First Lady Laura Bush was interviewed by Kiran Chetry on American Morning this morning. YouTube has the video.

TVNewser is reporting that Heather Nauert will be signing with FNC and returning to The Big Story as a c0-host with John Gibson…

HLN beat MSNBC in primetime in both Total Viewers and The Demo. On the Record led the way in the Demo. While Countdown and Paula Zahn Now continued to lock horns, Nancy Grace landed in second at 8pm. Fox and Friends beat American Morning by more than 2:1 in the Demo.

Cable News Ratings for June 19, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 861,000 viewers
CNN – 513,000 viewers
MSNBC – 310,000 viewers
CNBC – 202,000 viewers
HLN – 263,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,723,000 viewers
CNN – 963,000 viewers
MSNBC – 424,000 viewers
CNBC – 273,000 viewers
HLN – 571,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 292,000 viewers
CNN – 174,000 viewers
MSNBC – 137,000 viewers
CNBC – 86,000 viewers
HLN – 103,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 510,000 viewers
CNN – 260,000 viewers
MSNBC – 175,000 viewers
CNBC – 102,000 viewers
HLN – 194,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 835,000 viewers (357,000)
American Morning – 408,000 viewers (151,000)
MSNBC Live (7-9 AM) – 196,000 viewers (61,000)
Robin & Co. –227,000 viewers (98,000)
(more…)

Men’s Health Magazine’s David Schipper writes about Bret Baier’s weight loss progress…

Bret Baier’s job was weighing him down. As the chief White House correspondent for Fox News Channel, he shared an itinerary with our commander-in-chief, traveling for up to 2 weeks every month. And when he stepped on the scale last Christmas, he found his weight had ballooned to 227 pounds, 32 pounds higher than his “fighting” weight of 195. “That’s when I realized what the traveling was doing to me,” he says.

Like most road warriors, when Baier is deployed, diet is his last concern. “I’m entering different time zones and dealing with job pressures. Once I meet my deadlines, I just want to blow off steam and forget about the stress.” Then he sighs and shakes his head. “And the food on Air Force One is tremendous.”

So Baier attacked. He flushed excuses like stress and time. Then he took our advice, revamped his diet, wedged tough workouts into his overstuffed schedule, and lost 20 pounds in 8 weeks.

GretaWire blogs about shooting video inside Jessie Davis’ home…

The posted still pictures show such things as the backdoor of Jessie’s house (off the kitchen) which was probably her exit (and probably not a voluntary exit). Another picture shows there is fingerprint dust around the door, so the police obviously suspect the backdoor as the point of exit. The exterior of the house shows one small light, which could have been turned off to hide someone leaving with her at that exit. One picture shows her bedroom is torn up by the forensic people (the carpet is removed from the floor and the mattresses are pushed up against the wall). The picture of her bathroom suggests she did not get up to go to work on Thursday morning as usual. There is a picture of her toddler son Blake’s bed with the bread he found to eat while he waited for an adult to show up (which did not happen until Friday morning). Another picture even shows the spot where Blake found the bread in the kitchen. You can see Jessie’s alarm clock set for 5:20 a.m. and the front of her house….

Going inside Jessie’s home was very hard for Jesse’s sister, Whitney, but she did for one reason: She realizes that media attention could help solve the question of what happened to her sister. Maybe someone saw something… or knows something and will call police. So the more information about her sister’s disappearance, the better.

A few days ago I linked to a Father/Son profile of Ray Kelly and Greg Kelly. There was another article out there on a father/son duo which I missed. CBS News has a story about CBS News’ Bill Geist and his son, MSNBC’s Willie Geist.

“I didn’t, you know, go into being a local news anchor [or] an investigative reporter, telling the straight news and saving you and your family from the dangers in your kitchen,” Willie said. “We did, you know, the weird stuff. We went off the road.”

Willie himself was about to become a father.

“I haven’t come to terms with the word ‘grandfather’ yet,” Bill said.

“You couldn’t have, ‘cause I haven’t come to terms with being a father,” Willie said.

Sooner than expected — the very next day in fact — Willie had a girl, Lucie, just in time for Father’s Day.

In a must read, the Politico’s Anne Schroeder blogs about the departure of FNC Pentagon Producer Nick Simeone.

The Pentagon-er we talked to played down the implications of this particular scoop. “When you report something a few minutes before it’s going to be officially announced, it means almost nothing to the viewers unless they’re watching all the nets simultaneously.” The Pentagon source added that Wilson’s critique of the Pentagon staff “seemed a little petty.” Another source added, “If you listened to what (CNN’s Pentagon reporter Barbara Starr) said, she said they had heard Pace was about to step down. Not that it was confirmed.”

Pentagon source No. 1 added: “Nick [Simeone] felt that he was being unfairly criticized.” At Wilson’s request, Simeone went in for a 9 a.m. meeting shortly after the Pace incident; by 10 a.m. the same day, he had quit. This comes at a problematic time for Fox News, whose Pentagon reporter, Jennifer Griffin, just started in March. “It’s a huge loss,” a Fox News-er groans of Simeone’s departure. “He has institutional knowledge of the building and is a great guy. I was sad to see him go.”

A Fox insider defended: “(Simeone) was 24 minutes late getting the Peter Pace retirement news on air. Wilson is approachable and one of the most fair managers in the business. … (Simeone) was given the option to step it up, and he chose to walk away. … Fox News doesn’t tolerate mediocrity, and Wilson knew how to take care of it.”

Special weekday version. I’ll make it short and simple. Does this story justify MSNBC cutting to the control room for a “talking producer segment” carrying a “Very Latest” lower third as occurred at the end of the 9 am hour this morning?

TVWeek’s Jon Lafayette tries to make sense of the new DVR ratings system from a monetary perspective…

It would seem that this year, buyers bought 10 rating points to reach 10 million program viewers, about 9 million of whom watched commercials.

So this year, shouldn’t buyers looking to reach those same 9 million commercial watchers have to buy only 9 commercial ratings points?

That sounds like a 10 percent reduction in demand for ratings points and if supply and demand really govern the market then prices should drop. Instead, the networks seem to be looking for big price increases.

What is it with Chris Matthews and four letter words? Yesterday…another one. Big Head DC has the details. I may have to add a new blog theme category dedicated to Chris Matthews’ profanity if this keeps up…

“I apologize for that,” Matthews said in a solemn voice after the Williams report aired. ”I shouldn’t have used that word on the air.”

The AP reports that the lawsuit against Nancy Grace over the Melinda Duckett case is headed to court…

A lawsuit between relatives of a missing boy’s mother who killed herself after aggressive questioning by CNN’s Nancy Grace and the talk-show host will be tried in federal court, a judge ruled Monday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Gary R. Jones ruled that federal court would handle the suit because the involved parties are from different jurisdictions, according to court documents.

The lawsuit claims that Grace caused severe emotional distress that led to Melinda Duckett’s suicide in 2006.

CNN Observations has the news that former CNN Pipeline anchor Richard Lui will be joining HLN’s Robin & Company and will be anchoring the 10am hour…

The Austin Business Journal writes that CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta has joined the Lance Armstrong Foundation…

“Dr. Gupta is an influential health expert and a passionate advocate for health promotion, prevention and well-being,” says Doug Ulman, president of the LAF, in a prepared statement.

“Because Gupta has devoted his career to inspiring and empowering Americans to prevent and overcome disease, he is a perfect addition to the LAF team. We are honored to benefit from his energy and expertise and his commitment to fight cancer,” adds Ulman.

Variety’s Dan Hayes and Michael Learmonth write about the GE/Pearson talks about a Dow Jones bid…

The push comes a few days after an unusual session at 30 Rock, when NBC U topper Jeff Zucker hosted a meeting of GE analysts to make the case that the company will be profitable and “will not be a drag on GE,” in his words.

Among the presenters were all the division heads at NBC U, including CNBC chief Mark Hoffman, who would be involved in the Pearson-GE tie-up. Though it is low-rated, CNBC is hugely profitable for NBC U, as are its entertainment cable networks such as Bravo, Sci Fi and USA.

The division’s old-media asset, NBC, reps less than 10% of the division’s revenue, Zucker emphasized, and “is not a driver of our bottom line.” Which is why it’s fascinating to consider GE topper Jeff Immelt adding a property such as Dow Jones, reportedly at a pricetag at or above Murdoch’s offer.

Jossip has a “best of” quotes from Joe Scarborough’s morning show…

“If she turns out to be a tramp, it’ll be a big surprise, but it’ll be a great rating.” Donald Trump, asking Mika Brzezinski to star on his new sleazy Fox reality show, Morning Joe, June 15

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tim Cuprisin has an interview with On The Record’s Greta Van Susteren about the Paris Hilton saga and other things…

Don’t expect any apologies from Greta Van Susteren for all that Paris Hilton stuff that’s been popping up on her nightly Fox News Channel program.

“I make no excuses,” she says, pointing out that, with so many competing news outlets on TV, in print and on the Internet, stories aren’t falling through the cracks when she covers the Hilton case on her “On the Record,” which airs at 9 weeknights. And she cites reporting by news organizations like the Los Angeles Times that looked at the treatment Hilton received.

“She got special treatment,” says Van Susteren, “harsher treatment.”