“It’s reported that Newt Gingrich didn’t call to congratulate you on the victory in Florida,” Lauer said. “Is that true? Were you expecting a call, and does it say something about the animosity that’s developed between the two of you?”

“Newt didn’t call after Iowa or New Hampshire,” Gov. Romney revealed. “I called him after South Carolina, his win there, but he didn’t call last night. The other candidates all called. I don’t know. I guess Speaker Gingrich doesn’t have our phone number.”

Calling your opponent after a victory is customary, like shaking hands with the other team at the end of a Little League game, but it’s one of those things that nobody notices unless some kids spits in his hand first. One famous example is Al Gore’s 2000 anti-concession call to George W. Bush, in which Gore told Bush ”You don’t have to get snippy about it.”

Lauer described it as a “trivial matter,” but it does illustrate something about this year’s campaign.

In 2008, then-Sen. Hillary Clinton made headlines when she failed to call then-Sen. Barack Obama (or mention the wins in post-primary speeches) after two primary victories, but that was in mid-February, after 29 primary contests had already been held, and a lot more water had gone under the bridge. Gingrich, if Romney is to be believed, began choking on sour grapes out of the gate.

To be fair, Gingrich has been been the Romney campaign’s personal batting-practice ball for months now, culminating in the running of 92% negative ads in the week before the Florida primary. On a human level, it’s easy to understand why Gingrich might not be anxious to reach out and touch Romney after an attack-fueled vivtory.

On the other hand, it’s tough to shed any crocodile tears (or even a tear of newt) for Gingrich, given the nastiness with which he has attacked President Obama. Those attacks notwithstanding, if Gingrich somehow manages to win the privilege of losing to Barack Obama, I’m betting the President calls him anyway, maybe to favor him with a song.

Here’s the clip, from NBC’s Today show:

“Awful,” she said, when asked about reality TV. “They just stink.” Reynolds believes that most of the reality shows are fake, adding that she doesn’t think real people behave that way. “You don’t just grab each others’ boobs and curse and carry on,” she added.

“Well I just did that to Suzanne Somers the other day,” Gifford said, noting that Somers had invited her to do so.

“Well I wouldn’t have necessarily grabbed her tits,” Reynolds said.

Later, talking about her daughter, Star Wars star Carrie Fisher, losing 50 pounds, Reynolds began singing about Jenny Craig before asking them to, “send me some of that shi — stuff.”

As Kotb and Gifford began to end the segment, Reynolds tore open her jacket and yelled, “You want to touch my tit? Go ahead!” (Be sure to watch Giffords’ arm as the show goes to break)

Enjoy a clip of the segment below, courtesy of NBC:

RELATED: Mitt Romney Cops To Tax Rate ‘Closer To 15%’ And ‘Not Very Much’ From Speaking Fees

Before I get to Christie, though, it’s worth noting that The Today Show led into its Christie interview by reporting on, among other things, Romney’s gaffe about his $347,362.27 in speaking fees, which he characterized as “not very much.”

This is significant, because it’s one thing for that tin-eared declaration to be broadcast to the ThinkProgress crowd, but quite another for it to reach Today‘s much wider audience. Romney is trying to win the nomination now, but that audience will be judging him in the general election in months to come.

There’s also a clip of Romney snippily responding to a question about his shifting Bain Capital job creation claims, wherein he tells a reporter “Four companies, 120,000 jobs. Very simple.”

RELATED: Washington Post Fact-Checker Upgrades Mitt Romney Jobs Claim To 3 ‘Pinocchios’

Host Matt Lauer started out by directly asking Gov. Christie if Romney should release his tax returns now. “You’re a full disclosure guy,” Lauer said. “You like it when politicians reveal their financial situations and tax returns. Is Mitt Romney missing the boat?”

Christie responded, “I don’t think he’s going to. I think he’ll release the taxes.”

He then started to sort of defend Romney’s decision not to release his tax returns until April, saying “The most relevant information is the most recent, April.”

Gov. Christie then volunteered, “My practice all along is I release my tax returns every year as soon as they are filed.”

Pressed by Lauer on whether Gov. Romney should wait until April, Christie said “He already started to speak yesterday, about the rate he pays. I would say if you have tax returns to put out, you know, you should put them out sooner rather than later because it’s always better in my view to have complete disclosure, especially as the front-runner.”

Here’s that clip, from NBC:

A few minutes later, though, Christie appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and urged Romney to release his tax returns now without even being asked about it. Panelist Bob Woodward asked about yesterday’s politically inconvenient, 99%-unfriendly revelation.

“What is your reaction to Governor Romney saying that he paid only 15% effective tax rate?” Woodward asked.

Governor Christie immediately launched into a call for Romney to release his tax returns now, a tangential response to Woodward’s question, at best. “First of all,” Christie said, “the way I’ve conducted myself all along, I’ve released all my tax returns, and I did it in the campaign, went back a number of years and I released them every year after I file them, right after I file them, to the public of New Jersey so they can see everything. (Romney) says he’s going to release them in April, I hope he does.

“In terms of the 15% effective rate,” Gov. Christie continued, “for people who know this, I don’t think it comes as any great shock because the guy hasn’t been having a job where he’s been getting income over the last number of years. And so he’s been getting money from investment income, which is taxed at a different rate. The fact is, let’s get all the facts out there, see what the tax returns say, and I think everybody will know the story is probably much ado about nothing.”

Gov. Christie is known for his outspokenness, but it’s hard to believe that he’s just off the reservation here. Christie’s framing of this issue might be an indication that Romney does plan to move up his timetable. Alternately, the New Jersey Governor’s application of pressure, if not calculated, will certainly make it difficult for Gov. Romney to wait until April.

Here’s the Morning Joe clip, from MSNBC:

Bieber loved the “He’s making a list” line, inserting it at least twice into the song where it didn’t belong. About halfway through, possibly aware that he wasn’t going to figure out all the lines on live TV, it looked like he just gave up on singing the first line of each stanza, waited to hear what the backup singers came up with for his cue, then took it from there.

To Bieber’s credit, the fact that he flubbed the lines actually speaks to his quality as a performer. Instead of taking the easy way out by just playing a pre-recorded track and doing flashy dance moves to it, the Biebs sang his songs live, strolling up and down the stage and slapping hands with fans, who wrapped around Fifth Avenue — way out of any sight lines — just hoping to catch a bit of his angelic voice from hundreds of yards away. So somehow, some way, flubbing the lines to a song that most people know actually made Justin Bieber… more endearing.

It warms the heart.

Enjoy the dose of mixed-up holiday cheer below, courtesy of NBC:

Newt Gingrich appeared on the Today show Monday morning to discuss Herman Cain‘s candidacy and the swirling sexual harassment accusations levied against the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO. But the “one-on-one” interview turned into a wonderful piece of media bashing by Gingrich, who, apparently, didn’t feel like being baited into answering the typical, “How will you defeat Barack Obama?” line of questioning. When Ann Curry asked if unanswered questions about the allegations against Cain would hurt him as a nominee, Gingrich took control of the interview and blasted the media for blowing the stories out of proportion:

“What does it mean to the elite news media that nobody in the country ever walks up to us and raises questions you all raise? Herman Cain, I suspect, is getting far fewer questions from citizens about these kind of things than he is about jobs, about other things, and I just think there’s a huge gap between the gossip that fascinates political reporters and the average person’s concern about the price of housing, the availability of jobs, solving the budget deficit without crushing the middle class. A lot of things that, frankly, the substance level are dramatically more important to most Americans.”

When pressed by Curry on whether or not character matters in choosing a presidential candidate, Gingrich said it did, but explained that the interest in these gosspiy stories has raged out of control — to a level where it might become detrimental to the news media as a whole:

“When the news media goes and finds an anonymous report about an anonymous incident, about which you have remarkably limited information, and you decide that matters more than every other issue in the campaign–that may put your judgment in doubt…being the institutional news media.”

Watch the clip of the interview below, courtesy of Today:

“I’d just like to say that none of those allegations are true. I know I”m going to be a target, but I’ll never be a victim,” Bieber said. “Every night after the show, I go right from the stage to my car. So it’s crazy that people want to make up such false allegations. But, to set the record straight: None of it is true.”

“Do you know this woman? Her name is Mariah. Have either of you ever met?” Lauer followed up. “Never met the woman!” Bieber replied.

“Obviously, this is what comes along with life in the fast lane, as they say,” Lauer postulated.

Watch the interview between Lauer and Bieber below via NBC:

Beck is a very popular media personality, with legions of very loyal supporters, many of whom subscribe to his GBTV online video offering. Beck’s vision of the future of mass media and television has been lauded as a forward-thinking strategy for the new millenium. So this appearance with Gifford, on the top rated morning program TODAY really did serve as a perfect promotion for the “Glenn Beck Experience™.”

Despite the fact this he’s occasionally prone to over-the-top and hyperbolic comments, Beck is a charmer, which is on full display below. He is equally comfortable discussing his darkest childhood memories, and joking about a day in his life. His detractors call him a charlatan, and that may be true to some degree, but he’s no more or less a charlatan than any of his opiniotainment peers. He’s just better at it.

Watch the clip below, courtesy of NBC:

McGinniss has long been considered a well-respected writer, though his actions in researching this unauthorized “tell-all” raised a lot of eyebrows. Guthrie correctly presents McGinnniss book in the context of a reporter who rented a house next door to the Palin’s Wasilla home, which understandably raised the ire of the Palin family, but also raised questions of privacy with regards to the relationship between an unauthorized biographer and his or her subject. As such, many of the most interesting details in this book are understandably considered with the patina of retribution for much of the anger McGinniss felt from both national media personalities and local Wasilla residents.

To his credit, however, McGinniss does not shy away from the conflicting relationship he had with the Palins in presenting his “side” of the story, and reveals many doozies that will likely be discussed in many months to come. Some of the most controversial topics include Sarah Palin’s alleged unpopularity among her closest acquaintances and reported cocaine use by both Palin and husband Todd. Former NBA basketball player Glenn Rice reportedly confirms an included story of an romantic affair that he had with an unmarried Sarah Heath, who was reporting on Great Alaskan Shootout, a college basketball tournament covered by Palin while she was a local sports anchor.

Todd Palin released a statement regarding McGinnis and the book, which reads:

“This is a man who has been relentlessly stalking my family to the point of moving in right next door to us to harass us and spy on us. He traffics in innuendo and falsehoods. A few years ago he interviewed members of Sarah’s administration for a magazine article, and afterwards they said that he was the most disingenuous and intellectual dishonest writer they’d ever dealt with. He’s spent the last year interviewing marginal figures with an axe to grind in order to churn out a hit piece to satisfy his own creepy obsession with my wife. I’d ask that people consider these facts when evaluating his latest lies.”

“I’d ask the fathers and husbands of America to consider our privacy when one summer day I found this guy on the deck of the rental property, just 18 feet away next door to us, staring like a creep at my wife while she mowed the lawn in her shorts, unbeknownst to her that he was prying. As well as our teenage daughters while they tried to enjoy our traditional Alaskan summer days outdoors. Joe’s son told the media he advised his dad not to move from the East Coast to become our next door neighbor, but said his dad ‘was just waiting for Todd to be out of the picture.’ Sarah has never spoken to this intruder into our lives, our friends and family don’t speak to him, so we have no idea where he would come up with content for his book. He was on our doorstep one day trying to make conversation with our son until Track cut the conversation short after discerning Joe’s odd behavior, and I spoke to him one time when I saw him 18 feet away, just to find out who he was. He took that conversation and reported it to the media as me ‘threatening’ him.”

Watch the following segment courtesy of NBC News:

Markham was last seen by her boyfriend of six years and fiance, John Carter, on August 13th, just days before her 22nd birthday and a month before she was scheduled to graduate from the Art Institute of Cincinnati. Carter says that things seemed normal when he left her apartment late that night, and that they had been discussing a move to Colorado but “she did not feel like she was being forced into anything.” She sent him one last text message at 12:52 AM that night, and he only began to worry the next morning when she wasn’t responding to his text messages.

Katelyn’s father said this morning that Carter’s story sounds like “typical Katelyn” and like “everything was normal, just the everyday life of Katelyn.” He also notes that “she was never gone for 24 hours without letting somebody know, let alone two weeks.”

Katelyn’s house was left mostly untouched — her her car parked, her dog Murphy locked in the bedroom, and everything else, keys and purse included, intact. All that was missing was Kateyln and her cell phone, which was turned off around the same time she sent that last text message to Carter on August 13. Fairfield, Ohio police chief Mike Dickey says in Today‘s report that, in his 40 plus years of service, he has never seen a case with so little evidence and that, “It’s as if she vanished.”

Katelyn is being described in the media and by her family as a courageous and responsible. They report that she was focused on and eager about her future — one that included a college degree and a marriage to her boyfriend of six years — and she hadn’t been showing any signs of depression. But to be so young and with so much on your plate can be scary, and to become the center of a nation-wide search, deemed a “blushing bride-to-be,” perhaps scarier yet. Her father, however, seems open to her being overwhelmed, saying he is praying for her to “come in saying, I thought you got the message that I was taking a break.”

Police say they still have no evidence of foul play, but of course cannot rule anything out in a case like this. Anonymous donors are now offering $5,000 in reward for information regarding her disappearance. A Facebook group called “Missing! Bring Katelyn Markham Home” has been created to keep searches up to date, and today the national search group EquuSearch has joined in their efforts.

Watch David Markham on the Today Show below:

Along with the doldrums of summer come the fill-in hosts, for cable and network shows alike. Who fills those chairs when the lead anchors take vacation is probably more significant, and well thought-out, at the morning shows than any other programs on television. Over at ABC, up-and-coming star Josh Elliott filled in hosting GMA this weekend (as he had during the week before), while Elizabeth Vargas substituted for Robin Roberts last week. But with rumors that Matt Lauer could leave The Today Show in the near future, the real action is over at NBC, where Meet The Press host David Gregory and new NBC darling Savannah Guthrie are co-hosting today, and where Morning Joe‘s Willie Geist has seen significant time in the “male” chair.

Ryan Seacrest has become a household name hosting American Idol, his radio show and co-hosting E! News on the E! network, which is owned by Comcast. With GMA shrinking The Today Show‘s lead in the past few months, the internal discussions have been intensifying, Mediaite has learned. Key NBC insiders now believe that only someone with Seacrest’s name recognition and appeal to women could allow for a smooth transition, and ensure that the incredibly profitable Today Show remains on top in the morning.

When reached, an NBC spokesperson had no comment.

The issue with Seacrest, according to insiders, is not whether he could get the gig, but whether he would take it. The full time hosting job would mean that Seacrest would have to leave his beloved Los Angeles and move to New York, which he is apparently loathe to do. Furthermore, hosting a morning show is a grueling job, and with his production company and various hosting jobs, something would have to give. If Seacrest were to take the job, there would also likely be internal dissension amongst the NBC News folks, for picking someone with no news experience. But these days, one has to imagine that simply wouldn’t matter much to a company seeking to protect one of its most important and profitable brands.

The way to avoid all of that, of course, would be to figure out how to keep Lauer.

During a segment on water animals, a scarlet ibis (an type of red, exotic bird for those of you not acquainted with Ornithology) took flight and found a perch on Matt Lauer‘s head.

Lauer handled it like a champ, only freaking out a little bit when the bird’s handler fed it a fish and its rather sharp looking claws dug into his head. He either remained oblivious to, or decided to accept the fact that his balding head was squarely the focus of the shot as the camera zoomed in on the action.

Ann Curry fit in a joke about Lauder being obsessed with Purell, Lauer politely refused the offer for another bird topper, missed an obvious joke about Kate Middleton/crazy hats and shared that the bird must have “mistook me for a turtle”.

All in all, classic Today silliness that maybe tops that time Al Roker pretended like he was in Dirty Dancing.

Watch the clip below:

Did you know that women who went to college are now going online to meet rich men who will buy them presents and give them money in exchange for sexual favors? Like, ick! What kind of world are we living in? I totally agree with Star Jones; ”ethically, morally and in my neighborhood… When you return sexual favors and expect some kind of renumeration, my mother would call you a hoe”.

That’s like, exactly how I felt when I read about this story two years ago in Cosmopolitan. Except I wasn’t as outraged last time because the story was right next to this really scary article on honeymoon murders (really serious issue too, guys!) and that one totally got me thinking.

But in all seriousness, this morning the Today show decided to address an issue that has recently exploded. This controversy has mostly been manufactured by an incredibly long winded HuffPo article that dared to take offense at what is essentially prostitution with a fancy website.

The article contains interviews with several “Sugar Babies”, who sleep with wealthy men under the assumption that said men will help them pay off their student loans. These women are billed as intelligent, wealthy and on their way to success:

I’m honestly surprised there aren’t more college students doing this,” says Jennifer, not blinking. She’s a 23-year-old recent graduate of Sarah Lawrence College.

Fed up with young, unemployed men her own age, Jennifer recently began trawling for a sugar daddy to pay down about $20,000 in student loan debt. She also wouldn’t mind a clothing allowance or rent money for her studio apartment in New York’s East Village.

A week ago, she boarded a plane to Florida to spend the weekend with a 30-something banker she met on SugarDaddie.com. He told her his house was undergoing a renovation and instead drove her to a nearby hotel, where they spent the night together.

“Yeah, sure, he could have been a psycho, a killer,” says Jennifer over breakfast. At nine o’clock in the morning, she’s in a full face of makeup. On her profile she describes herself as a yoga teacher and personal trainer. “Barring rape or death, what’s the worst thing that could happen to me?’

Indeed. Well, women like Jennifer found a defender this morning on the Today show. Donny Deutsch says, “shame on us for passing judgement”. Yeah, shame on us! Also, “everything in life is some kind of transaction”. But “[his] children are growing up in privilege so that’s not going to be an option for them, of course.”

Naturally this didn’t exactly fly with Jones and the other women. After Deutsch suggested that this might actually be a positive thing he was basically attacked by the other female panelists. One responded to his point, “who are we to sit in judgement if this girl ends up going to medical school and that’s the way she’s going to do it” by saying “[I] don’t want her to go to medical school after she’s spent half her life on her knees, I’m sorry”. 

The discussion continued to get more heated when Deutsch compared these Sugar Babies to women who stay with their husbands for security instead of love.

However, with the exception of the last argument in the segment, Deutsch doesn’t make bad points. He was obviously brought on the show to play the role of devil’s advocate in this back-to-school controversy, but he is articulate and in some ways his points about the importance of education are true. But he appears on a show with a distinctly feminine presence and argues an unpopular point. The result is this half uncomfortable, half incredibly entertaining argument.

Watch the fight below:

(h/t)

During a clip of Winehouse’s music video for her song “You Know I’m No Good,” the on-screen title instead read “You Know I’m Dead.” Awkward to say the least, and somewhat dubious since it wasn’t even a typo off by a letter or two!

(h/t TVNewser)

It’s a funny segment. Watch it why don’t you, courtesy of Comedy Central:

In a report on The Today Show, Kelly O’Donnell spoke with a doctor who confirmed that migraines are treatable, but are often a sign from the body that one’s stress level needs to be reduced or that they need more sleep. Bachmann insists she has maintained a full schedule on the campaign trail, and does admit “I have prescribed medication I take on occasion whenever symptoms arise and keep my migraines under control.”

O’Donnell remembered that former Republican nominee for president John McCain was consistently asked about his health and asked to produce medical records. Yet O’Donnell was still surprised that questions regarding Bachmann’s health were arising this early in the campaign.

Watch the report from NBC below:

Before talk turned to culture, Lauer and Ingraham sparred over the debt ceiling with Ingraham adamantly saying “I certainly hope [Republicans] don’t compromise on taxes.” Lauer wondered where was the “shared sacrifice” on the Republicans side if they don’t compromise? Yet Ingraham responded, “is [Obama's] shared sacrifice the fact that he cancelled his Montana vacation last weekend?” Instead she repeated “we have to shrink government” and predicted that “Democrats are in big trouble” if a deal is not reached.

The conversation turned a bit lighter when Ingraham talked about her new book, Of Thee I Zing as Lauer wondered, “am I the only man in America or person in this room who didn’t know what a ‘muffin top’ was?” For the uninitiated, here’s your chance to share with Lauer this new knowledge. Then Ingraham discussed “porn on a train” and suggested “we can do better” than to have Lauer feature all these singers with explicit lyrics on the Today Show. Instead, Ingraham is in favor of more Tony Bennett. At this point Lauer learned it was better to laugh off the criticism than to argue, and humorously concluded, “thank you for going to our website and checking out our Summer Concert Series” and suggested Ingraham get the App for her phone too.

Watch the clip from NBC below:

Cain defended his minimal foreign policy knowledge and intent to rely on experts:

“You don’t need foreign policy experience to know who your friends are and who your enemies are. And you don’t need foreign policy experience to know that you don’t tell your enemy what your next move is.”

In addition to that jab at President Obama, Cain also vowed to get up to speed before assuming the job and was confident that the American people are “rejecting the old notion that you must have held public office” in order to be an effective President. Guthrie seemed skeptical, yet Cain’s enthusiastic optimism was not shaken.

Watch the clip from NBC below:

Maddow first suggested Sarah Palin could wait a long time before entering the race for President, since everyone else needs much more time to introduce themselves to the country than Palin. Also Maddow disputed the idea that Palin and Michele Bachmann are direct competitors, arguing we are “past the glass ceiling wherein people have to compete to be the female candidate.” Yet strangely Maddow saved her harshest critique for Christie, someone who claims he is definitely not running for President.

Christie made comments that President Obama can’t accomplish anything because he is preoccupied with being liked by everyone. Maddow began to argue in response that Christie’s brand is “I am the guy that screams at my own constituents,” when Curry interjected suggesting she focus less on personal attacks. Maddow responded:

“It’s not an ad hominem argument, Chris Christie is auditioning for Vice President. Chris Christie would like to be taken seriously on the national stage. That’s why he is embarrassing himself in his own state . . . and his brand is I will be rude and rudeness is actually what he’s trying to sell as a form of political authenticity.”

Whether such statements can be considered ad hominem attacks, or merely just political commentary, seems to depend on how one defines the latin term. Yet Maddow makes it clear, that not everyone likes Christie’s blunt brand.

Watch the clip from NBC below:

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul wants you to know he can win the GOP nomination–and beat Barack Obama. On TODAY, Paul told NBC’s Matt Lauer he knows he’s not at the top of national polls, but his victory in the Republican Leadership Conference straw poll in New Orleans–where he won with 612 votes, beating presumed frontrunner Mitt Romney, who finished if fifth place with 74 votes. “I think people are starting to realize that what I’m talking about is sound,” insisting his campaign is gaining momentum. “We’re making great progress. The direction is in our way.”

Paul also dismissed any suggestion that his age could be a factor. At 75, Paul would be the oldest president to take the oath of office, but he says “it’s the ideas that counts, it your health that counts.”

Watch it here, from NBC News:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ron Paul won the straw poll here at the Republican Leadership Conference overwhelmingly with 612 votes, drawing big boos and some quieter chants of “Ron Paul.” Jon Huntsman finished a surprising second with 382 votes, despite being a late scratch because of a “bad cold.” Michele Bachmann was third with 191 votes.

Herman Cain was fourth with 104 votes. Mitt Romney, the presumed front runner, who won the straw poll here a year ago, faded to fifth with 74 votes. Tim Pawlenty finished with just 18 votes, fourth from the bottom of the 12-person ballot, just ahead of Gary Johnson (10), Buddy Roemer (9), and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (2).

Paul’s ardent followers packed the ballroom here before, during, and just after his speech, but they were barely seen listening to other speeches. They have organized to win straw polls at many other conservative events as well.

Romney, who did not attend this year or last, was criticized here for not signing onto a legislative pledge from anti-abortion-rights group Susan B. Anthony List. The group released the list of presidential candidates who signed onto the pledge yesterday afternoon. Most signed on; Romney did not.

First, let’s recap how just how this story initially broke and the media’s general reaction. Andrew Breitbart‘s BigGovernment broke the story late Friday night. In the following day, only predictable right-of-center websites picked up on the story (in fact, Mediaite didn’t publish our version of the story until early Saturday evening). This was the sort of curious and confusing controversy that is perfect fodder for the political blogosphere. In fact, Memorial Day weekend, for many writers and editors of political blogs and websites, will be forever known as “The Weinergate Weekend.”

But the mainstream media, or more to the point, cable and broadcast news, treated this story with a big, throbbing dose of skepticism, not really even mentioning it at all on air until Monday afternoon, when a CNN crew caught up with Rep. Weiner in his Queens, NY neighborhood. It was a nice get for CNN, and once they ran the Weinergate story up the flagpole, other TV news outlets began to salute, and take notice that this was a story that was worth covering.

But morning cable news programs — which so often and effectively introduce the news narratives of the day — still ignored the story Tuesday morning. No mention on Fox and Friends, MSNBC’s Morning Joe or CNN’s American Morning. Yes, Bill Hemmer made a small mention of the story, and Carl Cameron filed a similarly brief report later in the day (sorry!), but still no coverage on MSNBC. However, CNN continued to get ahead of the story (last one, I swear), going so far to interview Breitbart on air, quickly followed by an oddly dismissive Jeffrey Toobin.

But the real star here CNN’s Dana Bash, who tracked Weiner down for another improvised Q&A, and seemed to be the central reporter at Weiners press briefing on Capitol Hill. If you haven’t seen this train wreck of a media event, please check it out, because the defensive and irritable Weiner (call your doctor if condition persists) only added fuel to the fire with his petulant behavior, rather than fulfilling his wish that this “distraction” would just go away.

That leads us to the TODAY coverage this morning, complete with the inclusion of the lewd pic. Just five days after the story broke on the Internet, the mainstream media appears to recognize that this is a real story with just as many interesting questions than there are real answers and facts at this point. It’s reasonable suggest that the news media have shown more restraint than a pair of gray undies so far, and yes, the fact that it broke over a holiday weekend deserves a mention as a possible explanation for why they were so slow to react.

There is another explanation, however, for why the mainstream media has been slow on the uptake. Some right-of-center columnists and bloggers firmly believe that the news media is unfairly biased towards Democratic and liberal politicians. Andrew Breitbart is surely wondering how this story would have been covered had the central figure been a conservative politician. The truth is, in this writer’s esteem, that’s more than a fair question to ask. However, given the bulk of the anomalies in this story, and the paucity of hard facts over the weekend, the answer is there might not have been much difference at all.

Watch the TODAY segment below, courtesy of NBC News.

With Newt Gingrich jumping into the 2012 Republican presidential campaign today, Karl Rove tells Matt Lauer “(Gingrich) could earn his way into the top tier…there is essentially no front-runner.”

The Republican field remains wide open, Rove says, with time for a well-known candidate like Gingrich to make moves to break from the pack before others get into the race in the weeks before July, when Rove believes it will be too late to run for those who haven’t begun campaigning to mount an effective bid for the GOP nomination. What about Donald Trump, who found his way to the top of some early polls, followed by a drop in more recent polling. “His swearing and epithet-laden speech in Las Vegas turned off a lot of voters.”

Watch the interview here, from NBC:

In an exclusive interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer on TODAY, House Speaker John Boehner said tax hikes are “off the table” as Republicans negotiate with the White House over extending the federal debt ceiling. “Everything else is on the table,” Boehner said.

Lauer asked the Speaker about a speech he gave Monday night in New York, saying he wants trillions of dollars in spending cuts as part of any deal to allow the government to continue borrowing past the current cap of $14.3 trillion. Boehner says it’s time to be “adults” about the nation’s debt, and that includes traditionally off-the-table spending programs like Medicare and Social Security–programs the Speaker says must be addressed because “they’re unaffordable for our kids and grandkids.”

Watch it here, from NBC:

The show’s Tumblr blog shows co-host Kathie Lee Gifford – hands down the newscaster with whom I’d most like to hang out – drinking a pink concoction while wearing a crown made of pretzel. Admit it: We’ve all been there.

For those of you who are curious, a Crack Baby – supposedly Kate Middleton’s favorite beverage to wave in the air while shouting “Woo!” – consists of the following:

Simply blend ingredients together, find a prince, and you’re golden.

Right, so. If you want to enjoy something tangentially related to the royal wedding, let it be Kathie Lee and her pretzel crown. But if you want to enjoy two things tangentially related to the wedding, give this rather perplexing music video a look. Perhaps whilst drinking a Crack Baby.

h/t Buzzfeed

These days the Today Show has alternated primarily between two male substitute hosts: Morning Joe’s Willie Geist and CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla. So what happened to Gregory? In 2008, Gregory was given the prestigious job hosting the Sunday political powerhouse Meet The Press. No small job to fill Tim Russert‘s shoes at the number one weekend political program. But a New York Times piece covering his move made it clear the Today Show was still part of the deal and part of Gregory’s future. Bill Carter wrote: “Under his new contract, he will continue to have a presence on “Today,” serving as the regular substitute host for Matt Lauer.” The Today Show clearly intended to have Gregory move from Meet The Press to the Today Show ala George Stephanopoulos if Lauer ever left.

With speculation now rampant that Lauer might actually pack his bags at the end of his contract, insiders are speculating publicly about Geist. Quintanilla, Lester Holt, Al Roker even ABC‘s Chris Cuomo but very little mention of Gregory. While Gregory has been thrown the occasional fill-in bone as of late, he has been far from a regular host on the show, the way he once was.

Did Jeff Zucker‘s departure shift Gregory’s star trajectory? We contacted NBC for comment and a spokesperson told Mediaite “Matt Lauer is under contract and has a long time left at the TODAY show. We prefer not to comment on speculation.” That’s probably true, but that doesn’t mean that the media soothsayers haven’t noticed the shifting narrative of what “insiders” have been speculating. One has to wonder if that is a source of frustration for the multi-talented Gregory. Stay tuned.

And it’s got advertisers and others wondering where to put their dollars:

Speculation that America’s most popular morning team is nearing an end already has change-averse advertisers feeling skittish, especially as they strategize about where to commit their ad budgets ahead of the TV networks’ annual “upfronts” in May.

“We’re concerned that having two hosts leave at the same time is very jarring. It would be very concerning especially as we’re about to put a lot of money on that show,” said Maureen Bosetti, Optimedia’s chief broadcast buyer.

Host Meredith Vieira began segueing into a conversation about the 2012 election when Cosby, who was on the show to discuss children and education, immediately pounced on Trump. “He’s full of it,” Cosby announced. An awkward silence followed until Vieira quietly asked him to clarify. Apparently, Cosby is annoyed with Trump’s hesitation to formally announce his candidacy. “You running? Or shut up.”

“Well, on that note, Bill Cosby,” replied a mildly to wildly confused Vieira, “We’ll see if he runs…” Cosby didn’t miss a beat: “I don’t care.”

Watch the video, from NBC:

h/t Buzzfeed

Watch the clip below, courtesy of NBC, followed by a rough transcript provided by NBC.com:

>> recently you spent a lot of time talking about president obama’s birth certificate or lack thereof. you’re convinced he doesn’t have one.

>> no, he doesn’t have one. i’ve had very smart people say, donald, stay on the china issue, saudi arabia issue, stay on india taking our jobs and mexico, nafta, get off the birth certificate issue.

>> why don’t you? because you know what? three weeks before he started i thought he was born in the country and now i have a much bigger doubt. his grandmother in kenya says he was born in kenya and witnessed the birth, okay? he doesn’t have a birth certificate or he hasn’t shone it. he has what’s called certificate of live birth. that’s something that’s easy to get.

>> consider the equivalent.

>> it’s not the equivalent.

>> in the state of hawaii they say they have seen this document, he was born in the united states, that’s good enough for them.

>> a birth certificate is not even close. a certificate of live birth is not even signed by anybody. i saw his. i read it very carefully. it doesn’t have a serial number, doesn’t have a signature. there’s not even a signature.

>> do you think he was lying? come on, just answer.

>> meredith, he spent $2 million in legal fees trying on to get away from this issue, and if he weren’t issue, why would j he just solve it? i wish he would because if he doesn’t, it’s one of the greatest scams in the history of politics and in the history, period. you are not allowed to be a president if you’re not born in this country. right now i have real doubts. i have people that have been studying it and they cannot believe what they’re finding.

>> you have people down there — i mean

>> meredith, he spent $2 million in legal fees trying on to get away from this issue, and if he weren’t issue, why would j he just solve it? i wish he would because if he doesn’t, it’s one of the greatest scams in the history of politics and in the history, period. you are not allowed to be a president if you’re not born in this country. right now i have real doubts. i have people that have been studying it and they cannot believe what they’re finding.

>> you have people down there — i mean searching in hawaii? absolutely. they can’t believe what they’re finding. i’d like him to show his birth certificate. can i be honest with you? i hope he can. if he can’t, if he can’t, if he wasn’t born in this country, and i’m not saying it’s a real possibility. but it’s much greater than two or three weeks ago, then he’s pulled one of the greatest cons in the history of politics and beyond.

And then there’s this:

An inside source at NBC shared that there have not been talks of Lauer leaving the network.

…this despite earlier, contradictory statements from another “inside source” who approached ET and The Insider with news that Lauer had spoken to NBC executives about his resignation.

NBC also sent out an official statement on the matter:

There seems to be an awful lot of speculation around news anchors these days, and it’s not our practice to comment on any of it. Matt Lauer has a long-term contract with NBC News and TODAY.

h/t MSNBC

In the article, a cover story in Guideposts magazine, Curry wrote the answer to her question of “what is it I need to be doing” came in the form of humanitarian reporting, which she has done in the years since, traveling around the world and solidifying her stature as one of NBC News’ top correspondents. She shared a story from her reporting with Guideposts:

That’s what brings me back to places like Congo. Most people don’t realize it is the site of the deadliest conflict since World War II. The fighting and war crimes against civilians challenge every definition of decency. Thousands die every month from malnutrition and disease.

Yet even in this place of suffering, it is possible to find hope. I’ll never forget Sifa, an 18-year-old Congolese woman I met in February 2008. I talked to her in the hospital. What she told me made me weep. Her parents were killed in front of her. She ran, but the killers caught her, chained her to a tree and raped her. She became pregnant; when the baby came, everything inside her broke. “Do you want revenge?” I asked.

She said, “No, all I want is to rise from this bed, thank the people who helped me and work for God.”

Battaglio reports Vieira has “been in discussions with NBC News executives for several months about extending her deal, which is up in September,” and quotes a source saying “NBC is doing everything they can to convince her to stay.”

The stakes are high for NBC, which has kept its number one status for years, but faces intensified competition from a rejuvenated Good Morning America at ABC. Any change at TODAY could be seen as a risk in a hypercompetitive race.

Vieira joined TODAY in 2006 when then co-host Katie Couric left for CBS.