NEW YORK - A day after Katie Couric announced she was leaving for CBS, NBC has chosen Meredith Vieira as Matt Lauer’s new partner on the “Today” show. NBC scheduled a news conference for Thursday afternoon to announce its new “Today” host, and confirmed in a statement that Vieira had been selected. “Meredith's vast experience as an award-winning journalist, as well as talk show host, make her the ideal candidate for this job,” said network CEO Jeff Zucker.