On Morning Joe this morning, NBC News' Chuck Todd offered his analysis of the Osama bin Laden audiotape released this morning: It's a standard political "prebuttal." Does that mean we've won the war on terror?

NBC News' Brian Williams got full access to the White House and shot 150 hours of tape for his special on Barack Obama. He spent 45 seconds of them shooting a promo for the Tonight Show. And Obama played along.

Jim Goldman, the shameless Apple parrot and CNBC correspondent, did his best for the computer company in an on-air price comparison the other day. But he had to lift his argument wholesale.

So now a CNBC insider says GE overlords did not apply political pressure in a meeting with the network, as previously reported. The financial network is perfectly capable of flagellating itself.

Top GE and NBC Universal executives called a dinner meeting with CNBC bigwigs inside 30 Rock recently. This much is agreed upon. Still unclear: Whether CNBC was pressured to bash the president less.

In 2008, Todd was great as a freewheeling political director and straight-man to Chris Matthews on MSNBC, but he's choking as NBC's White House correspondent. Now, he may get a chance for redemption.

A tipster says a "pervasive rumor" is making the rounds at NBC News that the network is putting long-time local anchors Chuck Scarborough of WNBC and Paul Moyer of KNBC out to pasture.

NBC News has instituted an across-the-board freeze on raises for its executives and talent, even those with contracts guaranteeing them salary bumps.

The president fielded questions tonight about his daughters, the attorney general of New York and a kooky Chinese plan for an international currency. Anything on the nitty-gritty of his trillion-dollar bank bailout? Nope.

You have to hand it to Jon Stewart: The Daily Show host at least has the good sense to mock his "Basic Cable Personality Clash" with Jim Cramer the very moment it becomes mockable.

Controversial octuplet mom Nadya Suleman was said seeking $2 million for media access and sponsorships. Oprah Winfrey and Diane Sawyer were reportedly interested. So how did NBC News land her debut interview?

Prof. Leopold Munyakazi was suddenly accused of genocide by the Rwandan government after challenging the official line on 1994 atrocities. Now NBC News is helping the regime drive him from American academia.

We were wondering about those odd title frames flashing in between an segments of an interview with Barack Obama on the Rachel Maddow Show (like "Obama♥GOP"). Left in by someone in production?

Chris Matthews told his Hardball staff he won't run for a Pennsylvania senate seat in 2010, which means he'll probably remain at MSNBC. But will he be a sad poor, anchorwise?

"NBC is holding back from anointing David Gregory as the new host of Meet the Press because 'they're furious about leaks.'" [NBC-hating Page Six]

Everyone's been talking about David Gregory moderating Meet the Press all week, even stretching the very definition of journalism to report on it. And yet the NBC News chief White House correspondent hasn't even taken the job yet, according to the Times, and all the leaks might even ruin his chances! But probably not, because it sounds like one of his competitors for the job spilled the beans:

The Huffington Post reported David Gregory will take over for Tim Russert as permanent moderator of Meet The Press after beating out finalists Andrea Mitchell, Gwen Ifill and Chuck Todd. NBC told Politico, "I don't know where they are getting this," and Gregory's agent would neither confirm nor deny to the Observer. Dark-horse candidate Katie Couric is reportedly not interested. Odd that NBC News would leak to HuffPo, given the network division's apparent long-running feud with publisher Arianna Huffington, but then there have been signs that the bad feelings have perhaps been dropped.

In April, the Times published a 7,600-word story on how major news networks presented as their own military "analysts" former officers who were on the payroll of major defense contractors and who had received talking points in special Pentagon briefings. The networks declined to cover the story and the scandal never caught fire. The newspaper's solution? Recast the story to focus on a single villain, retired General Barry McCaffrey, who NBC News' Brian Williams defended as a "passionate patriot" the last time around.

It's just a brief item, reporting that NBC chief Jeff Zucker was spotted with "old pal Katie Couric huddling over dinner at Elio's." But Page Six's sighting of the CBS Evening News anchor with her old Today boss will inevitably stoke further speculation about the possibility she might take over for Tim Russert at NBC's Meet The Press. The alleged dinner comes barely a week after the Times reported NBC executives were bandying Couric's name as a possible anchor for the Sunday-morning interview show. Gossip aside, let's move on to speculation: Wouldn't the gig just be an awful reprise of the CBS Evening News disaster?

"Good red wine, ice cold vodka and ibuprofen for my aching joints." [WowOWow]