Wolf Blitzer tried to pin down Jack Murtha over losing out to Steney Hoyer in the race for House Majority Leader this evening. Transcript by me follows…

Blitzer: Any hard feelings over Steney Hoyer becoming Majority Leader…your losing the position?

Murtha: Well, we’ll keep working where we are trying to get this war out of the way. That’s all over and now we’re working trying to get the troops redeployed.

Blitzer: We saw that photo-op when he started to speak you sort of walked away…there was some interpretation you were irritated. Are you still irritated?

Murtha: Well let me tell you Wolf, you want to talk about Iraq? I’m glad to talk about it…uh..I..I’m going to work with Nancy…work with the majority tyring to get our troops home as soon as possible.

Blitzer: You don’t want to talk about working with Steney Hoyer?
(more…)

The Baltimore Times’ Ursula V. Battle writes about Fox News’ Apprentice program…

Move over Donald Trump. There’s another apprentice program. However, participants in this television program are hearing the words “You’re hired!” as opposed to “You’re fired!” Created by FOX chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, The FOX News Apprentice Program seeks to attract and develop minority employees. The program offers program participants training, exposure to senior management, and employment opportunities.

Cory Howard, a native of Clarksville, Maryland, is a recent graduate of the program, and now works as a booker for “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.” The FOX News Channel (FNC) current affairs television program features criminal stories of the day, following the latest information from correspondents on location and officials related to the issue.

“Everyday I produce a segment for the show,” said Howard. “We have a daily meeting and we are given different topics. I have to find guests, book the studio, get background information, and put together a packet for the segment that goes to Greta. I find guests, and once they are approved, I go from there.”

Cable News Ratings for November 30, 2006

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 834,000 viewers
CNN – 461,000 viewers
MSNBC – 299,000 viewers
CNBC – 214,000 viewers
HLN – 205,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,793,000 viewers
CNN – 732,000 viewers
MSNBC – 517,000 viewers
CNBC – 190,000 viewers
HLN – 456,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 259,000 viewers
CNN – 142,000 viewers
MSNBC –128,000 viewers
CNBC – 83,000 viewers
HLN – 93,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 418,000 viewers
CNN – 214,000 viewers
MSNBC – 213,000 viewers
CNBC – 72,000 viewers
HLN – 203,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 754,000 viewers (300,000)
American Morning – 372,000 viewers (98,000)
Imus in The Morning- 351,000 viewers (152,000)
Robin & Co. – 184,000 viewers (95,000)

(more…)

Don Lemon interviewed Magic Johnson today in conjunction with CNN’s coverage of World AIDS Day. Transcript follows…

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It was a moment that stunned America and changed the face of the AIDS crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EARVIN “MAGIC” JOHNSON, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Because of the HIV virus that I have attained, I will have to retire from the Lakers today. I just want to make clear, first of all, that I do not have the AIDS disease because I know a lot of you are — want to know that, but the HIV virus.

My wife is fine. She’s negative. So there’s no problem with her. I plan on going on, living for a long time, bugging you guys like I always have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)
(more…)

The National Journal’s Hotline has an interview with Chris Wallace and one of the subjects is this weekend’s Fox News Sunday intervieww with Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. It’s the first time Fox News Sunday has had a member of the Supreme Court on as a guest… (sub. req.)

On interviewing Breyer: “It’s pretty rare for these justices to come up from behind the bench.” He noted the pre-taped interview focused on judicial activism and campaign finance reform.

Asked about Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-MA) comments on last week’s show: “I decided to pass on it on the show but with all due respect I think Congressman Frank was just wrong. … All we said is we would talk about the new Congress and the first question was about the legislative agenda. … I have no apologies for what I asked … and neither of his colleagues [who were on the show with him] … said anything.”
_____________
On his dream guest: “Right now I’d like to interview Barack Obama. We’ve been trying to get him on the show for some time” (Hotline reporting, 12/1).

The National Journal has an interview with Daryn Kagan (sub. req.). I was going to pass on noting it except Kagan hit a home run on this question and her answer should be plastered in national newsrooms everywhere. There is just no substitute for working your way up and putting in lots of years refining your craft. I can spot the news anchors who have from the ones who have not. It’s night and day.

And finally, we’re ending this feature with a question posed by the last interviewee. This is from NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell: Do you feel journalists entering the news business today have the same motivations, ethics and drive as those who began when you did?

I think they come with different expectations of the sacrifice “my generation,” did. We understood the importance and sacrifice of going to a small market and learning all sorts of skills. But, now there are so many other avenues to get experience, a lot of young people expect to start in a big market or on the network level. I understand not wanting to move around to a strange place and make very little money. But, I am so thankful for my time in Santa Barbara and Phoenix. I am very thankful for my small market experience. It certainly was the cornerstone of my success at CNN. And now that I’m running my start-up, DarynKagan.com, it’s kind of like being in a small market all over again, having to do the jobs of many people.

The Nation’s Daphne Eviatar has a profile of Keith Olbermann. Most of the article is a re-hash of old ground, and the fact that this is The Nation raises a red flag for me and I hesitate to link to it as a result (as would, for example, a profile on John Gibson in a magazine like The Weekly Standard or National Review) but there are some new nuggets in there…

MSNBC seems to be egging him on. “The only issues I’ve had with my employers is to calm them down and say ‘doing this every night won’t work,’ ” says Olbermann, referring to his Special Comments. “I have to do it only when I feel moved to.”

“The rise of Keith’s skeptical or pointed comments are the mood of the country,” says Bill Wolff, MSNBC’s vice president for prime-time programming. “He has given voice to a large part of the country that is frustrated with the Administration’s policies.”