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BIG HEADLINE NEWS, featuring AP reports
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So sad. NBC is in utter shock.
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reddit | facebook | del.icio.us | stumble | permalinkJossip reports that NBC’s David Gregory recently “mouthed off” to a waitress in front of Tim Russert — and Russert was apparently infuriated by the newsman’s diva-like behavior, telling him “never to behave that way in front of him again.” A tipster now tells Big Head DC that Russert vented about the incident to frequent MSNBC pundit Mike Barnicle who told the NBC staffers who leaked to Jossip. Lesson here: Be kind to the help, kids.
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Update, 1:13 p.m.:
Big Head DC has received a copy of the official November 4, 1999 Illinois General Assembly transcript. The transcript proves that Sen. Barack Obama was absent from the assembly that day due to “personal business.” That date happens to fall near the same time period that Larry Sinclair, the Minnesota man who claims he used drugs and had a sexual encounter with Obama, alleges he met in secret with the politician.
A November 2007 Politico report indicates that Obama has repeatedly “dodged questions…about releasing papers from his eight years as an Illinois state senator, and his campaign has not answered records requests from the state’s two largest newspapers.”
Still, the publication noted, “Obama’s campaign has prodded Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) to make available additional records of her communications during her husband’s presidency.”
Later, during a Meet the Press appearance, moderator Tim Russert asked Obama about the missing records. “We did not keep those records,” Obama said at first.
Then Obama changed his answer, beginning with the statement, “Well, let me be clear.” He went on to say, “The stuff that I did not keep has to do with, for example, my schedule. I didn’t have a schedule. I was a state senator. I wasn’t intending to have the Barack Obama State Senate Library. I didn’t have 50 or 500 people to, to help me archive these issues.”
Obama’s campaign has not responded to requests for comment regarding the politician’s whereabouts on Thursday, November 4, 1999 or the weekend thereafter.
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reddit | facebook | del.icio.us | stumble | permalinkTim Russert shared that bit of information with reporter Gwen Ifill when she mentioned the David Shuster situation on Meet the Press this morning. As we reported yesterday, Russert has played a key role in saving Shuster’s job to date.
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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
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reddit | facebook | del.icio.us | stumble | permalink“Pulled off the trail,” writes TIME’s Ana Marie Cox. “Twittering light until am confident I have something interesting to say. It will be light then, too.”
Could this action be in to response to her recent criticisms on her personal twitter blog of Tim Russert and Chris Matthews, stars of the NBC/MSNBC television networks to which she sometimes contributes? And did TIME really pull her off the campaign trail right before Super Tuesday!?
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reddit | facebook | del.icio.us | stumble | permalinkRemember when the young Hardball political pundit Ezra Klein made lewd comments about Tim Russert’s sex life just a few short days ago? And then promptly (and embarrassingly) shut down his Twitter Web page that featured those sharp words? Well, tonight TIME’s Ana Marie Cox, a frequent contributor to NBC shows featuring Joe Scarborough, posted this statement on her Twitter page regarding Russert:
Knowing Cox, she won’t be deleting anything, but one does have to wonder: if these people hate NBC so much, why do they attempt to desperately sell themselves on the company’s stations all too often?
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We’d have posted this earlier when our tipster first told us about this, but we tried to get 23-year-old Ezra Klein to comment on the issue. He wouldn’t, but apparently he’s telling others that it’s a joke. The question remains: Is it a good enough joke for NBC to keep paying him to appear on Tim Russert’s network as a political pundit?
Also! What are he and Matthew Yglesias plotting, kids?
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reddit | facebook | del.icio.us | stumble | permalinkLots of facial problems at MSNBC this morning. Joe Scarborough, back from a possible skiing holiday vacay, turned up on TV bright orange and burnt this morning, sitting next to an increasingly plump-faced Mika Brzezinski and a jolly David Shuster with weird make-up smudges on his rapidly expanding cheeks and double-chin. New year’s make-overs, MSNBC? Please?
Tim Russert, adding his oversized ego to the fat-faced lineup, said on Morning Joe that he’s faced plenty of “80-year-old cougars” trying to chase him down while on the trail in Iowa. A cougar, you’ll recall, is an older lady who’s hot to trot. Go, Timmy.
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