Author: The Associated Press

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Kathie Lee Gifford

Booze may be an oft-mentioned topic when Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb are hosting the fourth hour of the Today show, but one alcoholic beverage they won’t be talking about is Gifford’s new wine line.

In an interview Tuesday, Gifford said NBC has asked her not to plug her new Gifft chardonnay and red blend on the show.

VIDEO: Martin Short Accepts Kathie Lee Gifford’s Apology For Questions About Late Wife

“They let me announce it and then they’ve asked us to please not discuss it right now,” Gifford said. “We’re in the middle of the big takeover of a major corporation. I think they just want to be — and rightfully so — very careful. Everybody wants to dot i’s and cross t’s and you notice the wine is still sitting there but they’ve just asked me to be a little careful while they’re under great scrutiny and I’m happy to do that.”

A representative for Today said, “We love and support Kathie Lee and as always, we let her comments speak for themselves.”

NBC’s owner, Comcast Corp., says it wants to buy Time Warner Cable Inc. If the deal is approved it would combine the nation’s two top cable companies and create a dominant force in both creating and delivering entertainment.

Gifford and Kotb talked about the wines on Today last month, but on Monday’s show, Gifford mentioned she would be making a number of personal appearances but said she couldn’t say what they were for.

STORY: Kathie Lee Gifford Rallies ‘Today’ Crew Behind Matt Lauer in Public Letter

Gifford says her deal with the Scheid Family Wines of Monterey, Calif., to produce the wines “seems like a natural” fit given her love for wine and the presence of alcohol on the show — even though she says nobody really drinks that much.

“That’s been outrageously satirized — the amount,” she says. “It sits there.”

Gifford also says she was “stunned along with everybody else” about the news that Josh Elliott was leaving ABC’s Good Morning America for a job at NBC Sports, the second GMA personnel defection in four months.

Restoring Today to its former top spot in the mornings has been an NBC priority since GMA bested Today in the ratings two years ago. While Gifford and Kotb’s fourth hour continues to have strong ratings, Gifford acknowledged the ratings slide in the earlier Today hours, noting the show has been “making inroads” and adding: “Maybe we can reverse the trend now.”

ABC/Ida Mae Astute

Diane Sawyer

ELK POINT, S.D. — A South Dakota judge on Thursday refused to throw out a defamation lawsuit against ABC related to its coverage of a meat product called lean, finely textured beef, which critics have dubbed “pink slime.”

Beef Products Inc. sued the television network in 2012 seeking $1.2 billion in damages. Dakota Dunes-based BPI says ABC’s coverage led to the closure of three plants and roughly 700 layoffs by misleading consumers into believing the product is unsafe.

STORY: ABC News Suffers Setback in ‘Pink Slime’ Defamation Lawsuit

Attorneys for ABC say the network in each of its broadcasts stated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration deemed the product safe to eat. They say BPI might not like the phrase “pink slime,” but like all ground beef, it’s pink and has a slimy texture.

In her Thursday ruling, Judge Cheryle Gering dismissed some claims but allowed most to go forward. Gering ruled that ABC isn’t protected against liability by saying in its news reports that the product is beef, is safe and is nutritious.

Jeffrey W. Schneider, senior vice president of ABC News, noted that the ruling was on a preliminary motion to dismiss, not on the merits of the case. “We will defend our reporting vigorously on the merits,” Schneider said in a written statement.

STORY: ABC Looks to Kill ‘Pink Slime’ Lawsuit, Saying It’s a Threat to Free Speech

Beef Products Inc. attorney Erik Connolly said the company is pleased with the ruling.

“We look forward to starting discovery and ultimately presenting our case to a jury,” Connolly said in a statement.

Lean, finely textured beef is made using a process in which trimmings left after a cow is butchered are heated, lean meat is separated from fat and ammonia gas is applied to kill bacteria.

Beef Products’ attorneys argued during a December hearing that ABC’s statements about the FDA deeming the product safe to eat were coupled with negative context calling the product filler or “not meat” and implying that the FDA was not a credible source because the agency overruled scientists in approving the food product’s use.

STORY: ABC News Sued for $1.2 Billion Over Report on ‘Pink Slime’

They said the network intended to damage Beef Products’ reputation and destroy its relationship with its customers, as BPI was the only producer mentioned in ABC’s series of news reports.

Lawyers for the network said it never quoted critics saying the product is unsafe. They said the term “pink slime” is not incorrect and the company doesn’t get to choose ABC’s words.

ABC had wanted the case considered by the U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls, but federal Judge Karen Schreier in June ordered it back to the state circuit court in Elk Point.

In addition to ABC, the lawsuit names ABC news anchor Diane Sawyer; ABC correspondents Jim Avila and David Kerley; Gerald Zirnstein, the U.S. Department of Agriculture microbiologist who named the product “pink slime;” former federal food scientist Carl Custer; and Kit Foshee, a former BPI quality assurance manager who was interviewed by ABC.

An attorney representing Zirnstein and Custer did not immediately return messages for comment Thursday night. An attorney for Foshee said he has not had a chance yet to fully review the decision.