44 years ago today, “60 Minutes” debuted. “It’s a kind of a magazine for television,” Harry Reasoner described it. Like yesterday’s show, which included interviews with the two men running for president, that first episode included stories about the 1968 presidential election, with a “60 Minutes” camera capturing GOP nominee Richard Nixon discussing who his running mate might be, and Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey securing his nomination.

Three down, (at least) four to go. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich made his Today show, Good Morning America and “The View” appearances so far today, and in each he stuck to his story about not getting a fair trial. But there were some highlights as well. During his interview this weekend with Amy Robach, which aired this morning on NBC, he compared his situation to Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Robach wrote about the experience yesterday.

During his interview with Diane Sawyer, Blagojevich revealed he considered appointing Oprah Winfrey to President Obama’s vacant Senate seat (click here for the video). Then it was onto “The View” where both prior interviews were referenced. Barbara Walters interviewed Blago first, via satellite. “Your wife’s family doesn’t seem to be crazy about you,” said Walters, while revealing Patti Blagojevich canceled her appearance on the program yesterday. When he made it to the couch, Joy Behar asked about the couples’ “potty mouths” and tried to convince him to do his Richard Nixon impression and say “I am not a crook.”

Up next, FNC’s Geraldo Rivera at 2pmET (we’ll twitter the interview) followed by Larry King Live, Nightline’s Cynthia McFadden (taking place now) and The Early Show’s Maggie Rodriguez tomorrow morning.



Click continued to see the NBC interview (no ABC embeds unfortunately)…

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Today on the mediabistro.com Morning Media Menu we had generations of journalists, as CNN senior analyst Jeffrey Toobin (or, Jeffrey R. Toobin — check the podcast) and his mother, Marlene Sanders, joined us. Earlier we wrote about Toobin following in his mother’s footsteps by participating in Inauguration coverage.

Sanders covered the 1964 Inauguration for ABC News, along with a young Peter Jennings (both correspondents had just joined the network four months earlier).

“There was no Wolf Blitzer holding the whole thing together, it was just Peter and me,” said Sanders.

We asked Sanders what the difference between the excitement this year and in years past. “Nothing like it,” she said. “The second inauguration I did was Richard Nixon so you could hardly say there was any joy in Mudville over that one.”

“Or maybe that’s just you, Mom,” said Toobin.

Toobin also talked about the big change in coverage. “What’s different is the amount of space to fill…You were dealing with a very small news hole,” said Toobin.

Also discussed: Sanders’ “motherly indignation” over Toobin’s Tuesday airtime, whether Chief Justice John Roberts will recover from his oath flub, how Sanders opened the door for future women journalists (she was the first woman to anchor an evening newscast) and more.

You can listen to the podcast live every morning at 9amET on BlogTalkRadio.com/mediabistro and call in at 646-929-0321. You can also subscribe to the iTunes feed of the podcast by clicking the “iTunes” button.

Harvey Weinstein announced today that the publishing arm of The Weinstein Company has acquired the rights to publish Larry King‘s “definitive autobiography,” What Am I Doing Here?

In a press release, King said, “I am delighted to be working with Bob and Harvey, who have distinguished themselves by making award-winning films and publishing quality books. Their books are some of the most talked-about and well-produced titles in the business, and I am thrilled to be one of their authors. My life story could not be in better hands,” King said.

In addition to discussing personal details including his seven marriages to six women, and discovering at age 65 that he had a fully grown son he never knew about, King will also reveal his feelings about George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Regan, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. He also intends to disclose who he voted for in each election and why.

What Am I Doing Here? will be Published for Father’s Day 2009.