Piers Morgan: I’ll bag Barack Obama interview

Never one to be straitjacketed by modesty, Piers Morgan has been blowing his own trumpet again, saying he is in talks with the White House about interviewing Barack Obama "soon".

The British journalist said: "We are definitely trying to get the President and things are looking quite good. We're getting very good signals that there should be the opportunity to interview him soon."

He added: "I went to the White House for the first time a few weeks ago which was a real thrill... As a big fan of the West Wing TV series, it was just like being in that."

Morgan's latest boast will raise expectations even higher - and he already has a lot to live up to. On Tuesday, he takes over veteran host Larry King's slot on CNN when he launches Piers Morgan Tonight.

Morgan's rise to fame in the US, via the now-trusted route of TV talent show judging, has startled many back in the UK. Always precocious, the former Sun showbiz gossip columnist is felt by some to have reached too far with his latest job.

As Morgan told the Mail on Sunday, Larry King Live is said to be "the most-watched TV show in the world". That's a long way to fall - and Morgan is no stranger to disaster, after his decision to publish fake photos of detainee abuse in Iraq by British troops cost him his editorship of the Mirror.

In the meantime though, Morgan already has interviews with Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney in the bag - and will bring the show to US audiences from the UK for a week in April to cover the Royal Wedding.

With characteristic chutzpah he told the Mail it was Prince William's duty to give his first interview to his new show, saying: "I've made a formal request to Clarence House and talks are ongoing for the first interview after they are married.

"I think William should do it. If the guy who's hosting the most-watched TV show in the world is British, then I think it's a patriotic duty for William and Kate to do an interview with me."

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