Gayle King, Oprah’s BFF, Ready to take on the Morning

In this week’s issue of Parade–and at www.parade.com–yours truly has written the cover story about Gayle King, broadcaster, journalist, mother,and Oprah’s BFF. King and Charlie Rose take over the newly reconstituted “CBS This Morning” beginning a week from today, January 9th. Producer Chris Licht, who came from “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, is taking the reins. It was his idea to couple King and Rose. For Gayle it was not an easy decision. Even though she’s staying with Oprah’s O Magazine, she’s leaving her OWN network at a troubled time. Still, King says Oprah pushed her to go for the opportunity. There was no tension, just support. Gayle tells me Oprah will not be her first guest. “That’s a little cheesy, isn’t it?” she asks. She wants an independent identity. I think she has one already. I know Gayle quite separately from Oprah. I knew her as a broadcaster from Connecticut. In New York, where we both live, Gayle is a welcome presence at nighttime events. She loves music as much as I, and has eclectic taster that runs from Jay Z to Carrie Underwood to Sting. I can’t wait for her to put her imprint on the CBS show, and give Charlie Rose a daily alarm.