In what was the "Today" show’s most contentious segment since Tom Cruise told Matt Lauer he was glib, author and controversial pundit Ann Coulter finally had her segment on the popular show this morning. After a week of ratings-driving and book-selling Internet and media controversy over her cancellation, Ann Coulter sat down this morning with Matt Lauer in the No. 1 segment within the news at the top of the seven o’clock hour.

Coulter’s new book, Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America (Crown Forum), hit bookshelves this week and has been front and center in the media maelstrom … a hallmark of the marketing savvy of the agita-inducing author.

The question about the Internet rumor that Coulter had been banned from the "Today" show and NBC for life was Lauer’s interview opener, asking Coulter if she had been behind that rumor. Coulter replied that it had been offered by a very credible source. She added that it wasn’t until the Drudge Report ran a story about the banning that NBC reinstated its invitation.

Lauer, referring to the incendiary language in her book, asked if Coulter’s outrageous comments and venomous tone worked to reduce her credibility, when, in fact, her book does raise important and challenging issues.

Coulter replied that hers are not outrageous statements, and instead address massive problems that the mainstream media are not tackling.

Lauer asked why she provocatively calls the president-elect "B. Hussein Obama" in the book. Coulter, linking the name of the soon-to-be-sworn-in president to the country’s war against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, stated that if a midcentury presidential candidate such as Thomas Dewey had "Hitler" as his middle name, the media in those days would have called attention to it.  

When asked if she felt the country was saying they are tired of partisan politics, Coulter demurred, saying, "Liberals want conservatives to stop talking, so they tell us how wonderful B. Hussein Obama is."

When asked what she thought of George Bush, she replied, "I am grateful to Bush for keeping the nation safe for the last eight years. We’ll see if that continues."

Lauer ended the interview with, "Obviously, you are not banned for life."