(CNN) — Ringo Starr walks into the hotel suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel carrying a brown paper bag.

It’s his sack lunch, and he’s packed it himself. He’s also driven himself to the hotel and arrived alone — no entourage, no bodyguard, no assistant, no fuss.

It’s fitting that CNN’s interview with the iconic music star is taking place at an iconic hotel, which is like a second home to the former Beatle. This is where the Fab Four stayed when they first came to Hollywood in 1964, no doubt trailed by dozens of screaming girls and photographers as they ushered in the British Invasion.

(CNN) — Christiane Amanpour will return to CNN with a weekday program on CNN International while continuing at ABC News as a global affairs anchor, the networks announced Tuesday.

Amanpour will begin hosting a program on CNN International in 2012 as part of a “unique arrangement” with ABC News, CNN Worldwide President Jim Walton said in an e-mail message to CNN staff.

“Christiane Amanpour has been synonymous with international reporting and with CNN for many years,” Walton said in a statement. “We could not be happier that through this unique arrangement with ABC News, her experience and global perspective are returning to a nightly news broadcast for our international audience.”

More than 150,000 “Oprah Winfrey Show” fans wanted to get in to the talk show host’s star-studded spectacular last night, but just 20,000 fans made it.

The lucky ticket holders for tapings of two of Oprah Winfrey’s final shows lined up outside Chicago’s United Center Tuesday afternoon – anxious to escape a strong spring wind and eager to see what had been billed as an all-star farewell to the Queen of Talk.

Cousins Alisia Brown and Nicole Bailey told CNN they scored last minute tickets to the spectacular from none other than Winfrey’s best friend, Gayle King.

NEW YORK – Erin Burnett, one of CNBC’s most visible personalities, is jumping to CNN.

The news network announced Friday that it had signed Burnett to host a general news program that will appear sometime after she arrives at CNN in June. The format and time slot have not been determined, said Ken Jautz, CNN executive vice president.

Hollywood, California (CNN) — Larry King, America’s interviewer-in-chief, ended his record-setting career as CNN’s prime-time, talk-show host Thursday night with a serenade from Tony Bennett, a greeting from President Obama and a “Larry King Day” proclamation from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Those guests and others capped his 25-year run behind the microphone with CNN.

“Welcome to the last ‘Larry King Live.’ It’s hard to say that,” King said in his opening remarks to his last show.

NEW YORK — Rick Sanchez didn’t mince any words. He said he was wrong and he screwed up.

Interviewed on ABC’s “Good Morning America” a week after being fired from his hosting job at CNN, Sanchez apologized Friday for his slams at CNN and at Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, whom he had called a “bigot.”

Those remarks were aired on a radio program on Sept. 30.

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Sanchez explained that he was tired when he made the radio appearance, and that “my daughter had a softball game I desperately wanted to go to, and I was a little impatient. I said some things I shouldn’t have said. They were wrong. Not only were they wrong, they were offensive.”

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — Larry King, the iconic TV interviewer, will step aside from hosting of his prime time CNN show later this year, he said Tuesday.

King, 76, made the announcement with a short posting to his Twitter account, citing his desire to spend more time with his wife and young children.

“I want to share some personal news with you. 25 years ago, I sat across this table from New York Governor Mario Cuomo for the first broadcast of Larry King Live.

(CNN) — Kate Gosselin’s eight children are cleared to work on their mom’s newest reality TV show, “Kate Plus 8,” according to a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

“Each child is individually permitted, and they need to be renewed every six months,” said spokesman Troy Thompson.

Pennsylvania labor officials recently decided that while the Gosselins violated the state’s child labor law by not getting work permits for the kids for their original show — “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ — no charges would be filed as long as they had permits for future shows.

CNN) — Marie Osmond’s 18-year-old son Michael Blosil has died, a family spokesman said Saturday.

“My family and I are devastated and in deep shock by the tragic loss of our dear Michael and ask that everyone respect our privacy during this difficult time,” the entertainer said in a statement through spokesman Alan Nierob.

Brian Elias of the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office said the death is under investigation.

(CNN) — There was a time when “American Idol” was unstoppable in the ratings.

For the past several years, Tuesday and Wednesday nights have been destination television for millions as they watched and voted for their favorite contestant.

The formula was fairly simple: Take a host of hopefuls, add in a goofy, yet nurturing judge (Paula Abdul), a slang-spewing, middle-of-the-road one (Randy Jackson), a tyrant (Simon Cowell), and a pearly toothed host (Ryan Seacrest) and watch the Nielsen numbers bubble — sometimes more than 30 million viewers an episode, unheard-of numbers in these thinly sliced audience days.