If not in the news then be on the news, you know? Next week the television’s first family, the Kardashians, are taking their first swing at primetime, Bruce Jenner, Kris Jenner, Khloe, Kourtney and of course Kim each having a turn as Hoda Kotb‘s <em>Today</em> co-host. Whether or not they should be being no matter, the Kardashians can really do anything!

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is, much to the prolonged chagrin of Chris Hayes, continuing on his media blitz in promotion of his memoir. That included a visit to Today, where Cheney told host Matt Lauer that, despite what detractors might say, the war in Iraq was “sound policy.” Lauer kicked things off with a very odd question: Does Cheney think there’s something about his demeanor that has people calling him “divisive”? (The correct response is: “Huh?”) Things became more interesting from there.

Judge solely by the amount of attention she has received this week, it’s fair to say that Tea Party darling and aspiring media figure Christine O’Donnell has been successful at promoting her new book Troublemaker. But if you draw a distinction between the quantity and quality of media attention, well then perhaps its a different story all together. This morning O’Donnell showed up on NBC’s TODAY and was fairly interrogated by Savannah Guthrie who questioned O’Donnell’s previous explanations for why exactly she walked off of the set of Piers Morgan Tonight earlier in the week.

Just a few months ago, reports surfaced that Today Show host Matt Lauer had had enough early morning TV work, and would be departing the show when his current contract came to an end. While NBC denied the report, rumors have persisted that not only is Lauer serious about leaving, but that NBC executives are reasonably (and quite seriously) considering possible replacements. Mediaite has learned that the top choice of certain key Comcast and NBC execs is American Idol host Ryan Seacrest.

A Connecticut woman who lost her eyes, hands and most of her face in a horrific chimpanzee attack has revealed the results of a face transplant. Charla Nash, who was visiting a friend when the friend’s chimp charged and attacked her, survived the attack and underwent face transplant surgery in May. “I’m beginning to feel my jaw and chin,” she told TODAY. “And I can move my mouth and smile. I still feel weak. But little by little I’m getting stronger.”

In an exclusive, TODAY will reveal Charla Nash‘s new face for the first time. Nash, the Connecticut woman who was disfigured in a horrific chimp attack, underwent face transplant surgery. NBC News reports TODAY’s Ann Curry will debut post-surgery photos and video of Nash on Thursday morning’s show. Nash’s daughter Briana and brother Stephen will join Curry in studio to talk about how Nash is doing since the face transplant.

It’s been about a whole month since Bill O’Reilly picked a fight with a rapper, perhaps prompted by the fact that others have picked up the mantle. Among them is Laura Ingraham, who has been doing yeoman’s work in calling out Chris Brown for his corrosive influence on American culture. He and his friends (which he apparently has) have struck back, and in response O’Reilly extended an open invitation to Brown and 50 Cent to debate their stances.

Just before six o’clock ET, the American space shuttle program came to an emotional end, as Atlantis made a picture-perfect landing at the Kennedy Space Center. “Atlantis is home,” said NASA control. “Its journey complete. A moment to be savored.” The final flight’s mission wrapped with one final act–sending a small payload into orbit before returning to Florida. “Having fired the imagination of a generation, a ship like no other, its place in history secured. The space shuttle pulls into port for the last time, its voyage at an end.”

strong>Al Roker, weatherman, scholar and dancer, decided he’d attempt to recreate an iconic scene from Dirty Dancing with the help of actor Ryan Gosling. Roker tried, in vain, to get Ann Curry to dance, but she gave the impression that she’d rather have her teeth drilled than be carried through the air. We’re with you, Ann. Also, cute dress. Also, we’re going to be sure to follow your lead and somehow incorporate the phrase “gorgeous hunk of man candy” into conversation today.

He’s the guy many Americans know as the sweet and adorable British prime minister from romantic comedies, and now he’s the face of the U.K.’s outrage over the phone hacking scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corp–Hugh Grant, who this morning told NBC’s Matt Lauer that one of the reasons the hacking of celebrities, politicians and others went on for years is that the government lived in fear of Murdoch’s power. “He had the power through his papers to get them elected, and his paper knew dirty details about individual MPs and so they were unwilling ever to take him on.”

Last night, Anderson Cooper again boldly defended the indefensible, putting “all those who dare to disparage Octomom Nadia Suleman” on his RidicuList (and for those of you who write for Washington-based blogs, before you write an outraged post about Coop, be advised: Cooper is being what we call sarcastic). At any rate, reflecting on Suleman’s recent visit to NBC’s TODAY, where her brood of 14 kids, including eight two year olds, wreaked havoc on the set, sending both Ann Curry and David Gregory into baby wrangling duty, Cooper suggests all you “haters” knock it down a notch.

Was it you? Were you the one who clicked that thumb around 8:23 Friday morning (during the show! synergy!) and became TODAY‘s 500,000th fan? Somebody did it, and NBC’s top-rated morning show is celebrating the social media milestone that few shows have hit. TODAY’s half a million fans outnumber those of other breakfast shows–twice the [...]

NBC News correspondent Kerry Sanders, who’s covered the Casey Anthony story for three years, was outside the Orange County Jail this morning, telling viewers of TODAY that this could be the last full day and night in custody for Anthony, who faces sentencing tomorrow on lesser charges of lying to prosecutors and could–conceivably–be released for time served. “Had Casey been convicted of murder, she could have faced the death penalty,” said Sanders. “The judge could sentence Casey to four years, but with the time she’s already served, she could walk free.”

In his first public comments since the jury verdict in the Casey Anthony murder trial, prosecutor Jeff Ashton told NBC’s Matt Lauer this morning that going into the courtroom–with jurors coming back after just eleven hours of deliberation–”we were feeling pretty good. We didn’t feel that a not guilty verdict in that short a period of time was realistic, but that’s the jury system.” Ashton, whose work in delivering an emotional and powerful closing statement in the case was hailed by commentators, admits he was “shocked” by the jury’s not guilty verdict.

In an interview on NBC’s TODAY, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann told Matt Lauer her campaign–currently topping a Des Moines Register poll in Iowa–will not falter down the road to the GOP nomination. “I intend to have a fifty state campaign, because I intend to be the nominee that takes on Barack Obama and defeats him.”

The New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter will write a book, tentatively titled The Top of the Morning, “about TODAY, Good Morning America and the other morning shows that collectively set the nation’s breakfast table every day,” Stelter writes this morning on his personal website.

With Michele Bachmann being described as the GOP frontrunner in Iowa, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty dimissed early polling that’s put the Republican presidential candidate in the single digits in Iowa, and promised he’d be a real contender. In an interview on NBC’s TODAY, “the reality is, at this point Mike Huckabee was at four percent, we’re at six percent, and he ended up winning the Iowa caucuses, so there’s plenty of time to do well in Iowa and beyond.”

Actor Jim Carrey jumped into the “What’s Trending” segment on this morning’s TODAY show, interrupting news reader Natalie Morales as she reported on rioting Canucks fans in Vancouver with the comment, “low self esteem and Molson export don’t mix.” Morales, who admitted she was uncomfortable by the sudden appearance of Carrey at her side, predicted the bit would be a hit on “Yahoo and YouTube” (hello? Mediaite, Natalie?) and quickly threw back to co-hosts Ann Curry and Matt Lauer.

With Rep. Anthony Weiner‘s wife,Huma Abedin, back in the U.S. from an overseas trip with boss Hillary Clinton–and amid calls from key Democrats, including President Barack Obama to resign–the congressman’s future may be determined within days. NBC’s Luke Russert, on TODAY, said any effort to return to Congress by Weiner would find him surrounded by frustrated and furious fellow Democrats, one of whom said Weiner would be “a man without a country.”

President Obama‘s revealing interview on NBC’s TODAY covered plenty of ground, from the scandal surrounding Rep. Anthony Weiner to the economy, his family, and the president’s own feelings about his time in office. “I’m sure there are days where I say that one term is enough,’’ Obama said. “What keeps me going is a belief that the work that we started in 2009 is not yet complete.’’ The president told TODAY co-host Ann Curry that if, for some reason, he should decide not to seek a second term, his wife and daughters would not be disappointed.

In a typically over-the-top farewell from TODAY to its departing co-host Meredith Vieira, the NBC morning show’s entire staff, from co-host Matt Lauer to Vieira’s replacement Ann Curry and every member of the show’s production team–all wearing matching t-shirts–took to Rockefeller Plaza in a lip sync performance right out of Glee.

In a morning filled with tributes to departing TODAY‘s Meredith Vieira, the NBC morning show’s co-host told Matt Lauer she had no second thoughts about walking away from television’s dominant morning news program. “I know it’s right, but it’s hard.” In keeping with the show’s format, the morning was packed with surprises for Vieira, which she was clearly expecting.

MSNBC’s Rundown co-host Chuck Todd said farewell to his co-host Savannah Guthrie Friday, popping the cork for an on-set champagne toast as Guthrie prepares for her move to NBC’s TODAY. In a tweet about the morning, Guthrie told followers she and Todd were “kickin it like KLG and Hoda,” a reference to TODAY’s Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, who’ve been known to enjoy a late morning mimosa from time to time.

Mitt Romney is back in action, and this time around he is committed to campaigning as a casual, approachable president-in-waiting: the sort of guy you’d like to have a beer with, except he doesn’t drink. Romney visited Today this morning to chat about his campaign but, more importantly, shed light on what he does with his spare time– which apparently includes listening to ’60s rock and, even more shockingly, reading Twilight.

Meredith Vieira may be anxious to sleep in and relax when she leaves NBC’s TODAY later this year, but she didn’t get any peace in a visit with Ellen Degeneres on Ellen Monday. Degeneres aired hidden camera video of Vieira’s arrival at the studio for the interview–including the comic hiding in a dressing room and lunging at the unsuspecting morning show host. “I love scaring people,” said Degeneres, who joked about Vieira’s reaction to the prank–which had to be bleeped out. “You have a filthy mouth.”