ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer has landed the first interview with Amanda Knox, the American girl who was convicted of murdering her roommate in Italy, only to be acquitted in dramatic fashion in October, 2011. The interview will air during a dedicated primetime special Tuesday, April 30 at 10 PM.

Immediately after she was released, Knox and her family were inundated with interview requests.

As expected, Knox was not offered payment for the interview, but rather maximum exposure as she prepares to promote her book, which comes out the same day as the ABC News interview. In addition to the primetime special, portions of the Knox interview (and mentions of the book) will air on “ABC World News,” “Good Morning America,” “Nightline” and ABC’s digital platforms, expanding its reach exponentially.

While Sawyer is getting the big interview, it was correspondent Elizabeth Vargas who did most of the legwork in Italy for ABC, and led the network’s coverage of the case.

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In Politico today, Mike Allen and Jim VandeHai take aim at the Republican Party and Fox News.

They argue that Fox News chairman Roger Ailes has been aggressively moving to “purge” people that he believes are hurting the channel and its reputation. The channel parted ways with Dick Morris and Sarah Palin in the last month:

Ailes has aggressively, and shrewdly, toned things down post-election. Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly were among the first conservatives to call for a rethinking of the GOP’s opposition to comprehensive immigration reform. And then Palin and Morris got the boot, sending an unmistakable message about the new expectations for the channel’s contributors.

Now former Fox News political contributor Dick Morris appeared on CNNs’ “Piers Morgan Tonight” last night, where he explained why he thought that Fox News declined to renew hos contract, after 15 years of service to the channel.

“I was wrong at the top of my lungs,  maybe I’m being made a poster child for that,”  Morris said. “the divorce isn’t final, but I’m seeing other people.”

He also said that he had “a wonderful talk with [Fox news chairman] Roger Ailes” after he was told.

Former CNN/US president Jon Klein joined HuffPost Live Friday to discuss the changes at his old network, and defended his decision to give Larry King‘s 9pm slot to Piers Morgan.

“As a viewer I don’t regret it,” Klein told HuffPost Live. “I watch him all the time. I think he’s been intelligent and provocative and he follows his own compass. That’s what we wanted, a guy who was an aggressive inquisitor, who spoke his mind, and could be as interesting as his guests. On most nights he does that.”

One regret Klein does seem to have, however, is not being able to convince his boss at the time, Jim Walton, to bring Keith Olbermann to CNN.

Also, Mediaite caught this portion of the chat, about Fox News and its chairman Roger Ailes.

“He pulls things out of nowhere, like that show The Five – I mean, that was a big, gaping hole,” Klein said. “He lost Glenn Beck who had millions of viewers and what does he do? Seamlessly, you know, replaces it with a team that can be a breeding ground for more talent.”

Karl Rove has re-upped with Fox News Channel, Politico’s Mike Allen reports. The multi-year deal will keep the political analyst on the channel through the 2016 election, where, who knows?, he may challenge Fox News results that election night too.

Rove made headlines on election night when he disputed FNC’s call of the election for Pres. Obama. Fox News founder and chairman Roger Ailes recounted what happened in an interview with TVNewser: “As it turned out Rove was wrong. He backed down. Our guys were right. We stayed with it. Megyn did her famous walk down the hall. And it all worked out.”

Rove joined Fox as a contributor in February 2008. Before that he was Senior Adviser to Pres. George W. Bush.

We were first with the news yesterday that Fox News had signed Dennis Kucinich, the former democratic congressman and presidential candidate from Ohio.

Update: Press release after the jump. Ailes: Rove is “an important player in our ongoing political coverage.”

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Fox News Channel has signed former Congressman Dennis Kucinich as a paid contributor to FNC and Fox Business network. Kucinich, who was for years a liberal stalwart in the House of Representatives, will provide analysis and commentary across all of FNC and FBN’s programs, beginning with Thursday’s edition of “The O’Reilly Factor.”

“I’ve always been impressed with Rep. Kucinich’s fearlessness and thoughtfulness about important issues,” said Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes in a statement. “His willingness to take a stand from his point of view makes him a valuable voice in our country’s debate.”

Kucinich represented Ohio’s 10th district in Congress for 16 years, officially leaving office earlier this month. He also ran for President in 2004 and 2008, seeking the Democratic nomination.

“Through 16 years in Congress and two presidential campaigns, Fox News has always provided me with an opportunity to share my perspective with its enormous viewership,” Kucinich said in a statement. “I look forward to a continuation of our relationship this time as a Fox News contributor.”

Fox Business anchor David Asman is interviewed by Cigar & Spirits magazine, and there are some fantastic anecdotes. For example, a luncheon honoring noted cigar lover and Cuban “el Presidente” Fidel Castro was where Asman first met Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.

It was funny, the first time I met Roger was at a luncheon for Fidel Castro at the residence of Mort Zuckerman. I was seated between Roger, and the late Bill Safire who was a columnist for the New York Times. That was when Roger offered me a job, which I wasn’t that interested in at the time because of my antipathy towards television news, but he convinced me he was going to do something totally different. He also sweetened the deal significantly enough so that a year later I ended up accepting his offer to work on FOX Business Network, and I’ve been here ever since.

He also expands on that antipathy he had toward TV news:
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Chris Matthews is an MSNBC original. His show “Hardball” is older than the network itself, having begun its run on the old “America’s Talking” channel founded by Roger Ailes before moving to CNBC and then MSNBC. Despite approaching his 20th anniversary with NBC, Matthews is considered “the model figure” for the new MSNBC. His boss, network president Phil Griffin tells the AP’s David Bauder Matthews is, “as good as he’s ever been” and “is sort of the model figure for who we are.” Bauder writes,

Matthews symbolized MSNBC’s growing comfort in being a liberal alternative to Fox News Channel. With Keith Olbermann out of sight, Matthews essentially replaced him as the commentator that most annoyed conservative viewers.

“During the run-up to the Iraq War, he just became really, really partisan and became even more so when MSNBC decided to become the anti-Fox,” said Geoff Dickens, who used to watch Matthews as a fan and now monitors him regularly as part of his job with the conservative Media Research Center.

Griffin, who produced “Hardball” for many years before moving on to other jobs at NBC/MSNBC, knows Matthews better than most. Matthews “is at a place in his life where he’s really comfortable in his own skin,” says Griffin. “He’s a statesman.”

About that idea of running for Senate four years ago. Matthews recently said he would have been “one of the stars of the Democratic Party,” had he run and won. But being a party guy might have worn on him quickly. Matthews tells Bauder: “I never want to do what everybody else is doing. I don’t want to be part of the chorus.”

Fox News Channel has inked a new, multi-year deal with anchor Martha MacCallum.

Under the terms of the new agreement she will stay on as the co-anchor of “America’s Newsroom” from 9-11 AM alongside Bill Hemmer.

“Martha brings unique enthusiasm and talent to delivering the news and connects incredibly well with our viewers,” said Fox News CEO Roger Ailes in a statement. “We look forward to her continuing to play a valuable role in the network’s success.”

MacCallum joined FNC in 2004, anchoring “Fox News Live” and later “The Live Desk” before joining “America’s Newsroom.” In addition to covering the 2004, 2008 and 2012 elections, she has covered Hurricane Katrina and the Royal Wedding, and interviewed a slew of prominent newsmakers.

Before joining FNC McCallum was an anchor at CNBC, as the co-anchor of “Morning Call” and the anchor of “Checkpoint.”

Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod spent his final night with his mustache at New York’s Four Seasons Restaurant raising awareness — and money — for epilepsy research. Axelrod and his wife Susan hosted many Manhattan luminaries at the CURE New York reception at which Mayor Mike Bloomberg was presented an award for his support. In his brief remarks, Bloomberg caught sight of NBC’s Tom Brokaw in the crowd: “There’s Tom Brokaw. He’s my neighbor …. and my golf partner. Maybe he’ll even give me a few strokes next round.”

TVNewser spotted Fox News chairman Roger Ailes giving a warm hello to Susan Axelrod and Arianna Huffington as David Axelrod gave his remarks. The Axelrods established CURE: Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy as the family struggled to come to terms with their daughter Lauren’s epilepsy. Now 31, Lauren experienced her first seizure at seven months old.

We chatted with “CBS This Morning” anchor Charlie Rose, who, with his co-hosts Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell, is treating the “This Morning” staff to a holiday party next week. “It takes two jobs to be able to do it, but we’ll do it,” joked Rose, who also hosts “Charlie Rose” on PBS and Bloomberg TV.

Also at the event, organized for the most part by Tammy Haddad: “Good Morning America” and “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos and his wife Ali Wentworth, ABC political analyst

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