letterman that approached mr. halderman. it was mr. halderman who threatened dave and his family and said, for a price, i will remain silent. that is classic blackmail. this is not the sale of some commercial screenplay treatment. again, if you look at all of the facts here that standing outside the apartment, i can run through the litany again. it all adds up to blackmail, matt. >> let me end with jerry. there were reports in the papers last week that there was some plea deal at least being attempted here, a year in prison perhaps for a guilty plea on the part of your client. can you confirm or deny that? >> i'll deny it, because the district attorney's office denies planting that story. it certainly didn't come from me. it does not describe any plea negotiation that i was involved in. >> thank you both. and we'll be following this story closely. >> thank you, matt. >>> we're back right after this. >>> just ahead, one month after she disappeared, where is missing utah mother, susan powell? >> her best friend speaks out in an exclusive

david letterman is doing fine. they're all my friends over there. they'll put jay back where he belongs, conan will probably leave and go to another network and maybe everybody is going to be happy. >> will jay go back to 11:30 for the tonight show? >> that's what should happen. jay should go back, he was doing very well. conan's ratings are substantially lower. i don't know if that's his fault or if it's because he is proceeded by jay. it's going to work out. it is a catastrophic decision but they're making a comeback. >> larry: you're a veteran of these wars. what do you make of this? >> larry, as a veteran broadcaster, is this not perhaps the jackass move of all time in broadcasting, second perhaps only to arthur godfrey's firing of julia ormond on the air? take a salad, put a fork in it and stir it up, things were going rather nicely. i love the way politicians and network people will always say in a disaster, this is exactly the way we hoped it would work out. >> you thought the shows would achieve lower ratings, angry hosts and affiliates want

>> you know, i think at this point letterman looks pretty good. seriously. >> larry: he's been taken them on every night. >> i think seriously, though, you know, this is all about business and what we're forgetting. back when the decision was made in 2004 that jay leno would not be doing the "tonight show" in 2009, i mean, think about that. that decision was made five years before. the guy had to do his show for five years knowing there was an expiration date. both guys are very funny. both guys are very different. both guys are going to be okay. >> larry: dick, i want you to watch this clip and comment. oprah asks jay if he's been selfish. >> this is almost the perfect storm of bad things happening. you have two hit shows, "tonight show," number one, conan number one. you both -- you move them both to another situation. what are the odds that both would do extremely poorly? now, if conan's numbers had. a little bit higher it wouldn't be an issue. in show business there's always somebody waiting in the wing. >> because if conan's numbers had been

but low ratings for both hosts could soon lead to a late-night shakeup not seen since david letterman bolted for cbs $$$ suspect has been arrested for the scare that shut down a terminal at newark airport. the charges he's facing and why authorities say for ducking under a rope. >>> the change of venue may have been for nothing. this scene on the courthouse steps as a transit police officer's trial got under way. >>> plus, you'll be getting those census forms in the mail soon. pretty extensive, but one word on the form getting a lot of attention. why some people say it's outdated. we'll hear your thoughts on whether it should be there. >>> record-breaking cold across the country today. you're watching "hln news and views." i'm jennifer westhoven. thanks for joining us. the deep freeze has taken over partsd of the south making driving a dangerous prospect. the icy roads caused many car accidents, even this massive pileup. 300 crashes were reported in one georgia county alone. driving is even more difficult further north thanks to all the snow. snow plows worked in hammond, indiana,

but you do not see letterman tried to be obscene, or leno.to humor, hopefully without the obscenity. broadcasters understand their responsibility. at the same time, we do about your freedom of speech. >> a number of broadcasters want to go back to the supreme court on first amendment issuesÑi and suggested should be broadcasters and the community, not the fcc. >> i acknowledge that some do want that. several of my friends are for it, and some are against it. i am with my friends. how is that for a political answer? there is a range ofñr feelings within the national association of broadcasters. obscenity and indecency are different words. >> all of your competitors, @ r ones you have to competeÑkóçóÑói against anti-competitive in this multi channel world, c-span and might magazine, they can all speak to their community without the fcc. >> it does put us at a competitive disadvantage. i'll acknowledge sethat, and broadcasters want to produce what our constituents and viewers want to watch. they have all kinds of options today that are in decen

cbs also said it's negotiating to tie down david letterman through 2012 while nbc sorts out its mess. reports unconfirmed by the network say, nbc plans to return leno to a half-hour show at 11:35 weekdays. >> we got a great show for you tonight. i have no idea what time it will air. but it's going to be a great show. >> reporter: now, eyes are turning to nbc universal executive jeff zucker. who gave jay leno's 11:35 slot to conan in hopes of attracting a younger, hipper audience. it's turned out to be a program debacle. that has lost nbc and its affiliates millions of viewers and hundreds of millions of dollars. will zucker survive? >> jeff zucker survived a lot so far. there have been several debacles at nbc over the past several years. >> reporter: and will both leno and o'brien survive? >> of ten species to be in extinct in the next decade, us. >> reporter: behind the scenes probably no one is laughing. brian rooney, abc news, los angeles. >>> the nba has slapped hefty fines on four players with the washington wizards, charged with clowning around with gilbert arenas. who pretended

david letterman admitted sex with staff members after an alleged extortion attempt.ns were disappointed but many gave him props for coming clean. >> the way he handled the sex scandal was so classy, such an elegant, just perfect way to handle something that could potentially be really ugly. >> the reason that he went forward was because of the extortion. that he knew it was going to go public. that's not exactly sincere effort to kind of, you know, show you my transgressions. >> the women who were involved with him did it totally consensually. he didn't do anything wrong. >> worst excuse for inexcusable behavior. he was hiking the appalachian trail. that was one explanation for the disappearance of south carolina governor mark sanford who was actually off to argentina to see his mistress. >> married men can go missing for about eight minutes before they need a very, very good excuse, i.e., coming home. once you pass the four-hour mark you are very, very missing as a husband. >> you can imagine that call. his staff, you know, how was the hike? oh, it was so good. oh,

but you don't see letterman trying to be obscene or leno. they, they still cue to the humor, hopefully, without the obscenity. [laughter] and that's the indecency, rather. and so broadcasters understand their responsibility at the same point we do value our freedom of speech. >> host: a number of broadcasters want this to go back to the supreme court on the first amendment issues and suggest that it is community standards, but it should be broadcasters and the community, not broadcasters and the community and the fcc. >> guest: i, john, i acknowledge that some do want that, and i'm -- some of my friends are for it, some of them are against it, and i'm with my friends. how's that for a political answer? laugh the truth is -- [laughter] the truth is there's a range of feeling within the national association of broadcasters. speaking as a dad, i'd just as soon there wasn't obscenity over the airwaves. indecency, rather. they're different terms. >> host: looking at it from a business perspective, all your competitors, the ones you have to compet

>> the late night battle for so many years seemed to be between letterman and leno, instead you've gotys working for the same network where the bat m seems to be brewing. that's leno and conan o'brien. there's rumors that they're bringing leno back to his old time slot, which is 11:35 eastern. both comics are mining the situation with a few laughs. >> a lot of rumors swirls around about the "tonight show," the jay leno show and the rest of the late night lineup. and there's a lot of speculation out there. and i wanted to go over just some of the rumors that have been flying around. just check these out. the jay leno show is going to be canceled is one, jay is moving back to 11:30, i'm moving to midnight, both will be running simultaneously in split screen, the "tonight show" will be an iphone app, jay and i are quitting and starring in a new show called "koe coand the chimp." i'm pregnant with jay's baby, jay's pregnant with my baby, nbc is going to throw me and jay in a pit, the one who crawls out alive gets to leave nbc. >> not stay, but leave. >> now, this is a really sticky and ser

. >> letterman made this kid famous. >> we stant for the fair treatment of faith-based groups. >> of course, there was rudy giuliani's son all grown up now. will he ever live down his dad's swearing in as mayor, blowing kisses, joining in the oath. it is up with thing when your kids steal a show, how about when it is a cup of koalas. we do mean a couple. tennis star andy roddick was talking to reporters at an australian koala sanctuary. >> we were fighting a 35-mile-an-hour cross wind. >> who cares about the tennis court when you can watch

letterman made this kid famous. >> if you're worried about the quality of education in the community in which you live -- we stand for the fair treatment of faith-based groups who receive federal support for their work. >> reporter: of course there was rudy giuliani's son all grown up now. but will he ever live down his dad's swearing in as mayor? blowing kisses -- >> to our city. >> reporter: joining in the oath. >> i rudolph giuliani. >> reporter: you know, it's one thing when your kids steal a show, but how about when it's a couple of koalas? and we do mean a couple. tennis star andy roddick was talking to reporters at an australian koala sanctuary. >> because we were fighting about a 35-mile-an-hour cross-wind. >> reporter: who cares about the tennis court? you can watch koalas

. >> that was back when leno was finally awarded "the tonight show" over letterman. oh, what a difference 17 years doesn't make. >> never believe your contract. >> jeanne moos, cnn. >> nerve beliethat's it for us. thanks for joining us. larry king starts right now. >>> tonight senator harry reid's racial remarks about barack obama calling him light-skinned with no negro dialect unless he wanted to have one. >> i've apologized to the president that i could have used a better choice of words. >> the president forgives him. >> this is a good man always on the right side of history. >> will the majority leader keep his job? plus, more from an explosive new book. which gop insider called sarah palin a reckless choice as john mccain's running mate? >> thank you. >> why elizabeth edwards ripped off her blouse in a rage? how bill clinton broke down over media coverage of hillary. >> i'm not playing your games today. >> the so-called conspiracy that led to barack obama's candidacy. blowing the lid off back room politics next on "larry king live." >>> all right. stand by. >> g

and at one point, there was a nobel laureate, leon letterman who recommended the -- a scientific advisory board and it was not well taken. >> i think the world bank is much more appropriate for the reasons i said. when you say that the economists forecasted nothing, you are talking about oil. listen, forecasting is a difficult exercise, but let me remind you, april, spring meeting of the imf and the world bank, g-7 meeting in washington, in 2008 we had forecast, very bad. and we have been killed by everybody, saying, you are much too pessimistic, i remember meeting with one of the major -- not the u.s. -- finance ministers of g-7 country telling me -- not the french, either -- telling me, i know my economy than you guys. and, so, don't tell me this, we will do much better and so on and so forth and finally we proved when it went through and the guy came back and said fair enough, you are right. and it is because we had the bad forecast that as soon as -- in 2008 in davos i said, we needed a global stimulus of 2% and the reason we asked for the stimulus is tleesz i said before because we b

letterman made this kid famous. >> worried about the quality of the place in which you live.nd for the fair treatment of faith-based groups receiving federal support -- >> reporter: of course there was rudy giuliani's son, all grown up now, but will he ever live down his dad's swearing in as mayor? blowing kisses, joining in the oath. you know, it's one thing when your kids steal the show, but how about when it's a couple of koalas? tennis star andy roddick was talking to reporters at an australian koala sanctuary -- >> fighting about a 35-mile-an-hour cross wind. >> reporter: who cares about the tennis court when you can watch koalas courting? ♪ hold me in your arms hold me in your arms ♪ >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn. new york. >> where do we begin? that obviously was not the right piece about the beautiful people and the website. we're going to try to get that for you. not being told exactly when that will come, but in all

foster mentioned, was the idea created by prize -- nobel winner leon letterman. it was set out to craft a school that not only would provide children with an invaluable education in science and mathematics but also train thousands of illinois teachers in the art of teaching those skills. students at the illinois math and science academy design and conduct hands on experiments, make observations, analyze data, draw conclusions and communicate evidence-based principles. students are able to delve into the scientific literature and build understanding by blending information and investigation through writing. students are given opportunities to partner with cutting edge scientists on diagnostics, nanotechnology, medical research and more. at the center of achievement at illinois mathematics and science academy is an excellent staff that utilize cutting edge facilities, technology to advance student achievement. of the 18 science faculty members, 11 have a ph.d. numerous alumni are currently working at the head of their fields in such diverse industries as aerospace,

we'll talk exclusively to lawyers from both david letterman and his alleged blackmailer about the so-calledds defense now being used in that case. that's when we get started on a monday morning right here on "the today show." back to you. >>> thanks very much. happy new year to you as well. welcome to the first week of this brands new year. thanks. have a great day. >> thank you so much. >>> 6:41 is your time now. that means we'll check traffic and weather on the 1s. tom kierein is in the storm center following these very cold temperatures. tom, we're shivering. >> man, the arctic wind machine continues to blow this morning although it has diminished thankfully from the outrageous gusts we had over the weekend. peak gust this morning around 20 to 25 miles per hour. these are the temperatures. down in the low to mid-20s. weather watchers reporting wind chills near 10 degrees. wind chill 13 degrees in washington now. the peak gusts are 20 to 25 and that will be the story the rest of the day with a few clouds racing through, maybe a few flurries flying through the air. still a blustery wind tu

you remember late show host david letterman tried to turn affairs with female staffers into laughs. last year was no laughing matter for big news makers. we'll bring you the top scandals of 2009. the stories you couldn't turn away from you won't believe they all happened this year when you see it up next. >> one potential terror threat in yemen. one is looking to block tankers with liquefied natural gas into boston harbor. laura ingle has the story. >> reporter: the tankers filled with this is not on the table. before the plan is approved the mayor and other local leaders say they want to make sure that this is the right thing to do. now, this would be the first time a liquid natural gas tanker originating from yemen would come through the harbor and dock at the lng terminal in everett there. are many other lng shipments usually coming from places like egypt, trinidad and toe t taggo. they need this to turn for businesses. one possibility is unloading the liquefied natural gas away from the city. officials in charge of security say they're coordinating to see if there's additional s

you see all the pundits -- it letterman, olbermann, and the republican side, glenn beck, making fun of them. give him a chance, i am pleading with people. thank you so much. go, scott brown. host: "the new york times" reported that john boehner has hired a former top adviser to the house republicans in 1994, barry jackson. he is the one who helped devise the contract with america. he is now on mr. john boehner's staff. his longtime adviser died on january 10 very suddenly. but "the new york times" says the selection of mr. jackson, who worked for mr. john boehner , it demonstrates how serious republicans are producing a campaign platform for the coming elections. given mr. jackson's reputation as a tough partisan operator. louisiana, this is jason. good morning. calling on the republican line. caller: thank you. yes, i have a wet house for the white house, the republican party and independent party -- message for the white house. obama needs to put the best the ball down and get a baseball bat and start beating heads in his party. rahm emanuel -- punching that -- back, obama has the sk

we came up with an approach emulating david letterman's person on the street type approach.didn't win but we did better than a democrat had done against jerry solomon and he did not run the next time because we scared him out of politics. >> i am steve james and i am running against jerry solomon. we want to see if anyone can read in thirty-second all the trips he has taken at taxpayer expense. >> morocco, grease, italy. >> united kingdom. >> italy. >> he likes to travel. >> macedonia. >> austria. >> columbia. >> that was free internet so we were trying to show that sense of accessibility of the candidate with a phone number. go to my web site and tell me what you think. he really captured him. it helped that steve james was an actor. in addition to being involved in a dairy farm in upstate new york he was an actor so he was comfortable on camera. our job is to make sure every candidate is comfortable on camera. that is it for the ads. any questions? >> to follow the other candidate, that has proven very useful in many campaigns. how do you go about doing that? i am curious

this will make in people's lives if you wouldn't mind what he once again give speaker harold and letterman a round of applause and for all of you in the senate and house instrumental passing that change to people's pocketbooks and wallets, would you give yourself a round of applause on that one. [applause] thank you for passing the first toward reform bill of its kind. that bill took us off the list of judicial hellholes and it's the kind of chance instrumental to better link the state's business climate and prospect for jobs so i would ask that you recognize senator larry barton and keto, where are you all? would you stand up, please be recognized. thank you. [applause] thank you for passing the first reforms of workers' compensation system a change like that one is also just the kind of thing a business from the far looking at south carolina takes into consideration. in addition to thinking larry and harry i know scott richardson was a senator back then, scott, would you be stand it to be recognized on that one along with harriet larry? come on, there you are. [applause] thank you for pa

leno and letterman jokes have an impact. they were very caustic towards president bush, not so much toward president obama. i think that there is underlying that, perhaps a philosophical underpinning that they disagreed with president bush's more conservative policies and tend to agree with president obama's more liberal policies. president obama has a better feel for the popular culture. he is of a different generation than president bush, and i think is very savvy relative to the internet and cable shows and how to project an image, although i would say if i think that the obama white house has made one mistake relative to that kind of, you know, media management and image projection, i would say that this president has been overexposed, president obama. i think he is out there too much for his own good, and the white house's own good, and it has diminished his ability to move the needle when it comes to issues like healthcare, for example, so the media plays a significant role in the perceptions of a president, and it is

this will make in people's lives if you wouldn't mind what he once again give speaker harold and letterman a round of applause and for all of you in the senate and house instrumental passing that change to people's pocketbooks and wallets, would you give yourself a round of applause on that one. [applause] thank you for passing the first toward reform bill of its kind. that bill took us off the list of judicial hellholes and it's the kind of chance instrumental to better link the state's business climate and prospect for jobs so i would ask that you recognize senator larry barton and keto, where are you all? would you stand up, please be recognized. thank you. [applause] thank you for passing the first reforms of workers' compensation system a change like that one is also just the kind of thing a business from the far looking at south carolina takes into consideration. in addition to thinking larry and harry i know scott richardson was a senator back then, scott, would you be stand it to be recognized on that one along with harriet larry? come on, there you are. [applause] thank you for pa