Forward

EXEC SUMMARY: Scroll down for the president's newest interview, Condé's new CEO, Snap's new offerings, and much more...

A legend leaving the stage

Kathie Lee Gifford will say goodbye to NBC's "Today" show on Friday. And it is shaping up to be a send-off for the ages. There will be a live studio audience, "surprise guests, surprise performances, tributes, games, giveaways," a network source says.

The "Today" show definitely knows how to produce these moments. This time is unique because Gifford is unique: She has been a comforting presence on peoples' TV screens for 25 years. Gifford's fourth hour of "Today" with Hoda Kotb is about family, friendship, faith, fun... Like the best daytime TV shows, the show is about companionship... Stars have been dropping by all week...

Cheers to Kathie Lee

Some morning-evening synergy: Lester Holt had an interview with Gifford on Thursday's "Nightly News." She said "everything" on the show with Kotb "comes out of a real friendship." As for the ever-present wine, she said "it set the tone for, 'welcome to our party.' "We're having a good time and it's not at anybody's expense. It's not mean-spirited."

Holt asked: "Kathie Lee is not retiring, you're... what?" Gifford: "Evolving!"

--> NBC News prez Noah Oppenheim said earlier that "Kathie Lee's plate has been overflowing lately with film, music and book projects," and "she's decided to focus her attention full-time on those other creative endeavors..."

Diana Miller promoted at "CBS This Morning"

There was loud applause in the newsroom when new CBS News president Susan Zirinsky announced Diana Miller's promotion on Thursday. She has effectively been the exec producer of "CBS This Morning" ever since Ryan Kadro exited three months ago. But now her E.P. title is official...

A milestone for morning TV

For the first time, all three network morning programs have female exec producers: Miller at CBS, Roxanna Sherwood at "GMA," Libby Leist at "Today." Here's my full story...

BTW: Until today, I didn't realize that every weekday program at NBC News has a female E.P. Including Jackie Levin, running the 9 a.m. hour of "Today," Tammy Fuller, running the 10 a.m. hour, and Jenn Suozzo at "Nightly..."

FRIDAY PLANNER

-- President Trump is visiting Calexico, California, and touring a portion of the border...

-- Variety is holding its Power of Women: New York luncheon at Cipriani Midtown...

-- The International Journalism Festival continues in Perugia, Italy...

🎧 Check out this week's "Reliable" podcast

By now you may have heard about investigative journalist Jessikka Aro and the award she was supposed to receive from the State Department. Something went wrong, and the award was rescinded. Democrats on Capitol Hill have been vocal about this strange case. But I haven't heard much from Aro herself.

So I connected with her in Helsinki for this week's podcast. Did the State Department really rescind her award because she posted critical tweets about President Trump? It sure seems that way. She wants answers -- and she's not alone. We talked about all of it... Plus her ongoing reporting on the "Russian propaganda machine..." Listen to the pod via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your favorite app...

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- Washington Times opinions editor Charles Hurt had an "exclusive Oval Office interview" with POTUS... Hurt asked about Barbara Bush's criticism of him, as reported in Susan Page's new book... (Times)

-- Herman Cain, who was a Fox News contributor until August 2018, is being recommended by Trump "for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board..." (CNN)

-- Howard Schultz fielded Q's on Fox Thursday evening... It was the network's first town hall of the 2020 season... (Fox)

-- As expected, Tim Ryan announced his 2020 bid on "The View" on Thursday. Who's next? Well, Eric Swalwell is on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" next week... (The Atlantic)

-- Last night I wrote about Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman's forthcoming book "The Hill to Die On." Politico will publish an excerpt on Friday... And NBC says the authors will start their TV rollout on Sunday's "Meet the Press..."

Waiting and waiting for the Mueller report...

Maybe there should be a "number of days" clock on screen?

"Washington is an absolute pressure cooker right now," Don Lemon said Thursday night, citing the intensifying standoff over Robert Mueller's still-secret report.

Over on MSNBC, Chris Hayes noted that "protesters all over the country are demanding" the release of the full report. The banner on his show said "First-ever leaks from Mueller team reveal frustration with Barr's synopsis."

The NYT was the first with that news on Wednesday night. CNN and other outlets have now matched it. The WaPo calls this a "new phase of the nearly two-year-old battle over the Russia probe."

Later in the evening, a banner on Lemon's show said "All this could be straightened out if we could see Mueller's report..."

--> What will happen on Friday? "Sooner rather than later, we're going to learn a lot more," NBC's Ken Dilanian said on "The Last Word..."

Surprised?

Stephen Colbert isn't surprised. Neither are lots and lots of Trump critics. Colbert said on Thursday's "Late Show," "Last night the NYT revealed that some investigators on Mueller's team say the Mueller report was more damaging to Trump than Barr revealed." Audience members OOOH'ed. "Yeah," Colbert said. "That was in The New York Times. But it was also the cover story for NO DUH magazine."

Today in the meme wars...

NYMag's Madison Malone Kircher put it this way: "The leader of the free world tweeted a doctored video of Joe Biden fondling himself." True. "And it got little attention," WaPo's Josh Dawsey tweeted Thursday night. Also true. The NYT decided to put Trump v. Biden on Friday's front page, however... Annie Karni's excellent story said "the tweet and video seemed like a typical partisan jab, except for the fact that it was issued by a president who has been accused by more than a dozen women of sexual misconduct and assault..."

Halperin makes first public comments after sexual assault allegations

Oliver Darcy emails: Mark Halperin broke his silence on Thursday, 17 months after more than a dozen sexual assault and harassment allegations derailed his career. Speaking to Michael Smerconish on Sirius XM, Halperin apologized to the women he harassed, saying he had learned a lot from the "hundreds" of conversations he has had with women.

Halperin said, "I know that I've grown in my understanding of all this, I know I need to continue to grow, I wasn't a perfect person when I made these mistakes, I'm not a perfect person now, I'm happy to be judged by perfect people." Halperin added that since the allegations he has been doing work with a non-profit that helps former inmates find life after prison. The Beast's Max Tani has more details here...

Condé Nast's "unexpected choice" for CEO

That's how Variety's Todd Spangler described it. Roger Lynch -- the former CEO of Pandora, pre-Sirius XM acquisition in January -- will take the reins at Condé Nast on April 22. "Lynch doesn't have experience in the publishing industry, although he has a long digital-media resume," Spangler wrote. Prior to Pandora, Lynch led Dish's Sling TV.

--> Lynch held a town hall with staffers on Thursday... One attendee told me the new boss was "polished..." Lynch emphasized how much he cares about journalism, called himself a longtime reader of The New Yorker, and praised the NYT's digital business...

Lynch says he's not "expecting" a sale of the business

The headline on Edmund Lee's NYT story calls Lynch a "deal-making tech exec." Condé sale speculation has been rampant for a while. That's why Lee says "his past work as a deal maker may raise eyebrows at 1 World Trade Center, the U.S. headquarters of Condé Nast, but he said a sale of the business was not on the agenda."

Lynch's quote: "I'm not going into this expecting that to happen. The family has owned it for decades, and I expect it to stay that way. That's part of the appeal. I wouldn't have taken this job otherwise."

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Speaking of Condé Nast... Pavni Mittal emails: Radhika Jones is getting the profile treatment from VF's sister magazine Vogue. She spoke about increasing diversity in VF's profiles, saying the publication "has the potential not just to reflect but to play a taste-making role in the culture..." (Vogue)

-- The Bezos split: MacKenzie Bezos will keep 25% of the Bezos' Amazon stock. Jeff Bezos keeps the voting power. He also keeps full ownership of the Washington Post... (CNN)

-- Oliver Darcy emails: CNN's Ana Cabrera was inducted into the Hall of Achievement on Thursday at the Murrow College of Washington State University. The award recognizes "outstanding achievements of select graduates..." (Twitter)

Snap's announcements

Kaya Yurieff reports from Snap's first ever "Partner Summit" in Santa Monica: The company announced new ways "for its own advertisers to reach users outside of the Snapchat app with its new Snap Audience Network. It claims the tool will extend an advertiser's audience to third-party apps without compromising user privacy."

-- More news from the summit: Snapchat is launching a new gaming platform called Snap Games "that features original games only available on Snapchat through its group chats..."

-- Plus: Some new scripted and unscripted shows...

-- Casey Newton's takeaway in The Verge's The Interface newsletter: "Thursday's announcements did little to explain how Snap will find new users, which seem to have leveled off at a still-robust 186 million people daily. But CEO Evan Spiegel did effectively describe how Snap can capture more of its users' time and attention..."

Snap's swipe at FB

Via Yurieff's story: "When asked about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's new privacy-focused vision for his company Wednesday, a Snap executive told press that Facebook's products are doing damage to society, and that Zuckerberg should address the company's messes before investing in the future..."

What Zuckerberg said on "GMA"

Mark Zuckerberg advanced the points from his recent "regulate us!" op-ed in a sit-down with ABC's George Stephanopoulos. He also "pushed back against calls to delay livestream feeds to reduce the reach of troubling content," CNN's Seth Fiegerman wrote here.

Zuck said "we need to build our systems to be able to identify livestream terror events more quickly," but most people use live streaming to communicate and hang out with each other, and a delay "would break that..."

UK's Daily Telegraph makes space for sponsored Facebook content

Pavni Mittal emails: As Mark Zuckerberg responds to recent criticism with promises to better regulate his platform, BI's Rob Price reports Facebook is paying for sponsored content in the UK's Daily Telegraph.

The series of sponsored articles is called "Being human in the information age," and spans issues like the root of "technofear," AI, and the role of the internet in reshaping feminism. The pieces were produced by the newspaper's sponsored content unit, Telegraph Spark.

"Facebook's recent use of the format highlights how in its attempts to burnish its image after years of damaging scandals, the company is exploring ways to sidestep the critical media ecosystem entirely and get out a positive, unadulterated message about itself," Price reports.

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Pavni Mittal emails: In the wake of the New Zealand attack, Australia has passed a law to fine or even jail social media execs for failing to remove violent and hateful content "expeditiously." NYT's Damien Cave reports... (NYT)

-- It has been 25 years since the genocide against the Tutsi began in Rwanda. CJR checks in on the role of the press there, and its "complex relationship" with the Rwandan government... (CJR)

Inside Netflix's surprisingly resilient DVD rental service

"Remember when Netflix used to be a DVD-by-mail company? Well, for 2.7 million subscribers in the US, it still is," CNN's Neil Monahan and Brandon Griggs wrote. They spoke with some DVD customers to understand the old-fashioned service's appeal. For some, it's about the great selection of DVD's. For others, it's because they don't have access to a strong broadband connection. Check out the interviews and the full story here!

The Center for Public Integrity has a new chief

Katie Pellico emails: Susan Smith Richardson was named the new CEO for the Center for Public Integrity on Thursday, and spoke with NiemanLab's Laura Hazard Owen about her plans for the investigative nonprofit. Richardson hopes to "ramp up" relationships with statehouse reporters to help improve "dwindling statehouse coverage."

In doing, she says "we also need to be looking at news organizations that have a different lens on state government." Richardson plans to "spend a significant amount of time thinking about how best and most effectively to partner with media that is owned and produced by communities of color, and think about what we could learn from working with those organizations..." Read the full exchange here...

Bumble is the latest startup to start a... print magazine!

Sara Ashley O'Brien emails: Bumble, the startup best known for its female-friendly dating app, has launched a magazine. Bumble Mag, done in partnership with Hearst, is a lifestyle magazine that Bumble users can request in the app for free starting tomorrow. I got a copy today -- think of it as your average women's magazine with a lot of thinly veiled promotion for Bumble's services -- its dating app, its networking component and its friendship-finding feature. It features an interview with Serena Williams, for example, the Bumble investor/adviser.

Other startups that have launched magazines include Airbnb, suitcase brand Away, and more...

Are you going to SABEW2019 in May?

CNN Business exec editor Rich Barbieri emails: Don't miss me and Brian at SABEW2019, the premier annual conference of business journalists. We'll be in Phoenix May 16-18. Brian is speaking at lunch on Friday about journalism in an age of disruption.

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- Suzanne Vranica's latest: "Advertisers are starting to shift spending on search ads from Alphabet's Google toward Amazon, a sign of how the online retailer is capitalizing on becoming the top destination for consumers' product searches..." (WSJ)

-- "Amy Adams is set to star in Netflix's adaptation of 'Hillbilly Elegy,' which Ron Howard is on board to direct," Justin Kroll scoops... (Variety)

-- Here are six takeaways from CinemaCon... (Variety)

Lowry recommends "Native Son"

Brian Lowry emails: HBO's last movie based on a literary classic, "Fahrenheit 451," was disappointing. The network fares better with "Native Son," which rather boldly shifts Richard Wright's 1940 novel into a contemporary setting. Read more...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

By Lisa Respers France:

-- Britney Spears says she's taking some "me" time. The singer posted about self-care, and there are reports she has checked into a facility to deal with her mental health. In January she announced she was stepping away from her career in light of her father's health crises.

-- Billy Ray Cyrus has added some country cred to Lil Nas X's disputed rap song. He's supporting the Atlanta rapper after "Old Town Road" was removed from Billboard's country chart...

-- Celine Dion is leaving Las Vegas, but she has announced a new North American tour and album...

The long goodbye for "GoT"

Here is Cynthia Littleton's dispatch from Wednesday night's "Game of Thrones" premiere party: "The screening of the first of the show's last six episodes was a spectacle unto itself... The mood among many in the small army of HBO and WarnerMedia executives on hand for the 'Thrones' sendoff was as anxious as those who are in the hunt for the Iron Throne..."

--> "GoT" forever? Jeremy Egner says the show "could go the way of 'Star Wars,' Harry Potter and Disney's Marvelverse..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

-- Megan Thomas emails: The Root's look at the upcoming film "Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook" is excellent... (The Root)

-- Out of CinemaCon, Will Smith as the Genie in "Aladdin" is still getting very mixed buzz... (VF)

-- "The Bebop has found its crew," THR's Borys Kit reports. "John Cho will topline 'Cowboy Bebop,' Netflix's live-action take on the influential space Western anime..." (THR)

Thank you for reading. Email me feedback anytime! See you tomorrow....