and nbc found that out a few months ago when conan o'brien, the newly installed host of "the tonight was going to push "the tonight show" into tomorrow, and to give its traditional time slot back to o'brien's predecessor, jay leno. it triggered a lot of bad publicity for nbc an outpouring of public support for conan, and some of the best late night jokes in a decade. conan walked away with a $32 million settlement and a new cable show. and nbc did its best to push him into oblivion, legally prohibiting him from saying anything false or disparaging about the network and from giving interviews or appearing on television until now. if you're wondering what happened to conan o'brien and what he thinks about all of this, you are about to find out. so what's with the beard? >> conan o'brien: that first day that i woke up and was no longer the host of "the tonight show," i remember the first thought i had is, "i am not shaving." and that was my small victory, you know. okay, so i lost "the tonight show," but i'll show them-- i'll stop shaving. >> kroft: this has been quite a year. >> o'brie

conan o'brien, he's got a new tv show coming up. do they both win? conan put it into perspective. >> jay's got "the tonight show" of a beard and an inflatable bat and i'm touring city to city. who can say who won and who lost? i'm laughing because crying would be sad. has jay reached out to you? >> no. >> no calls? >> no. i do not -- i do not think i'll be hearing from him. we should get him in here. is there going to be a surprise walk-on? >> no. >> ok. but he called -- if you know his number, i'm sure he'd come over. he may have caller i.d. he won't pick up. >> see, my theory is who cares? this is an elitist attitude. i think he's making millions of dollars and 10% of our american people are out of jobs right now. we just had a terror scare in times square and we have the biggest oil slick spill in our country's history, who cares? >> you know what, i think it's like a distraction in that "the tonight show" has been around for 50 years and people think of steve allen, johnny carson, jack par and then jay leno takes over with all this controversy. i

. >> conan o'brien finally breaks his silence since leaving "the tonight show." >> they have "t

late night host conan o'brien sharing his thoughts on a messy breakup with nbc.e now says about his former employer. >> it got to the point where i thought, i think this relationship is going to be toxic and maybe we need to go our separate ways. i got into one of the best schools in t country! [ both screaming ] i got into one of the most expensive schools in the country! [ male announcer ] when stress gives you heartburn with headache. alka-seltz gives you relief fast. [ low male ] plop, plop. [ high male ] fizz, fizz. [ male announcer ] competition... it pushes us to work harder. to be better. to win. but sometimes even rivals realize they share a common goal. america's beverage companies have removed full-calorie soft drinks from schools, reducing beverage calories by 88%. togethewith schools, we're hping kids makeore balanced chces every day. ♪ cable network. floodwaters rising in tennessee after powerful weekend storms pounded the south. the wild weather and resulting floods have killed at least 21 people in tennessee, kentucky and mississippi. including si