The AP writes about Larry King having Vascular surgery…(via TVNewser)

King, 73, was admitted to Cedars Sinai Medical Center where doctors performed carotid endarterectomy surgery, which removes plaque from the carotid artery and can restore blood flow.

“Larry is doing great and he is excited to be back on the air Monday night with an interview with Sen. Barak Obama as we mark the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war,” said a statement from CNN.

FishbowlDC reports on Reliable Sources’ ratings drop since the start of the year…

Donald Trump was interviewed in The Situatrion Room today. Highlights (or lowlights depending on your point of view) follow…

On Sen. Hillary Clinton

TRUMP: I think she’ll probably be the nominee.

BLITZER: Is she ready to be commander-in-chief?

TRUMP: I think she is.

On Sen. Barack Obama

TRUMP: I think he’s young, I think he’s probably — it’s a little bit soon. I think his time might come, but I think it’s too soon.

On John Edwards and Sen. John Kerry

TRUMP: I would probably be inclined not to like him on the basis that he lost an election that should have been won. That election should have been won.

BLITZER: Well, do you blame him or John Kerry?
(more…)

Johnny Dollar has the video of a Studio B talking head debate that got out of hand…

Greta interviewed Prince Frederick von Anhalt last night. Anhalt says he had an affair with Anna Nicole Smith and may be the father of her baby. But that’s not what makes this worth blogging about. To paraphrase James Carville….It’s the lawsuit stupid!

VAN SUSTEREN: Let me ask you a quick question, before we run out of time. Frederick, you have sued FOX News Channel, Bill O’Reilly because Bill O’Reilly has an opinion of you that you didn’t like, is that right?

VON ANHALT: It’s not an opinion. He didn’t say, “In my opinion he is a fraud,” he said “he is a fraud,” and he said, “this man is finished.”

Now, who is he to tell me if I’m finished or not? He cannot finish off my life.

VAN SUSTEREN: Let me ask you this? The upset between you and Bill O’Reilly was because you told Bill O’Reilly you would take a polygraph on this issue of paternity and then you backed out.

VON ANHALT: Yeah, because I took a lie detector test two days before.
Why should I take another one? I five tests and it took me two hours and I passed the five tests a hundred percent. So, why should I do it again for Bill O’Reilly? I did it already. You do it once. No?
(more…)

CNN lands a big one today, and I say that partially because I live out here and it’s nice to be relevant in the primary system for a change. CNN and the L.A. Times will team up to carry a Republican and a Democratic Primary debate in that Elephant in the election room; California.

CNN and the Los Angeles Times have teamed up to sponsor two key presidential debates in California in the days preceding the Super Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5, 2008. Republican presidential candidates will meet on Jan. 30, 2008, while the Democratic candidates will gather on Jan. 31.

Information on exact times, locations and other details of these debates will be forthcoming.

“Now that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has moved the California primaries to Feb. 5, Californians, along with other Super Tuesday voters, will influence the presidential nomination process earlier than ever before,” said Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S. “We’re delighted to continue our traditional debates with the Los Angeles Times in the days before those critical primaries to help millions of Americans cast the most informed votes possible.”

“California’s voters will play an enormously important role in the outcome of the 2008 election, and the Los Angeles Times is honored to co-host these historic debates,” said Los Angeles Times Publisher David D. Hiller. “As the essential source for news and information in Southern California, The Times looks forward to working with CNN again to bring the presidential contenders together in a public forum.”
(more…)

HLN’s Renay San Miguel will anchor a four part “Digital Downbeat” program the network announced…

CNN Radio and Headline News anchor Renay San Miguel tackle the latest developments in technology in “Digital Downbeat.” This long-form program examines everything from satellite radio to online music to high-definition radio. “Digital Downbeat” was produced by CNN Radio supervising producer Sherri Maksin.

The four-part “Digital Downbeat” show examines the issue of digital rights management in the wake of comments from Apple Chairman Steve Jobs, who wants the recording industry to ease up on restrictions placed on downloading music; the proposed merger of XM and Sirius Satellite Radio and what it means for their subscribers as well as terrestrial radio broadcasters; the current state of online music, especially as more artists debut their songs on the Internet; and the future of high-definition radio.
(more…)

The LA Times’ Ron Brownstein pens an opinion piece on why the Democrats are going after FNC…

As Democrats rethink their relationship with Fox, they may, in fact, be taking a lesson from the way conservatives deal with mainstream media organizations they consider biased against them, from big newspapers (like this one) to NPR and CNN (where I appear as a political analyst.)

The situation isn’t exactly parallel. For all the howling on the right, it’s difficult to argue that mainstream news organizations operate with anything approaching Fox’ partisan and ideological agenda. (E-mails: commence now.) But there’s no question many conservatives feel as wronged by elements of the mainstream media as Democrats do by Fox.

Conservative leaders and groups harvest those emotions to raise money and energize their supporters. And yet, when conservatives perceive it in their interest, they do not hesitate to deliver their message through those traditional channels. They are entirely comfortable throwing rocks at the big media institutions and then stepping through the broken glass to dispense a sound bite—or, for that matter, to dish dirt over cocktails.

That’s the equilibrium Democrats are likely to reach with Fox: cooperation mixed with confrontation, guided always by self-interest. As a result, one of the premier conservative media institutions now faces the likelihood of a sustained siege from Democrats using the same fluid tactics many conservatives have long applied against the mainstream press. Fox executives might not consider such an outcome fair, but even they might have to concede that it is balanced.

The NY Daily News’ Rush and Molloy note that Keith Olbermann’s PFTAW sit-down interview with Valierie Plame has been killed…by her book publisher.

Listen up when Valerie Plame talks to Congress today - she has canceled her People For the American Way-hosted talk tomorrow at NYU, and possibly all such chats in the near future.

The former CIA agent (r.), whose identity was revealed by columnist Robert Novak, which eventually led to the trial of Dick Cheney aide Scooter Libby, is set to testify before the House Government Reform Committee now that Libby has been convicted of perjury.

But the blond spy has nixed her Q&A with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann at the Tisch Auditorium - and it’s not the CIA who’s muzzling her, but the publisher of her book “Fair Game,” sources claim.

“From our perspective, the book is in progress and is expected to be published in the near future,” Simon & Schuster spokesman Adam Rothberg told us. “It has always been a known fact, as a former employee, that [her] book would be subject to a review” by the CIA. “I think everybody agrees a better time to do the event would be closer to when the book comes out.”

But a source tells us, “She was bullied by Simon & Schuster not to appear, since her editors want to maximize the publicity” for when the memoir hits bookstores.

Problem: Though Warner Bros. has already bought movie rights, the book has been delayed because the CIA won’t admit Plame was an agent prior to 2002.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Kara McGuire has a profile of CNBC’s Suze Orman…

When I asked her about what she was like with money in her 20s, the personal finance celebrity said she was “a real idiot,” and told tales of charging up her mom’s credit cards with no way of paying them back and borrowing $50,000 from customers to open her own restaurant only to lose it in risky investments she didn’t understand.

Fortunately for her, she reinvented herself as America’s straight-talking financial adviser and beat the financial odds. She recently told the New York Times that she is worth more than $25 million; most of us who wait to save for retirement until our 30s won’t be so lucky.

Reese blogs about where the networks rank on a scale which unfortunately he doesn’t mention so I don’t know what it all means…

One way of looking at the aging of the news audience is through the comparison of the total number of viewers and the number of viewers in the 25-54 demographic, the audience that the news networks sell to advertisers.

All four networks under perform:

Primetime:

FoxNews is 3rd in total audience this week but 17th 25-54 year olds.

CNN was 26 in total audience and 33rd in the 25-54 group.

MSNBC was 33rd in total audience and 35th in the key group.

Headline News, 35th in total and 38th in 25-54’s.