Shannon Bream: Liberty Belle & Trump Beauty?

America’s News Headquarters anchor Shannon Bream: no small fry! The beautiful blond legal eagle that graduated from Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell’s Liberty College oft appears too demure, too modest, and too soft-spoken for FNC’s foxy fold of sassy, sexy, and brassy news babes. Her Fox News fans would not be shocked that the Florida native, who had interned in college on the Hill for Rep. Bill McCollum (R-FL), subsequently got her J.D. cum laude at Florida State University, became a corporate lawyer, and got the journalist bug that eventually led her to Fox News (a la FNC colleague Megyn Kelly). But, they might be quite surprised that their “conservative” cutie, the former Miss Shannon DePuy, in the interim, was furthermore not only a 1991 Top 10 Miss America finalist (Miss Virginia) but also a 1995 Top 12 Miss USA semi-finalist (Miss Florida).

Yes, the Southern belle has the brains to cover the Supreme Court beat. But, she also has the looks to sashay on the catwalk with the best of them–be they Bert Parks’ classic beauties (1991 Miss America Top 10 vid) or Donald Trump‘s chic chicks (Top 12 and swimsuit vids).

Bream: served to order!

H/t: Glamour (and TVNewser).

FNC’s Liz Trotta DISSES The Donald

“Vulgarian…celebrity journalist…lounge lizard.” Ouch! Fox News contributor Liz Trotta minced no words in her weekly America’s News HQ commentary about the prospect of real estate mogul Donald Trump’s moderating the GOP Presidential debate on December 27 in Iowa.* Instead of the almost worshipful tone usually adopted by FNC’s Fox & Friends co-hosts for The Donald during his own weekly appearances, Trotta employed a more iconoclastic attitude as she joyfully bashed the Celebrity Apprentice star.

When ANHQ co-host Eric Shawn introduced Trotta’s segment (about media reaction to the debate and candidate participation in it), he sardonically remarked, “So, from the venerable Howard K. Smith moderating the Kennedy-Nixon debate to The Donald.”

Chuckling in concurrence, Trotta first opined that the media were afraid of Trump or of losing access to him: Sneering, she added, “The man really is a vulgarian and really traipses in where he shouldn’t be such as Presidential debates.” Approvingly, she then noted GOP candidate Ron Paul had declined Trump’s invitation and quoted his issued statement which read, “The selection of a reality television personality to host a presidential debate that voters nationwide will be watching is beneath the office of the Presidency and flies in the face of that office’s history and dignity.” With less favor, she subsequently cited Republican frontrunner Newt Gingrich’s “whole-hearted” acceptance of Trump’s invitation and his assertion that he “loves entertainment,” Disdainfully, she declared, “Well, thank you, Newt, because that’s exactly what it’s going to be: It’s certainly not gonna have anything to do with journalism. I mean, Donald Trump as journalist or, we should say, as celebrity journalist.” When concluding her report, she snidely noted that Trump has a new book out and that he seems to surface whenever he does.

Smiling, Shawn sarcastically responded, “‘Seems to surface,’ I don’t think he ever goes away. But he does say, Mr. Trump in his defense says [that] he will talking about important issues…[that] it will be a serious debate and…[that] he gets high ratings.”

Dismissively, Trotta declared, “Well, I don’t know about the ratings but…he keeps just repeating the same thing: I’m sure [that] we’re gonna here the same old line about China and all his…sorta truck-driver tough remarks.” Scornfully, she snarked, “I mean, here is this lounge lizard trying to sound like a working man: It really is quite laughable….But, it will be entertainment.”

After Trotta tossed back to Shawn, he duly laughed, “Alright, vulgarian, lounge lizard, Liz, when you go home, stay away from Trump Tower. Okay? You don’t know what could come off the terraces.”

Other than the boiling oil.

*America’s News HQ – 12/4/11 (@ 11:56 a.m. ET)

Megyn Kelly Disappears

With her show without a word. Apparently, even America Live anchor Megyn Kelly’s lead-in, Happening Now guest host Greg Jarrett, was caught off guard this afternoon: as Jarrett confidently segued from HN to the next Fox News program at 1:00 pm. ET, Jarrett remarked, “America Live begins right now.” Apparently, getting a quick word from his producer, Jarrett quickly glanced at his computer screen and corrected himself, saying, “America’s News Headquarters.”

Subsequently, the screen switched to ANHQ and Kelly Wright began with a “News Alert”: Then, after finishing it, he remarked, “This is America’s News Headquarters. I’m Kelly Wright.” Thereafter, his comely blonde co-host chimed, “Great to see you, Kelly….I’m Jamie Colby.”

Oddly, neither Kelly nor Jamie mentioned that, at least, for the day, they were replacing Megyn Kelly and America’s News HQ was supplanting America Live. Furthermore, to the author’s knowledge, Megyn did not mention yesterday that she or her program would be absent today (Friday). Moreover, Megyn failed to alert her Twitter followers to any AL changes either. Not to mention, when the author consulted FNC’s on-air schedule at FNC’s foxnews.com/fnctv web site (at 1:55 p.m. ET), the “Now” tab showed no program for the 1:00pm slot but rather started with the 3:00 pm one (Studio B w/ Shepard Smith).

Strange indeed. Wherefore art thou, Megyn? Fox News flub-up or Shine “shakeup”?

[Author's aside: Even at the start of the second hour and at the end of show, both Jamie and Kelly failed to acknowledge the obvious--the absence of Megyn Kelly and her show America Live.]

Update: On Labor Day itself, Megyn answered: She and America Live reappeared. Perhaps, it had been merely a Fox News flub-up. Or, was it Shine’s inadvertent portent?

ANHQ: Who’s the New “Girl”?

Heather Childers. When a Twitter follower asked Julie Banderas yesterday about not seeing her on with Gregg Jarrett on the weekend [America's News HQ], she tersely Tweeted, “Yeah, he got a new co-anchor.” And, just who is that co-anchor? Her name is Heather Childers, a recent Fox News hire.”

According to her hometown paper Charlotte Observer, Heather was reared in Charlotte, North Carolina; graduated from UNC Chapel Hill; and worked for eight years at Time Warner Cable’s News 14 Carolina (a 24-hour news channel). The Observer reported that Heather left News 14 Carolina last year in search of “bigger things” and finally landed a job at Fox News. It quoted an apparently ecstatic Heather as saying, “Now my dreams have come true.”

At FNC, Heather co-anchors America’s News Headquarters with Gregg Jarrett on the weekend generally from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET. She also Tweets her Twitter followers almost daily with a truly personal touch. (Cf. link here.)

A belated congrats, Heather!

Trotta Skewers Couric: “Pretend Journalist”

Outspoken conservative Fox News contributor Liz Trotta trashed CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric during her weekly America’s News HQ commentary today. When AN co-host Eric Shawn asked the former Washington Times NY bureau chief how the media “report card” was for their coverage of the Egyptian protests, she replied, “It’s not very good.”* [Especially, for Katie Couric.]

Elaborating, Trotta explained that the media, especially the Big Three broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS), had long put foreign news “on the shelf” and, consequently, they were having to play “catch-up” in their Egyptian protest coverage without proper context, specificity, and facts. Concluding, Trotta blamed their purported sorry state on “major budget cuts” and the “star-ridden system.” Re the “star-ridden system,” Trotta caustically commented, “No better example of that, of course, are people like Katie Couric….This pretend journalist makes supposedly $300,000 a week and doesn’t even appear Thursday and Friday on the CBS Evening News to cover a very big story.”

In defense of Couric, Shawn answered, “Well, some, I think, would disagree with your contention that Katie Couric is a quote ‘pretend journalist.’” Incredulous, Trotta emphatically exclaimed, “Oh, certainly, you can’t have deluded yourself with thinking [that] this is a woman who is a journalist. Come on, now, Eric!” Arching her eyebrows, she scoffed, “You’ve been a reporter too long: You know that!”

Disagreeing, Shawn stolidly stated, “No. She is a journalist. She has, in my view, absolutely is, has been a solid journalist.” Unconvinced, Trotter riposted, “Well, you’re a lot kinder than I would be.”

*America’s News HQ – 01/30/11 (@ 11:56 a.m. ET)

Juliet: Texting or Sexting?

Huddy: “Because I don’t think that’s appropriate: You have a wife!” Poor Rick Folbaum! Introducing an America’s News HQ segment by Casey Stegall on candidates using text messages to reach voters, co-host Juliet Huddy joked that she probably sent three of the four billion text messages that Americans send every day.* After the story, Juliet commented, “Already, Case, thanks very much for that report, I got to get back to texting now.” Sounding hurt, co-anchor Rick asked, “How come you never text me?”

Looking down and smiling coyly, Julie responded, “Because I don’t think that’s appropriate: You have a wife!” Nodding his head and grinning rakishly, Rick queried, “Yeah. What kind of texts are you sending?” Her eyes widening and her countenance reddening, Juliet heartily laughed, “I didn’t mean that! Oh, geez, forget it! Just move on.”

Feigning ignorance, a smiling Rick replied, “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” A giggling Juliet could barely contain herself as Rick read out the block. Perhaps, she thought or knew that he simply wanted the bare facts.

*America’s News HQ – 10/09/10 (@1:20 a.m. ET)