

While the series is a work of fiction, it exists in a universe in which UBS competes with CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, and in a world complete with ABC and NBC. According to a copy of Sorkin’s pilot script obtained by TVNewser, there are a few familiar (and very real) names mentioned in the pilot, and some of the plot points will look very familiar to avid cable news fans:

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MSNBC just announced that Greg Kordick who had been Senior Producer on “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” is moving with his boss, Izzy Povich, to Lawrence O’Donnell‘s new 10pmET program, set to launch in the fall.

Kordick will EP the show. It was announced Monday that Povich would be Senior EP.

Kordick has been with MSNBC since 1997 joining as a writer on Soledad O’Brien‘s weekend morning show “Morning Blend.” He’s worked on several other programs including “Ashleigh Banfield On Location,” “The Abrams Report” and “Scarborough Country.” He’d been with Olbermann since the launch of “Countdown” in 2003.

Release after the jump…

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Yesterday evening, MSNBC’s 8 p.m. host Keith Olbermann publicly weighed in on the departure of his executive producer, Izzy Povich, who is leaving to become senior EP of Lawrence O’Donnell‘s upcoming 10 p.m. show.

“BTW let’s nip in the bud the latest conspiracy theory being pushed tonight by Murdoch about my EP leaving for Lawrence’s new show,” Olbermann said in a pair of tweets. “My EP got a PROMOTION to a job that doesn’t exist on Countdown: Senior EP, developing show from scratch. Anybody saying otherwise is lying”

Why weigh in now? Why not when Povich’s new role was announced by MSNBC? The tweets appear to be spurred on by a brief Page Six story in this morning’s New York Post:

We asked in May: “Which producer for a dorky cable anchor has been complaining to colleagues that she’s tired of his notoriously nasty behavior?” The answer came Monday when MSNBC announced that Izzy Povich, executive producer of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” since 2004, had been named senior executive producer of Lawrence O’Donnell’s program, which debuts this fall at 10 p.m.

Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corp. owns the Post, as well as Fox News Channel.

Izzy Povich, who has been Keith Olbermann‘s Executive Producer for more than six years, is sliding back two hours and will now oversee Lawrence O’Donnell‘s new 10pmET show as Senior Executive Producer.

Povich, who has been with MSNBC since the start in 1996, tells TVNewser, “After seven great years at Countdown, I’m excited to be working with Lawrence on this new challenge and can’t wait to get started.”

O’Donnell is filling in on “Countdown” for the next two weeks as Olbermann is on vacation. Back at MSNBC, the search begins for Olbermann’s new EP.

We hear another staffer on “Countdown” may also be leaving the show heading to another MSNBC daypart. Stay tuned for details.

Press release after the jump…

> Related: WHC Insider – Povich spurned network offers in 2006 to stay with Olbermann.

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Politico’s Michael Calderone writes about the Dana Milbank-Keith Olbermann messy TV divorce, with more details about how it came to an end.

A source familiar with the situation told Politico that Milbank had been unhappy on the show for a couple of months and expressed this sentiment to friends. During the first week of July, Milbank spoke to executive producer Katy Karp about why he had not been on the show for a couple of weeks. At that point, Milbank was told that there was an issue among staff with something positive he said the previous month about Charlie Black, a McCain senior adviser.

An MSNBC spokesperson confirmed to Politico the conversation took place, but said the producer was joking. Milbank also told Politico, “I had long aspired to work at CNN and began contract talks a month ago. I have high regard for my friends at ‘Olbermann’ and regret that they are so angry about my departure.”

One note: Katy Karp is a producer on Countdown. Izzy Povich is the executive producer.