katie couric leaves today show for CBS news (updated with meredith announcement)

announced this morning, today show co-host katie couric will be leaving her post as the popular morning fixture to try her hand as the new anchor of CBS News (replacing Dan Rather).

if she's going to read the news like the way she's reading her goodbye speech here, then everyone is in trouble... stay and watch matt lauer's inevitable reaction.

as for her replacement, word is that meredeth vieira is hotly tipped to leave the view to become morning's new darling... we wait with baited breath. (yawn)

UPDATE: as rumored, meredith took the gig as the future co-host of the today show. apparently for the nice sum of 40 million!