'Meet the Press' at 60: By the Numbers

Former senator Bob Dole speaks with NBC staffers and interns at the 60th anniversary celebration of "Meet the Press." (Charles Dharapak - AP)

News Hot Off 'The Wire': Actress Tells All

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When she was profiled in The Post last spring, Felicia "Snoop" Pearson -- the rivetingly androgynous Baltimore actress who plays a drug-gang assassin on HBO's "The Wire" -- declined to talk about the 1995 murder that sent her to Jessup for five years. "I'm saving that for my book," she told our colleague Teresa Wiltz.

Damned if she didn't actually write it. While signing copies of "Grace After Midnight" at the downtown Barnes & Noble on Tuesday, Pearson, 27, finally talked. "That was the worst day of my life," she told about 30 fans in her distinctive rasp. The shooting of 15-year-old Kia Toomer? Self-defense: Toomer, she claims, was wielding a bat in a street fight. "She probably would have knocked my eyes back crossed," Pearson added. (Pearson, born cross-eyed, was 14 at the time of the murder.)

But don't go confusing Pearson with the same-name character she plays on TV: "Snoop the character is coldhearted. I have a heart." Prison classes left her ill-prepared for the 9-to-5 world ("If anybody in this room was incarcerated, you know what I'm talking about"); getting discovered by a "Wire" co-star in a nightclub helped turn her life around.

Pearson wore jeans, white sneaks, an oversize maroon polo buttoned to the top, a diamond ring and diamond watch. Will Snoop be in Season 5? "Yes, ma'am, in full effect."

THIS JUST IN . . .

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• After 12 years, chef Nora Pouillon's Asia Nora will close next month, reports our colleague Tom Sietsema. The West End building that houses the organic restaurant is being razed and replaced with an environmentally oriented luxury hotel.

• Don Imus is coming back to TV. Rural Media Group signed a five-year deal with the controversial talk show host, putting his new radio program on its RFD cable and satellite channel. Imus, who debuts Dec. 3, joins shows like "National Tractor Pulling" and the "Largent and Sons Hereford Cattle Auction." Yee-haw!

LOVE, ETC.

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• Celebrating: George and Laura Bush marked their 30th anniversary last week very quietly. The couple had dinner with friends at the Crawford ranch; he gave her a watch as a combo gift for the Nov. 5 anniversary and her 61st birthday the day before.

• Married: "Grey's Anatomy" actress Ellen Pompeo and record producer Chris Ivery. The two 38-year-olds tied the knot Friday at New York's City Hall with Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a witness. First marriage for both.