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With CBS chief executive wife Julie Chen safely ensconced in CBS's new daytime gabfest "The Talk," CBS News got the all-clear to announce, just in time for the holiday season, that it was giving other members of "The Early Show" on-air team the old heave ho-ho-ho. Gone, as of Jan. 3, will be anchors Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez and weatherman Dave Price. The network wants you to know, however, that they will continue to be employed on air by CBS News - just elsewhere.

It's "royal." It's of "historic proportions." It's Chelsea Clinton's wedding, and CBS apologizes for letting actual news get in the way of its breathless coverage. Anchoring the coverage in Rhinebeck, Early Show weekend co-host Erica Hill, after referring to the event as "America's royal wedding," threw it back to a remorseful Chris Wragge in the studio, who promised to get back to Erica in "just a couple of minutes" after a couple of news items "we have to address." When she got the ball back, Hill described the wedding as being of "historic proportions. View video here.

Diabetic or not, you might want to have a dose of insulin handy while watching this morning's video clip. The Early Show's review of the past year this morning was one sicky-sweet adoration--in overtly religious terms--of Barack Obama. Harry Smith set the tone with his opening comments: "Politics, and patriotism and the presidency: it is the place where the secular and the religious merge. One of the sacraments of our national religion is the inauguration. So it was that as many as two million pilgrims made their way to Washington and the Mall to witness this most sacred event." Back...

Here is the video of Levi Johnston on CBS's "Early Show." Johnston said that he's hiding "huge" things about Palin that "would get her in trouble, and could hurt her. Will hurt her." When asked if he was doing all this for "revenge" he answered "that's part of it." (Video)

Imagine the MSMer’s dilemma: as a financial professional, she wanted to tell the truth–that the taxpayer is going to be a loser in the GM bankruptcy. But that would require her to reject the Obama administration’s line that taxpayers will get their billions back in a few years. What’s a good liberal media member to do? Jill Schlesinger’s solution was to tell the truth . . . but to preface it letting the world know “I love the government.” View video here.

With Pres. Obama about to meet Queen Elizabeth, the Early Show decided to focus on gaffes various past presidents have committed when encountering Her Majesty. Surprise! All the socially maladroit moves mentioned were by Republicans. Katie Couric sniped from London . . . KATIE COURIC: She’s met with every president since Harry Truman and many of them by the way have committed a few faux pas along the way. The first President Bush apparently sat before Queen Elizabeth, which was a real no-no. But my favorite story was at a state dinner during the Ford administration. When the Queen started...

Yes, Bill Plante did acknowledge that the stem cell issue has “deep moral and political implications.” And yes, we did hear from a representative of the Family Research Council speaking in opposition to Pres. Obama’s decision to lift the Bush-era ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. But that said, was it right for the Early Show to air the most inflammatory possible accusation against Pres. Bush? Recounting the story of a young boy who died of a rare and fatal genetic disease Plante stated that the boy’s parents: “believe their son’s chance of survival ended when President...

It didn’t have all the drama of a Rick Santelli on the floor of an exchange, revving traders up with a call for a tea party. But in his own way, CBS’s Ray Martin struck a forceful blow against the mortgage bailout plan this morning. And like his CNBC counterpart, Martin called out the president by name. Today’s Early Show ran a feature in which average citizens submitted questions to two experts, including Martin, a CBS financial consultant. Using taped questions, the network of course exercises total control over what issues will air. It was telling, then, that the Early...

Man, am I glad to be wrong. When economist Peter Morici, appearing on the Early Show in December, placed much of the blame for the automakers’ woes on the UAW, I imagined that we might have seen the last of him on CBS. I’m happy to report that my fears were unfounded. Morici was back with a vengeance this morning, absolutely shredding Pres. Obama’s plans for the economy. Highlights: * There’s no end in sight to bailout billions, given the wrong-headed policies the Obama admin is pursuing. * Until a “bad bank” of bad assets is created, the “one-off” bailouts...

When it comes to marketing, Dennis Kucinich has a lot to be modest about. In the two presidential races he entered, Kucinich went 0-100 in primaries and caucuses, posting a nice round .000 batting average. But while he’s batting well below the Mendoza line when it came to marketing himself in national politics, Dennis Kucinich apparently feels qualified to serve as marketing director for corporate America. The Early Show aired clips this morning of Kucinich going after Citigroup for having purchased the naming rights for the New York Mets new baseball stadium: CitiField. KUCINICH: They just act as though the...

The link by the title is to The Early Show appearance this morning.The link to the Hannity Show is just before the "is" 5 words ago.

What better way for members of the MSM to show their allegiance to the new president then to have themselves posterized in the artistic style associated with Barack Obama? And so it was that the two Saturday anchors of the Early Show proudly displayed this morning the poster of themselves that they had produced via the website Obamicon.me with the iconic look that Shepard Fairey inspired. Co-anchor Wragge plugged the site. CHRIS WRAGGE: You might not be Barack Obama, but you can have your very own poster. The website Obamiconme let’s you take that iconic red, white and blue Obama...

Barack Obama nominates someone to head the CIA whose major qualification is his inexperience. Even Democrats are dismayed. John Travolta's son, sadly, died. So in its crucial first half-hour this morning, the Early Show naturally devotes almost five minutes to the Travolta story while ignoring the controversy surrounding Leon Panetta's appointment. Far from revealing that even senior Dems like Senators Feinstein and Rockefeller have signalled their displeasure over the naming of Panetta, CBS' Chip Reid painted the pick as a sign of how Obama is briskly taking charge. Here was the sum total of the Early Show's discussion of the...

Drumstick or breast for accused daddy killer? Details at 11! If that wasn't quite how the Early Show played it, it's not far off. Of all the angles to promote its coverage of the story of the eight-year old accused of killing his father, CBS highlighted the issue of . . . where the boy would celebrate Thanksgiving. View video here.

At the top of Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Julie Chen praised Barack Obama’s election as the first African-American president but lamented the passage of California’s Proposition 8, preventing gay marriage: "One barrier falls, another returns. Married gays in legal limbo protest through the night as California voters ban same-sex unions." At the top of the 8AM hour, correspondent John Blackstone reported: "In disappointment, supporters of same-sex marriage gathered in Los Angeles last night, after the hard-fought campaign over California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage, they were on the losing side, but not ready to give up." Blackstone went...

My NewsBusters colleagues, and conservatives across the blogosphere, are sure to be vying to document the most outrageous examples of the MSM's fawning reaction to the Obama victory. Hopefully I'll have the honor of at least a brief clubhouse lead with my entry, the words of CBS Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen during this morning's opening segment. JULIE CHEN: Yeah, it was so moving, um, last night. You couldn't help but feel so emotional, and I agree with you [Maggie Rodriguez], I think John McCain did a really classy job in his speech [he did, but MSM loves Republicans best...

When This Week assembled a round-table of four liberals versus one conservative yesterday, I kvetched. Maybe I should have cheered. ABC's idea of balance looks good compared to that of CBS. This morning's Early Show segment on the Bush admin's plan, to be announced later this morning, to regulate the financial industry was essentially conservative-free. OK, to be absolutely accurate, there was a brief clip of Treasury Secretary Paulson saying the plan would protect the Fed's balance sheet and US taxpayers. But in her set-up piece, CBS's Kimberly Dozier emphasized the negative: "critics say it's win-win for banks, not the...

On Wednesday’s CBS "Early Show,"co-host Hannah Storm, who tvnewser.com reports will soon be leaving the show, teased an upcoming segment about the controversy over the atheist-inspired movie, "The Golden Compass": "And Nicole Kidman on why the Church doesn't want your children to see her new movie." Of course, the "Church" has said no such thing, but rather the Catholic League has called for a boycott of the movie. Later during the segment, Storm talked with Catholic League President, Bill Donohue, as well as Ellen Johnson, the president of American Atheists. To Storm’s credit, she challenged Johnson by quoting the atheist...

Nothing says "idealistic" like brutally suppressing freedom and imprisoning courageous advocates of democracy. At least in the view of CBS News, apparently. At 7:21 a.m. EDT on this morning's "Early Show," CBS's Kelly Cobiella reported from Havana on the occasion of Cuba's national day. Co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez asked Cobiella about the prospects for change. CBS "EARLY SHOW" CO-ANCHOR MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: There's no question that Fidel and [his brother] Raul are different types of leaders. I'm sure we'll see it when he speaks later. He doesn't have Fidel's charisma and he seems a little bit more open to change. As he...

Jeff Greenfield has called it "the ultimate act of hypocrisy and cowardice" for long-time guests of the Imus show [file photo] to stay away now. Greenfield, who is leaving CNN to return to CBS as Senior Political Correspondent, appeared on this morning's "Early Show" and was interviewed by co-host Julie Chen. CHEN: Did you hesitate to go on the show yesterday? GREENFIELD: No. If you have the benefit of being on his show for 15 years -- and there is a benefit -- there's visibility, if you have a book [you can promote it], and also, to be blunt, it's...