…and, thus, perhaps, tries to dare Sen. Hillary Clinton to pull out of the Feb. 26 debate scheduled for the network? It is, after all, an odd time to be paying more attention to Chelsea.

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Big Head DC featured an interview with MSNBC’s David Shuster in July of 2006 — after Jessica Cutler shared with us that she once had an affair with the political reporter. Cutler, you’ll recall, is a former congressional staff assistant for former Sen. Mike DeWine. She was fired in 2004 after describing her sexual exploits in a blog called Washingtonienne. 

BHDC: What do you love/hate about reporting from Washington day in and day out?

David Shuster: I love the stories, I hate the humidity. Seriously, the weather here stinks. We should all move the nation’s capital to the California coast. Back to the stories… All of us who work as reporters in D.C. are quite fortunate compared to our colleagues elsewhere. Unlike war correspondents or people who cover natural disasters, the worst thing that ever happens in D.C. is somebody loses their reputation.

BHDC: How do you get along with Chris Matthews/Dan Abrams?

DS: I get along well with both Chris Matthews and Dan Abrams. Chris is the best boss and mentor I’ve ever had. And Dan is the most brilliant management choice I’ve ever seen. Dan is a great guy with a terrific view of cable news and how to improve MSNBC. Read more…

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Big Head DC has learned from sources inside the MSNBC camp that Phil Griffin, senior vice president at the network, “screamed” at reporter David Shuster for not agreeing to immediately apologize to Chelsea Clinton for saying on-air she had been “pimped out” by her mom’s campaign. Griffin threatened to fire Shuster “on the spot,” and it was only with intervention from Tim Russert that Shuster didn’t lose his position.

Meanwhile, Chris Matthews, Hardball anchor and a longtime ally of Shuster, has told acquaintances that he “wishes he could do more” to aid Shuster, but Matthews is already in deep trouble with network bigwigs for making several sexist remarks about Sen. Hillary Clinton. Matthews would like to be vocally supporting Shuster in this situation, but he’s worried that he could lose his current role of anchoring political events on the network, if he does not appear to stay neutral.

Still, that concern hasn’t stopped Matthews from making unattributed quotes to some news outlets, according to our sources.

On another note in this unfolding drama, Big Head DC has learned that Julianna Goldman, wife of Shuster, is “distraught and angry” at MSNBC for the way the network has treated her husband. Goldman, a rising star at Bloomberg News, may be trying to secure a position for Shuster with her bosses at her network.

Earlier: Apology May Keep David Shuster From Being Fired

Shuster Off-Air At MSNBC; Still Could Face Firing

MSNBC Reporter Compares Chelsea Clinton to Prostitute; Clinton Camp Might Not Do Future MSNBC Debates and Appearances

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“On Thursday’s Tucker on MSNBC, David Shuster, who was serving as guest-host of the program, made a comment about Chelsea Clinton and the Clinton campaign that was irresponsible and inappropriate,” NBC News President Steve Capus writes in a statement. “Shuster, who apologized this morning on MSNBC and will again this evening, has been suspended from appearing on all NBC News broadcasts, other than to make his apology. He has also extended an apology to the Clinton family. NBC News takes these matters seriously, and offers our sincere regrets to the Clintons for the remarks.”

An MSNBC insider tells Big Head DC that Shuster did not want to offer the apology in the first place — and only agreed to do so once it was clear that MSNBC would consider firing him if he did not.

Earlier: MSNBC Reporter Compares Chelsea Clinton to Prostitute; Clinton Camp Might Not Do Future MSNBC Debates and Appearances

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First MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews suggested Sen. Hillary Clinton only won her Senate seat because people felt sorry for her after Bill’s Clinton’s affair, and now MSNBC political reporter David Shuster has tastelessly compared Chelsea Clinton to a lady of the night.

Filling in for Tucker Carlson yesterday, Shuster gave his opinion on Chelsea’s role in the presidential campaign, asking a guest, “Doesn’t it seem as if Chelsea is sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?”

Immediately after the comment, Big Head DC has learned, people in the Clinton camp were angered — and the network began receiving angry e-mails and calls from viewers suggesting it was an inappropriate way for a reporter to refer to a former First Daughter.

Amazingly, Shuster chose not to apologize, even when the Clinton camp expressed their outrage directly to him — until MSNBC bigwigs forced him to do so, in a segment planned to air tonight at 6 p.m. ET. 

“The comment was completely inappropriate, and we have called the Clinton campaign to apologize,” a network spokesperson told Howie Kurtz today. Meanwhile, Phil Griffin, the executive in charge of MSNBC, phoned the Clinton camp to say the comment was “clearly wrong.” 

“At some point you have to question whether there is a pattern at this particular network,” a top Clinton staffer is quoted on a Post blog as saying. Murmurs are reaching Big Head DC that future MSNBC appearances by Hillary Clinton and her husband will likely be few and far between. 

Earlier: Advice for Removing David Shuster’s Alleged Back Hair

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Score one for kids’ rights advocates. Child reporters are now treated just as poorly as the older, more wrinkled members of the press. 

On the campaign trail with her mom in Iowa, Chelsea Clinton wouldn’t answer a question from 9-year-old Sydney Rieckhoff, a “kid reporter” for Scholastic News. The fourth grader, being a typical nosy journalist, asked the famous First Daughter, “Do you think your dad would be a good ‘first man’ in the White House?”

Replied Chelsea: “I’m sorry, I don’t talk to the press and that applies to you, unfortunately. Even though I think you’re cute.”

Is there a lesson here somewhere, kids, about choosing to be a journalist when you grow up?

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Radar compares “important” things, like their education and pedigree, but we want you to judge them based solely on their looks. Does Chelsea Clinton’s ex boy toy Ian Klaus (left) float your boat, or would you rather cuddle up to her current beau Marc Mezvinsky:

Related: Chelsea’s Ex Uses Her for Book Publicity

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As we told you in “Life Does Go On After Sex With Chelsea Clinton” in August, the former first daughter’s ex-very serious bf Ian Klaus has written a new book called Elvis is Titanic. Now, WWD reports, Chelsea is supporting the tome, and has even asked daddy Bill to host a book party this week to help Klaus out with sales. ”[A]lthough the notion of ex-girlfriend’s father as book party host certainly isn’t customary, a spokeswoman for Knopf, the book’s publisher, added that Chelsea and her friends will be in attendance,” according to the magazine. ”In fact, Klaus dedicated the book to Chelsea.” What a guy!

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Remember back when the Globe tabloid ran the headline “Chelsea Clinton Collapses: Lover [Ian Klaus] Caught in Iraq Bomb Blast”? Well - surprise! - turns out the tattle rag more than likely got the story wrong. She’s never been known to be a fainter, according to a couple of sources Big Head DC has interviewed who know her.

What is true is that since the couple broke up, Klaus has been doing just fine for himself. In fact, later this month Random House will release his first non-fiction book, Elvis Is Titanic, which centers on his life in the spring of 2005, when the Rhodes Scholar traveled eight hours from Turkey, via broken-down taxi and armed convoy, to reach Salahaddin University in Iraq.

“Elvis Is Titanic is the poignant, funny, and eye-opening story of the semester he spent there teaching U.S. history and English in the thick of the war for hearts and minds,” according to a press release. “His story, as full of hope and discovery as he finds his students, offers a slice of life behind the headlines.”

Fun fact: Even though the Globe story was likely hogwash, the time frame headlined in Elvis Is Titanic does intersect with its publication date. It was during the early ‘05 period when Klaus was traveling that reports of friction between he and Chelsea first surfaced. The long distance, we can only posit, was just too much to bear.

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