Hoda Kotb, current co-host of the 4th hour of the Today Show with Kathy Lee Gifford will officially replace Matt Lauer on the morning show.

- Kathy Lee tweeted that she's thrilled for her Partner in Wine. (I'm pretty sure she meant "Partner in CRIME", but as they say... It's always 5pm somewhere).

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CNN replaced Anderson Cooper's former New Year's Eve co-host Kathy Griffin with Bravo's Andy Cohen... making them the first openly gay duo to host the Times Square event. 

- There hasn't been that much giggling since Hasbro introduced "Tickle Me Elmo". (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) 

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Meanwhile, CNN is facing backlash for featuring a seemingly out-of-it reporter, wearing "weed" earings while holding a lit joint at a pot party in Colorado during their New Year's Eve coverage.

- Viewers caught on when the reporter said she was waiting for the Bong to drop. 

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Pope Francis urged his churchgoers to get rid of "useless baggage" in 2018. 

- And if you want to get rid of ALL your baggage, just book a flight on Southwest Airlines. 

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A survey by Northern Michigan University found that the phrase that people want banned most from the English language is "fake news". 

- Of course, I have no idea if this story is real or not.  

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Students at the University of Rome figured out that one of their popular math professors is a former gay porn star. 

- They got suspicious when one student recognized the prof as the star of the adult film set during World War II called "I've Done Kirk". 

*****

Have a great day and I'll see you back here Wednesday!

-Dick