Norah O'Donnell
From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell and Adam Verdugo
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Huge lines this morning meant a record number of book sales at the Grand Rapids Barnes & Noble.
A spokeswoman for Harper Collins tells NBC News more than 1,000 copies of "Going Rogue" have been sold. The bookstore has already run out of wristbands for those standing in line since early this morning. That means the rest of those who waited in the cold will likely not get a chance to get their book signed by Sarah Palin tonight.
Palin will arrive this afternoon in Grand Rapids and is scheduled to tape an interview for "The 700 Club" and Christian Broadcasting Network correspondent David Brody. The interview is scheduled to air on Thursday morning.
Video:
The Politico's Ben Smith talks about what message Sarah Palin may be sending to the people of Michigan by making the state the start of her book tour.
From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell
Sen. John McCain's longtime friend and former chief of staff, Mark Salter, has just issued a statement about Palin's accusations.
Salter, who co-authored McCain's books, defends Nicolle Wallace's actions throughout the campaign. Palin suggests in the book that Wallace was a double-agent for Couric because Wallace had worked at CBS News prior to the campaign.
From Salter:
"After we had been criticized in the press for a lack of disciplined messaging earlier in the campaign when we provided frequent and unscheduled access to the candidate, we felt it necessary to adopt the same deliberativeness and discipline employed by our opponents and rely less on impromptu press conferences with our traveling press, and more on interviews arranged in advance so our candidates would have the same opportunity our opponents enjoyed to discuss and prepare for the interview.
"Approximately one week elapsed from Governor Palin's nomination to her first major press interview, the first in a series of major interviews Governor Palin did. Those interviews were discussed and agreed to by senior members of the campaign staff in consultation with the candidates. Nicolle Wallace, along with others, was tasked with helping the Governor prepare for some of her interviews. She did not decide which interview requests the candidates would accept. Nor was she tasked with securing the candidates' agreement. Those decisions were made by campaign management in consultation with the candidates. Campaign management and the candidates agreed to multi segment interviews so the Governor would maintain a presence in the media while she was in debate prep. And to the best of my knowledge, any interviews the Governor had with the individuals she referred to were approved and arranged by the campaign management with her agreement."
From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell
Sarah Barracuda is back.
The feisty former governor of Alaska is set to embark on a whirlwind campaign-style "Going Rogue" book tour that in its first week will take her to half a dozen battleground states.
Palin will make two to three stops a day traveling in a bus emblazoned with the cover of her book. The imagery and pace of her travel is almost certain to evoke images of an early presidential campaign foray, especially as she plans a December 6 visit to Iowa, site of the first in the nation presidential caucuses.
VIDEO: Oprah Tweets about Palin interview.The book is also likely to include some juicy tidbits about the drama inside the
McCain-Palin campaign. Steve Schmidt, McCain's campaign manager, recently said nominating Palin in 2012 would be "catastrophic" for the GOP. Palin's advisors have indicated privately that there will be some score-settling in her autobiography.
"There's nothing we didn't talk about," Oprah Winfrey reported last night in a video linked to her Twitter account. "Lots of her supporters didn't think she should come here." Oprah said they talked about Palin's daughter Bristol's pregnancy, Levi Johnston, Palin's infant son Trigg, and the state of Palin's marriage. "It was really an interesting interview," Palin said.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Norah O'Donnell and Matt Glick
Levi Johnston, the estranged father of Sarah Palin's grandson, told CBS in an interview that -- among other things -- Palin had joked about her son Trig, who has Down's Syndrome.
Palin has released this statement through her spokesperson Meg Stapleton, which appears to refer to Levi's agreement to pose for Playgirl magazine:
We have purposefully ignored the mean spirited, malicious and untrue attacks on our family. We, like many, are appalled at the inflammatory statements being made or implied. Trig is our 'blessed little angel' who knows it and is lovingly called that every day of his life. Even the thought that anyone would refer to Trig by any disparaging name is sickening and sad. CBS should be ashamed for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies - those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention."
From NBC's Norah O'Donnell and Adam Verdugo
Ex-Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is holding her fire now for former running mate John McCain's advisors but there are hints that she'll have plenty to share in her forthcoming book, "Going Rogue." Palin's spokesman, Meg Stapleton, suggested there will be plenty of material to respond to former McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt's comments today that a Palin presidential nomination in 2012 would be catastrophic.
Stapleton tells NBC, "The Governor will write about all of this in her book. There will be plenty of time to talk about it then."
At the Atlantic's "First Draft of History" event at the Newseum today, Schmidt said, "I think she has talents," adding, "My honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican Party and in fact were she to be the nominee, we could have a catastrophic result."
Schmidt, who during the campaign was in favor of adding Palin to the McCain ticket, conceded that Palin has a great deal of support among the base of the party, referring to advance sales of her memoir, but added that, "she has done nothing to expand her appeal beyond the base into the middle of the electorate where elections are decided."
From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell and Adam Verdugo
Republicans requested and were granted a third round of questioning of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
Each Senator gets 10 minutes. Most of the questions will likely be from Republicans.
From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell
J.Crew today is flashing on the front-page of its crewcuts section, "The famous coats you've been waiting for."
When you click the link, you can pre-order the peach and purple coats Malia and Sasha Obama wore to their father's inauguration in January.
The preppy clothing line is already taking heat for trying to profit off the Obamas' decision to sport their clothes. Yesterday, a spokesman for J.Crew insisted they never sent out a press release touting all the details on the trench coats and ballet flats the first daughters wore in Moscow.
Instead, J.Crew said it only responded to media inquires. The First Lady's office tells NBC News, "We do not believe the girls should be used for marketing purposes."
It should be noted that J.Crew does not mention the Obama daughters' names on its Web site.
From NBC's Norah O'Donnell and Mark Murray
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is now back on again for tonight's big Republican fundraising dinner, according to Republican sources.
"Our understanding is she will be attending and will sit at Sen. Cornyn's table," National Republican Senatorial Committee communications director Brian Walsh told NBC News.
Another GOP source adds, "She's coming, not speaking… She will be recognized at the event."
Also to be in attendance at tonight's dinner, per a Republican source: GOP Virginia gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell.
From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell
Sarah Palin's dinner date with Republicans in Washington may be off, but she's still planning a political trip in two weeks to Indiana to attend a Right to Life fundraiser.
Her political travel is likely to raise new questions. Her spokeswoman said she would not commit to a Senate-House GOP dinner in June because she was focused on Alaska state business -- not politics.
On April 16, Palin will be attending the Vanderburgh County Right to Life dinner in Evansville, IN, as well as a breakfast the next day for S.M.I.L.E., a nonprofit organization for people with family members who have Down syndrome. Palin's spokeswoman, Meg Stapleton, said Palin will be taking a "36-hour vacation" to attend the events in Indiana. Palin's political action committee will pay for the travel.
Palin was replaced as the keynote speaker at the Republican dinner in Washington by Newt Gingrich. The event's organizers grew tired of waiting for her to commit to the party's big spring fundraising gala.
Stapleton said Palin would not agree to political events until after April 20, when the Alaska legislative session ends. "She is focused on Alaska," Stapleton said today.
And while Palin's camp claimed no hard feelings about being replaced by Gingrich, Stapleton said, "She probably would have said yes if they could have waited."
Stapleton could not explain why Palin would say yes to a political event in Indiana and not attend a political event in Washington. However, she did note that Palin wanted to honor her son Trigg, who has Down syndrome, at the S.M.I.L.E. event in Indiana.
It's possible there could be a huge increase in political travel by Palin after the legislative session in Alaska ends. "There are thousands of requests" for appearances across the country, Stapleton said.
From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell
As he announced on Morning Joe today, Sen.
Evan Bayh is forming a Moderate Dems Working group that will meet every other Tuesday before the Democratic caucus to discuss legislative strategies and ideas.
Per Bayh's office, the group's goal "is to work with the Senate leadership and the new administration to craft common-sense solutions to urgent national problems."
Video: Bayh is forming a 15-person working group focused on fiscal responsibility.
Here's part of a statement to be released very shortly from Bayh... The group will focus "on the upcoming budget negotiations and the importance of passing a fiscally responsible spending plan in the Senate."
More: "Leading the new group are Democratic Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana,
Tom Carper of Delaware and
Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas... [O]thers joining the group are Sens.
Michael Bennet of Colorado,
Mark Begich of Alaska,
Kay Hagan of North Carolina,
Herb Kohl of Wisconsin,
Mary Landrieu of Louisiana,
Joe Lieberman of Connecticut,
Claire McCaskill of Missouri,
Ben Nelson of Nebraska,
Bill Nelson of Florida,
Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire,
Mark Udall of Colorado, and
Mark Warner of Virginia."
